Helena Mendes Constante

My research leverages population-based surveys to quantify and map intersectional inequities in health and social outcomes. I aim to ensure that the insights from my work not only inform policy but also directly benefit the communities we collaborate with, driving local-level impact and social change.

I am currently a Research Associate working at the Centre on the Dynamics of Ethnicity (CoDE) at the University of Manchester. I am working alongside Dr Dharmi Kapadia, in partnership with the NHS Race and Health Observatory, to tackle inequalities in severe mental health outcomes.

I hold a PhD in Epidemiology and Public Health from University College London (UCL/UK, 2019) and an MSc in Public Health from the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC/Brazil, 2014).

After my PhD, I successfully applied for two Research Fellowships funded by the two main research funders in Brazil (CAPES and CNPq). The projects I wrote aimed to measure racial and intersectional inequities in health and mental health outcomes using a multilevel approach to understand these injustices.

I also worked for the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ/Brazil) as a Data Analyst for two years, and in three Departments at the University College London (Research Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Political Science Department, and Institute of Neurology) as a Teaching Assistant. Prior to this current job at the UoM, I was a Quantitative Research Associate in the Department of Sociological Studies at the University of Sheffield working on the project entitled 'Storying Life Courses for Intersectional Inclusion: Ethnicity and Wellbeing Across Time and Place' (PI Professor Majella Kilkey), funded under the ESRC’s Inclusive Ageing programme (https://www.ethnicityandunequalageing.ac.uk/)

• Tackling inequities in social and health outcomes using quantitative methods
• Applying an intersectionality approach to research on social and health inequalities
• Dismantling structural oppressions by studying how intersecting forms of marginalisation affect society as a whole, particularly seldom-heard populations.