2022 Ph.D., Population, Health and Place, University of Southern California
2017 Master of Public Health, Global Health Leadership Track, Keck School of Medicine of USC
2014 B.A., Molecular and Cell Biology – Neurobiology, University of California, Berkeley
Dr. Bita Minaravesh is a mixed-methods researcher who spent her graduate career committed to interdisciplinary studies.
She holds a B.A. in neurobiology from the University of California, Berkeley, where she minored in history of art. While at Berkeley, Dr. Minaravesh worked under Dr. Zachary Rosner on his doctoral research investigating the generation effect.
During her MPH, Dr. Minaravesh held various resource and program development internships across Los Angeles, including at International Medical Corps, generosity.org, and the F.H. Foundation. She completed a capstone research assignment under the supervision of Dr. Mellissa Withers, where she traveled to Samoa to lead a gap analysis of the national non-communicable disease policy through data analysis and stakeholder interviews. In her short time at the Samoan Ministry of Health, she presented her findings to top ministry officials and prepared the framework for the next national plan of action. She is a member of the Delta Omega Public Health Honor Society.
During the Population, Health, and Place Ph.D. program, Dr. Minaravesh worked with various research groups at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. Under Dr. Laura Ferguson’s supervision, Dr. Minaravesh conducted a qualitative analysis of interview data to evaluate an international maternal and child health intervention. With Dr. Megan Herting and Dr. Daniel Hackman, she researched various correlations between the Area Deprivation Index (ADI) and selected early brain development measures in the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) dataset. Dr. Minaravesh also supported The Wilderness Society’s efforts to increase environmental justice data monitoring. She then served as a teaching assistant for SSI’s SSCI 165: Sustainability Science in the City course for two years and was nominated for the Dornsife General Education Teaching Award.
Under the guidance of her co-chairs, Dr. Darren Ruddell and Dr. Jennifer Unger, Dr. Minaravesh put together a dissertation committee of diverse interests with Dr. Alison Dundes Renteln, Dr. Paul Adler, and Dr. Orhun Aydin. Dr. Minaravesh’s dissertation, entitled “Children’s Environmental and Developmental Equity Within Los Angeles: A Spatio-Temporal Exploration of Varying Conditions, Perspectives, and Outcomes,” focused on the relationship between natural environmental determinants of early cognitive development. With a discussion equally invested in human rights, regression models, and integrating community voices, her research maintained a spatio-temporal and interdisciplinary focus. Dr. Minaravesh completed her doctoral degree in four years and joined the Gamma Theta Upsilon Geography Honor Society.
In Fall 2022, Dr. Minaravesh joined USC’s Equity Research Institute as a Postdoctoral Research Associate under the guidance of Dr. Manuel Pastor. In collaboration with PolicyLink, she continues to explore the state of environmental and economic equity across California and will contribute to the National Equity Atlas’ mission to democratize quantitative data that may increase shared prosperity. She remains committed to using a lens of intersectionality to promote every child’s opportunity to realize their universal right to self-determination.
