Monica McLemore facts for kids

Monica Rose McLemore, born in 1969, is an American nurse and a professor. She teaches nursing at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. McLemore works to make healthcare fair for everyone. She especially helps groups of people who might not get good medical care. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she studied how the virus affected pregnant people.

Early Life and Education

Monica McLemore was born early, as a preemie. This means she was born before her due date. Even though no one in her family was a doctor or nurse, she decided to become a nurse at just eight years old.

She went to The College of New Jersey to study nursing. Later, she earned a special degree in Public Health from San Francisco State University. Dr. McLemore then continued her studies at the University of California, San Francisco. There, she researched a special protein called CA-125.

Research and Career

Dr. McLemore studies how physical and mental health are connected. She focuses on communities with lower incomes and people of color. Her research uses an idea called reproductive justice. This idea says that people who can get pregnant have the right to decide about their bodies and their pregnancies.

Based on this idea, Dr. McLemore started a study called SOLARS. This stands for Saving Our Ladies from early births And Reducing Stress. The SOLARS study looks at how stress, worry, and racism can affect how long a pregnancy lasts. It focuses on Black and Latina communities.

Dr. McLemore was also part of an effort called the Preterm Birth Initiative (PTBi-California). This group tries to understand why babies are often born early to women of color with lower incomes. PTBi-California works to help these communities. They also work with doctors and teachers to create programs that support these families better.

In 2020, Dr. McLemore stopped working as a clinical nurse. She wanted to focus completely on her research. Her main goal became improving health for Black mothers. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she studied how the coronavirus affected pregnant people. She also looked into why Black Americans were hit hardest by the disease. In an article for Scientific American, she wrote that the pandemic was not a reason to stop caring for pregnant women.

Awards and Honors

Dr. McLemore has received many awards for her important work:

• 2015 American College of Nurse Midwives Teaching Award
• 2015 Speaking Race to Power Fellow
• 2019 Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing
• 2019 Excellence in Leadership Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses
• 2020 UCSF Campaign Alumni Award

Selected Publications

Dr. McLemore has shared her ideas and research in many places. She has written articles for well-known publications like Vice, the San Francisco Chronicle, and Scientific American.