University of Louisville
Jouett Hall
Louisville, KY 40292
UofL strives to empower communities — promoting equity, eliminating disparities and strengthening the ability of all individuals to achieve well-being and prosperity. Our research focuses on improving educational access and attainment, preventing violence and trauma, and confronting inequities to reduce social, educational, economic and health disparities. We will help create communities where everyone has a voice, a choice and the opportunity to thrive.
Faculty Fellow
Monica Wendel
Monica L. Wendel is the associate dean for public health practice at the School of Public Health & Information Sciences (SPHIS). She was recruited to UofL in 2014 to build the school’s community-engaged research portfolio, as well as its involvement in policy.
Wendel is at the forefront of research in understanding and intervening in social and structural determinants of health. In one notable project, backed by $5.7 million from the Centers for Disease Control, her research team catalyzed a major shift in the national research agenda regarding youth violence, emphasizing a new focus on structural violence as a root cause and employing racial justice strategies as an upstream intervention. Not only have these interventions proven effective, but Wendel and her team have contributed substantially to theory building in the discipline that will influence future research across multiple health inequities for marginalized populations.