Vanessa is a PhD candidate at the University of Minnesota’s College of Education and Human Development and School of Public Health. Vanessa’s primary research interests include topics of global health justice and the theory and practice of social medicine with an area focus on Latin America. In 2023, Vanessa received a Fulbright Research grant to explore the limitations of global health interventions for adolescent sexual and reproductive healthcare in rural Bolivia. In her classes, Vanessa employs critical pedagogy, inspired by the late Brazilian educator and philosopher Paulo Freire, and aims to facilitate classroom spaces where learners gain the skills, knowledge, and self-efficacy to feel empowered and be agents for social change in their own communities.
Vanessa graduated from Colorado College with a degree in Sociology and the Humphrey School of Public Affairs with a Master’s degree in International Development Studies.