London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

Viewing health inequalities through a demographic lens

I grew up on the U.S. - Mexico border, witnessing inequalities in quality of life driven by difference in access to resources. Ever since, I have been interested in reducing inequalities and I was drawn to a public health institution because I believe that you can improve quality of life immensely through health. I liked LSHTM’s focus on health equity and the discourse around decolonising public health, though work remains to be done in this area.

Through my studies in Demography and Health I was drawn to the simplicity and power of measures in demography such as life expectancy to study health inequalities. As a leading demographer Alyson Van Raalte who was a guest lecturer in our class put it - once you see the world through a demographic lens you can’t unsee it.

Building a foundation in demography at LSHTM

LSHTM was the best introduction to demography. The school has a rich history, with influential demographers such as William Brass, whose indirect mortality and fertility estimation methods are still widely used in many low- and middle-income countries. Studying in London also felt significant, given the city's history in epidemiology (John Snow) and the origins of mortality estimation. I had wonderful professors and this experience has really given me a network of epidemiologists, demographers, and public health leaders. This health centric perspective is unique to LSHTM.

Continuing my journey in demographic research

With the support of the wonderful staff, I applied to the European Doctoral School of Demography, an intensive one-year programme in demography, which deepened my initial training. I am in the process of finishing up this programme and preparing to start a PhD in demography at UCL later this year.

Coffee, commutes, and campus Llife

I lived about 45 minutes of Bloomsbury, in South West London and one hot take is that I truly loved the commute to read for school (or many novels), catchup on texts, or simply decompress. Once on campus (by 9:30am most days) I enjoyed coffee breaks with my classmates either in the lovely renovated LSHTM Pumphandle café or on the nearby Store Street on the rare sunny days in London.

• Explore our programmes in Demography & Health:
  • MSc Demography & Health (online)
  • MSc, PG Dip, PG Cert Demography & Health (in-person)
• Explore more Epidemiology and Population Health programmes