Christina Yongue

BRIEF BIO

PROFESSIONAL PROFILE

Professor Yongue centers her pedagogy around the concepts presented by Katie Cannon and Paulo Freire who promote the ideas that we must do the work our soul must have, and we must to transform the world through dialogue and reflection about the past so that we can more wisely build the future. These concepts ground her teaching and advising philosophies with students who are discovering their own career pathways.

She began her collegiate journey at Florida A & M University, where she studied pharmacy.  It was a divine conviction that led her to change her focus from individual healthcare to community health.  She completed her undergraduate and graduate degrees in Community Health Education at UNCG. 

During her early career, she traveled the country to train educators on adolescent risky-behavior prevention (e.g., preventing tobacco use initiation).  However, she found a deeper purpose through the social justice work of reducing racial health disparities using anti-racism strategies.  She found an opportunity to fulfill that purpose by working with the Greensboro Health Disparities Collaborative (GHDC).

Professor Yongue has over 16 years of experience as a member of the GHDC, coordinating and managing federally-funded research studies aimed at exploring and eliminating racial disparities in cancer care by making healthcare systems changes.  Specifically, she was the Project Manager for the “Accountability for Cancer Care through Undoing Racism and Equity (ACCURE)” research study, which closed a racial healthcare gap for cancer patients that existed in Greensboro and Pittsburgh.  This research study has been translated to be implemented in another racial health disparities area: maternal and infant health.  Through a new research study funded by PICORI called “Accountability for Care by Undoing Racism 4 Moms (ACURE4Moms),”  she is now serving as the Co-Chair of the “Stakeholder Advisory Board Leading with Equity.” 

While at UNCG, Professor Yongue spearheaded the planning for the first “Social Justice and Health Equity Symposium” in 2018, and Co-Chaired the planning of UNCG’s “Voices for Reproductive Justice” webinar series and conference in 2021.  She was also the Principal Investigator for the Case Study Development Project “Seeking Health Equity: Examining Racism as a Social Determinant of Health.

• MPH in Community Health Education, Department of Public Health Education, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
• B.S. Community Health Education, Department of Public Health Education, University of North Carolina at Greensboro

RESEARCH INTERESTS

PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE and RESEARCH INTERESTS

• Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR)
• Racial health disparities in cancer treatment
• Community leadership development in addressing health disparities using equity strategies
• Institutional/organizational systems changes
• Reproductive health and justice