Natalie D. Hernandez, PhD, MPH
Associate Professor and Executive Director
Morehouse School of Medicine, Center for Maternal Health Equity

Dr. Hernandez is an Associate Professor in the Department of Community Health and Preventive Medicine and the Executive Director of the Center for Maternal Health Equity at Morehouse School of Medicine. Dr. Hernandez received her Master of Public Health from Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health and a Bachelor of Arts in anthropology from Stony Brook University in New York. She earned her PhD in public health as well as a graduate certificate in interdisciplinary women’s health from the University of South Florida. Dr. Hernandez has more than 16 years of experience implementing population health that engages diverse stakeholder groups. To advance science toward the elimination of women’s health inequities, Dr. Hernandez has obtained extramural funding to develop multiple lines of research in the context of maternal and women’s health, specifically with Black and Latinx populations. Dr. Hernandez’s research encompassed utilization of CBPR approaches and takes a multi-sectoral and multi-level translational approach to understanding the myriad causes of women’s health inequities. Additionally, her research explores the integration of technology to advance women’s health and provides easy access to maternal and women’s through patient navigation, mobile health interventions, telehealth approaches, and remote monitoring. Dr. Hernandez has laid the groundwork for research in maternal health by establishing partnerships with local and national organizations dedicated to maternal morbidity and mortality disparities, evaluating maternal health interventions and programs, and validating effective measures of maternal mental health, medical mistrust, as well as psychosocial factors.

Dr. Hernandez currently sits on Georgia’s Maternal Mortality Review Committee, Georgia PRAMS Steering Committee, Georgia Improving Postpartum Care Affinity Group, and on various maternal and child health organizations. She also sits on national organizations including the American Public Health Association Committee on Health Equity, Health Disparities Taskforce of the National Preeclampsia Foundation, and many others. Dr. Hernandez has presented her work at various international, national, state, and local conferences.