Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics Dissertation Defense: Shreya Patel, MPH

Friday, July 31, 2026

10:00 AM-11:00 AM

The Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics is proud to announce the dissertation defense of Shreya Patel, MPH.

Dissertation Title: Postpartum Health, Extreme Heat, and the Urban Environment

Abstract: Maternal and postpartum morbidity and mortality remain significant public health concerns in Philadelphia, with persistent racial and geographic disparities that disproportionately affect Black birthing people.

These disparities may be explained by structural factors, including racial residential segregation, which has produced differential access to resources and differential exposure to environmental hazards across neighborhoods.

The postpartum year remains a vulnerable period for maternal health, as biological recovery from childbirth overlaps with new caregiving responsibilities and psychosocial stressors. This vulnerability may be further exacerbated by climate change, which is increasing in the frequency, duration, and intensity of extreme heat days. Yet, little is known about how extreme heat affects health in the year following childbirth or how neighborhood context modifies these risks.

This dissertation examined the intersection of postpartum health, extreme heat, and the urban environment in Philadelphia through three connected aims: (1) characterizing the spatial distribution of pregnancy-associated mortality, (2) examining the association between extreme heat and morbidity in the late postpartum period, and (3) identifying individual- and neighborhood-level factors that modify heat-related health risks during the late postpartum period.

Dissertation committee: Usama Bilal, MD, PhD (Chair), Harrison Quick, PhD, Jaquelyn Jahn, PhD, Josiah Kephart, PhD, Tarik Benmarhnia, PhD, and Heather H. Burris, MD, MPH

Location: Nesbitt Hall room 719 and via Zoom link here

Contact Information

Nancy Colon-Anderson
nandersondrexel@gmail.com