Cassandra Osei

Cassandra Osei is a Ph.D. student at the University of Kansas’ School of Public Affairs and Administration. Before entering the doctoral program, she completed her Master of Public Health at the Boston University (BU) School of Public Health, specializing in both Social Behavioral Sciences and Epidemiology. She served the greater Boston area as a Social Epidemiologist at the Boston Public Health Commission. She also served as a research analyst, editor, and writer for the Political Research Associates in Massachusetts. Prior to the completion of her master’s, Cassandra received her B.A. in Political Science and International Studies from Loyola University of Chicago as a McNair Scholar.

Cassandra’s research interests are to examine the socio-political, legal, and policy factors that instigate the high maternal death rates among Black women and mothers in the US. Secondarily, she intends to compare U.S. maternal mortality data to that of Ghana in order to determine what, if any, determinants are shared among the Black women and mothers that facilitate high mortality rates.