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Sirry Alang

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Sirry M. Alang
Alma materUniversity of Minnesota
Scientific career
InstitutionsLehigh University
ThesisCulture and the Stress Process: Understanding Mental Health among African Americans (2015)

Sirry Alang is a Cameroonian-American medical sociologist who is an Associate Professor of Sociology and Health, Medicine at Lehigh University. Her research considers health inequity and the social determinants of health.

Early life and education

Alang is from Cameroon. Her mother, Margaret M. Tanni, raised her and encouraged her to pursue an academic career.[1][2] Alang earned her first degree in Sociology and Anthropology at the University of Buea. She moved to the United States as a graduate student, where she studied sociology at Lehigh University under an F visa.[3] After earning her master's degree, Alang moved to the University of Minnesota, where she studied the mental health of African-Americans under the supervision of Donna McAlpine.[1] She completed her doctoral research in a predominantly Black neighbourhood, where she first witnessed the impact of police violence.[4] After earning her doctorate, Alang was made an analyst in the Hennepin County Public Health department.[citation needed]

Research and career

Alang joined the faculty at Lehigh University in 2015,[5] where she investigates structural racism in the healthcare system and how this impacts the delivery and outcome of health services.[6] In 2019 she was named a Campus Compact Engaged Scholar.[6]

Alang worked with Rachel Hardeman to investigate the health impacts of police brutality and how it impacts trust in medical institutions.[4] Together they found that people who had experienced negative encounters with the police had higher levels of mistrust in the medical system.[4] In an interview with Inverse, Alang remarked “When people mistrust the healthcare system, they don’t want to use the healthcare system. They don’t want to engage in care. That’s a big problem, and police brutality increases that,”.[4] Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic Alang investigated the disproportionate impact of coronavirus disease on communities of colour.[7][8] After the killing of George Floyd, Alang provided expert commentary to the media on the public health impact of police brutality.[9] She wrote about the role of white communities in confronting structural racism, in speaking up, calling out discrimination and taking action to stand up for racial justice.[9] Beyond societal racism, Alang has investigated racism in higher education.[10]

In September 2020, Alang tweeted to call for teachers to become more aware of their language and sensitive to the fact that children could be living in single parent homes, or ones with two mothers or two fathers.[2] The tweet went viral, and was covered across international media.[2][11]

Select publications

  • Alang, Sirry; McAlpine, Donna; McCreedy, Ellen; Hardeman, Rachel (2017). "Police Brutality and Black Health: Setting the Agenda for Public Health Scholars". American Journal of Public Health. 107 (5): 662–665. doi:10.2105/ajph.2017.303691. ISSN 0090-0036. PMC 5388955.
  • Alang, Sirry M.; McCreedy, Ellen M.; McAlpine, Donna D. (2015-12-01). "Race, Ethnicity, and Self-Rated Health Among Immigrants in the United States". Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities. 2 (4): 565–572. doi:10.1007/s40615-015-0106-y. ISSN 2196-8837.
  • "APA PsycNet". psycnet.apa.org. Retrieved 2020-09-25.

References

  1. ^ a b Alang, Sirry (2015). "Culture and the Stress Process: Understanding Mental Health among African Americans". University of Minnesota.
  2. ^ a b c America, Good Morning. "Why this parent says teachers should stop saying 'your mom and dad' to kids". Good Morning America. Retrieved 2020-09-25.
  3. ^ "Professors and universities find creative solutions to keep international students from getting deported". Fortune. Retrieved 2020-09-25.
  4. ^ a b c d Betuel, Emma. "A ripple effect of police violence could extend the Covid-19 pandemic". Inverse. Retrieved 2020-09-25.
  5. ^ "Sirry Alang | Sociology & Anthropology". socanthro.cas.lehigh.edu. Retrieved 2020-09-25.
  6. ^ a b "2019-2020 Engaged Scholars – Eastern Region Conference". Retrieved 2020-09-25.
  7. ^ hangx012 (2020-06-19). "Addressing Racial Inequities in Health Outcomes During COVID and Beyond". Medical School - University of Minnesota. Retrieved 2020-09-25.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ Batts, Sirry Alang, Hasshan. "Your View: 5 ways to address racial inequities in coronavirus crisis". mcall.com. Retrieved 2020-09-25.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  9. ^ a b "Sirry Alang Discusses Police Brutality as a Public Health Issue in Interview with SELF". Lehigh University. 2020-08-10. Retrieved 2020-09-25.
  10. ^ "How Higher Ed Can Fight Racism: 'Speak Up When It's Hard'". www.chronicle.com. Retrieved 2020-09-25.
  11. ^ Hodge, Lisa (2020-09-22). "Mum says teachers need to stop calling all parents 'mums and dads'". Daily Record. Retrieved 2020-09-25.
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