Rae Anne Martinez

Martinez Photo
Assistant Professor
Health and Behavioral Sciences
raeanne.martinez@ucdenver.edu

Office Location:

North Classroom 3027B

As an interdisciplinary health scholar, Dr. Martinez aims to integrate expertise in biological and social disciplines to understand how social-structural determinants are embodied – i.e., “get under the skin” – during critical periods of development and may result in later-life health inequities of chronic conditions.  A cross-cutting theme throughout her research is the exploration of how historical and contemporary conceptualizations of race and ethnicity impact epidemiologic methods, scientific communication, and our ability as population health scholars to form a rigorous evidence base.

PhD, Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2023
MSPH, Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2019                            
BS, Molecular & Cellular Biology, Honors College, University of Arizona, 2014
BA, Sociology, University of Arizona 2014    

  • Dennis, A. C., Martinez, R.A., Chung, E., Lodge, E., Wilbur, R. Structural Racism and the Development, Evolution, and Maintenance of Health Inequities: An Expanded Framework for Asian, Black, Hispanic, Indigenous, and White Americans. Soc Sci Med, in press. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.118383
  • Gartner, D. R., Martinez, R.A. (2025) Reflecting on Power: The inadequacies of small sample size techniques through the lens of Indigenous health. Am J Epidemiol, in press. https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwaf097 
  • Martinez, R.A., Andrabi, N., Goodwin, A.N., Wilbur, R.E., Smith, N.R., Zivich, P.N. (2024) Martinez et al. Respond to “Race, ethnicity and racism in epidemiologic research: Perspectives from Public Health Critical Race Praxis (PHCRP). Am J Epidemiol, 194(4):936-940. https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwae259   
  • Martinez, R.A., Howard, A.G., Fernández-Rhodes, L., Maselko, J., Pence, B., Dhingra, R., Galea, S., Uddin, M., Wildman, D.E., Aiello, A. (2024) Does biological age mediate the relationship between childhood adversity and depression? Insights from the Detroit Neighborhood Health Study. Soc Sci Med, 340:116440. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.116440
  • Martinez, R.A., Andrabi, N., Goodwin, A.N., Wilbur, R.E., Smith, N.R., Zivich, P.N. (2023) Conceptualization, operationalization, and utilization of race and ethnicity in major epidemiology journals 1995-2018: a systematic review. Am J Epidemiol, 192(3): 483-396. https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwac146 
  • Martinez, R.A., Smith, N.R., Wilbur, R.E., Andrabi, N., Goodwin, A.N., Zivich, P.N. (2023) Threats to equity: Missing methodological details about race and ethnicity. Health Affairs Forefront. https://doi.org/10.1377/forefront.20230310.613486
  • Dennis, A. C., Chung, E., Lodge, E., Martinez, R.A., Wilbur, R. (2021) “Looking Back to Leap Forward: A Framework for Operationalizing the Structural Racism Construct in Minority Health Research.” Ethn Dis, 31(Suppl 1): 301-310. https://doi.org/10.18865/ed.31.S1.301