Aantaki Raisa

Dr. Aantaki Raisa is a postdoctoral research associate in Public Health Division of Public Health Science at Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine.  Dr. Raisa was originally from Bangladesh and has a PhD in Health Communication with a passion for health equity research. Dr. Raisa has developed an innovative eHealth intervention using virtual health assistants to promote colorectal cancer screening among South Asian immigrants in the U.S.  She has also conducted formative research to understand the cultural needs of the intended population and went to New York City to Florida to collect data from the most diverse South Asian immigrant population possible. Dr. Raisa’s interests include developing and disseminating empirically evaluated culturally and theoretically grounded interventions to reduce cancer-related health disparities faced by the immigrant and minoritized populations. Some of her current research includes developing communication tools for epigenetic information to prevent any perpetuation of discriminatory, deterministic beliefs about individuals, especially from minoritized groups.