Â鶹´«Ã½

Expert Sociologists Available for Commentary on the U.S. Healthcare System

News — The recent shooting of the CEO of UnitedHealthcare underscores systemic challenges and raises critical questions about public perceptions, leadership accountability, and the socioeconomic forces at play in healthcare. To provide context and expert commentary on these pressing issues, the American Sociological Association presents three leading sociologists whose research offers invaluable perspectives on this topic:

1. Karen Lutfey Spencer, PhD (she/her)
• Professor of Health and Behavioral Sciences, University of Colorado Denver
• Expert in healthcare decision-making, systems inequalities, and patient-provider dynamics.
• Her current research focuses on the social context of end-of-life decision-making in the US, including how healthcare systems, payers, providers, and social networks influence individuals’ engagement with healthcare systems, including hospice.
2. Joanna Kempner, PhD (she/her)
• Associate Professor of Sociology, Rutgers University
• Author of Psychedelic Outlaws
• Kempner’s research explores the social forces determining which medical issues receive attention and which are systemically overlooked. Her work has been published in top journals such as Science, PLoS Medicine, and Social Science and Medicine. The Washington Post, the New York Times, the PBS Â鶹´«Ã½hour, and the BBC have interviewed her.

 3. Hyeyoung Oh Nelson, PhD (she/her)

• Assistant Professor of Health and Behavioral Sciences, University of Colorado Denver
• Author of Conflicted Care, focusing on how financial, legal, and ethical pressures influence healthcare delivery.
• Her research specialties include maternal health, racialized health experiences and disparities, and healthcare professions and organizations.

These experts are available to discuss:

• The socioeconomic and cultural factors contributing to public discontent with the healthcare system.
• How corporate healthcare leadership intersects with systemic inequalities and public trust.
• The behavioral and policy implications of crises in healthcare institutions.

Please let me know if you’d like to contact any of these experts for interviews, commentary, or additional insights. For media inquiries, contact ASA’s Director of Communications and External Affairs,  Mary Spiro, [email protected];  cell: 443-204-7159.

About the American Sociological Association 

The American Sociological Association, founded in 1905, is a nonprofit membership association dedicated to serving sociologists in their work, advancing sociology as a science and profession, and promoting the contributions to and use of sociology by society.