top of page

Felicia N. York, Ph.D.

Dr. FY_HS1.jpg

Operations & Engagement Lead

Phone | E-Mail

Dr. Felicia York joined PUSH in 2022 in the role of Operations and Engagement Lead. She obtained her Ph.D. in Communication with a focus on health communication from Texas A&M University. Dr. York is currently working as a postdoctoral fellow in the Jack J. Valenti School of Communication at the University of Houston under the leadership of associate professor and director Dr. Jen Vardeman. Her postdoc research focuses on communication and messaging centering on women's health issues (e.g., pelvic floor disorders, menopause, maternal health).

 

Dr. York’s dissertation, Capturing Black Maternal Voices: A Culture-Centered Approach to Understanding the Health Care Communicative Experiences of African American Mothers, speaks to her intersectional research on women's health and culturally centered communication in healthcare. Specifically, she studies the role that cultural factors (e.g., historical mistrust in the healthcare system, unhealthy diets, racial biases) play in African Americans' decisions to engage in preventive behaviors toward self-care.

 

Dr. York joined PUSH in 2023 in the role of Operations & Engagement Lead and serves on the Fundraising and Grants Committee. She passionately focuses on improving communication between doctors and their patients and how addressing barriers related to the social determinants of health, such as implicit bias in medical care, can mitigate increasing rates of health disparities. Dr. York also has an MA in Communication (Public Relations) from the University of Houston and a BBA and MBA in Accounting from Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas. She is a native Houstonian and continues to seek opportunities to engage communities toward healthy living. Dr. York has two amazing daughters and four grandchildren.

​

​

bottom of page