Monica Rose McLemore (born 1969) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

nurse who is an

associate professor Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''. In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a position ...

of Family Health Nursing at the

University of California, San Francisco The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It is part of the University of California system and is dedic ...

. Her work considers reproductive justice and medical care for marginalised communities, with an overarching aim to eliminate healthcare inequalities. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, McLemore studied the impact of

coronavirus disease Coronavirus diseases are caused by viruses in the coronavirus subfamily, a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, the group of viruses cause respiratory tract infections that can range from ...

during pregnancy.

Early life and education

McLemore was born as a preemie (pre-term birth). She had no medical members of her family, but decided to become a nurse when she was eight years old. She studied

nursing Nursing is a health care profession that "integrates the art and science of caring and focuses on the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and human functioning; prevention of illness and injury; facilitation of healing; and alle ...

The College of New Jersey The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) is a public university in Ewing Township, New Jersey. It is part of New Jersey's public system of higher education. Established in 1855 as the New Jersey State Normal School, TCNJ was the first normal school, ...

. She earned a

Master of Public Health The Master of Public Health (MPH), Master of Science in Public Health (MSPH), Master of Medical Science in Public Health (MMSPH) and the Doctor of Public Health (DrPH), International Masters for Health Leadership (IMHL) are interdisciplinary profes ...

San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It was established in 1899 as the San Francisco State Normal School and is ...

. McLemore moved to the

for her graduate studies, where she studied

CA-125 Mucin-16 (MUC-16) also known as Ovarian cancer-related tumor marker CA125 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''MUC16'' gene. MUC-16 is a member of the mucin family glycoproteins. MUC-16 has found application as a tumor marker or biom ...

; an antigen that is associated with tumours.

Research and career

McLemore studies the relationship between physical and mental health in low-income communities of colour. Her research makes use of

reproductive justice Reproductive justice is a critical feminist framework that was invented as a response to United States reproductive politics. The three core values of reproductive justice are the right to have a child, the right to not have a child, and the righ ...

theory; which argues that people who become pregnant have the right to decide how they want the birth to be. Rooted in reproductive justice theory, McLemore launched the Saving Our Ladies from early births And Reducing Stress (''SOLARS'') study, which looks to understand the impact of stress, anxiety and racism on gestational duration in Black and Latina communities. McLemore was part of the

preterm birth Preterm birth, also known as premature birth, is the Childbirth, birth of a baby at fewer than 37 weeks Gestational age (obstetrics), gestational age, as opposed to full-term delivery at approximately 40 weeks. Extreme preterm is less than 28 ...

initiative (PTBi-

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

), which looks to understand why preterm births mainly occur in low-income women of colour. PTBi-California looks to mitigate for the disproportionate impact that preterm births have on already marginalised communities; and to work with physicians and educators to deserve programmes that better support these communities. In 2020 McLemore retired from her clinical nursing career to focus entirely on research with a focus on Black maternal health. During the

, McLemore studied the impact of

during pregnancy, and why Black Americans were hardest hit by the disease. In an article for ''

Scientific American ''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it, with more than 150 Nobel Pri ...

'', she argued that the coronavirus disease was not an excuse to abandon pregnant women.

Awards and honours

* 2015 American College of Nurse Midwives Teaching Award * 2015 Speaking Race to Power Fellow * 2018 Abortion Care Network Person of the Year * 2019 Fellow of the

American Academy of Nursing The American Academy of Nursing (AAN) is a professional organization that generates, synthesizes, and disseminates nursing knowledge to contribute to health policy and practice for the benefit of the public and the nursing profession. Founded in ...

* 2019 Excellence in Leadership

Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses The Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit membership organization. The stated purpose of AWHONN is to promote the health of women and newborns. History AWHONN became a separate and indepe ...

* 2020

UCSF The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a public land-grant research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It is part of the University of California system and is dedicated entirely to health science and life ...

Campaign Alumni Award

Selected publications

* * * McLemore has written for ''

Vice A vice is a practice, behaviour, Habit (psychology), habit or item generally considered morally wrong in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character trait, a defect, an infirmity, or a bad or unhe ...

'', ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...

'' and ''

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McLemore, Monica 1969 births Living people African-American women academics American women academics 21st-century African-American academics 21st-century American academics African-American women physicians 21st-century African-American physicians 21st-century American physicians African-American nurses UCSF School of Medicine faculty The College of New Jersey alumni San Francisco State University alumni 20th-century African-American academics 20th-century American academics 20th-century African-American women 21st-century African-American women