Robin T Higashi

Robin T Higashi is a medical anthropologist and health services researcher at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, with a focus on School of Public Health initiatives. She specializes in evaluating and optimizing digital health technologies for marginalized populations, particularly Spanish-speaking communities and individuals with limited English proficiency.

• Co-Principal Investigator in NIH R01 studies on avoidable hospital admissions and HIV prevention
• Director of Spanish translation and cognitive interviewing services for public health materials
• Nationally recognized mentor in qualitative and mixed methods research

Research Themes include:

• Equity in multilingual health communication
• Digital health access for vulnerable populations
• Medical anthropology of biomedical systems
• Qualitative evaluation of patient portals
• Language barriers in vaccine distribution
• Health disparities among formerly incarcerated individuals

Key Contributions involve:

• Identifying structural factors in Spanish-speaking patients' portal usage
• Developing culturally appropriate health materials
• Advancing methods for assessing health communication accessibility
• Advocating for language equity in emergency response systems

Her work has been funded through NIH grants including P30 CA142543 and UL1 TR001105, with applications in cancer care, HIV prevention, and veteran health programs.