Area of Emphasis: Sociology of Health and Illness

Advisors: Katy Kozhimannil; Rebecca Shlafer

Education:
Master of Pubic Health, Washington University in St Louis
B.A., American Studies, Macalester College

About Me: 

Abaki Beck (she/her) is a Health Services Research, Policy, and Administration PhD student dedicated to community-driven and community-accountable research to advance Indigenous health equity. She is particularly interested in how incarceration and criminalization influence health outcomes. She currently works as a Graduate Research Assistant for both the Enhanced Perinatal Programs for People in Prisons project and the Center for Indigenous Health's Great Lake Hub. She has also worked as a  freelance writer since 2017, publishing dozens of articles in national media, the 2022 book Aftermath: Life In Post-Roe America from She Writes Press, and the 2023 book Artists Remaking Medicine from Procedure Press.

She has received numerous national and local awards for her work and has been interviewed by the Star Tribune, the Associated Press, St. Louis Public Radio, Teen Vogue, and several podcasts.

She is an enrolled citizen of the Little Shell Chippewa tribe and a descendant of the Blackfeet tribe.

Peer-Reviewed Publications: 

*Indicates author was member of community advisory board

• Beck A, Osman I, Watson A, Branham C,* Seaver B,* Smith A,* Marsh N, Sufrin C, Shlafer RJ. (2025) “It’s gotta be really hard to be a mom inside right now:” A Qualitative Analysis on the Impacts of COVID-19 on Perinatal Support Programs for People in Prison. Health and Justice. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40352-025-00359-z

• Beck A, Osman I, Watson A, Smith A,* Seaver R,* Sufrin C, Shlafer RJ. (2025). “We were on lockdown for pretty much my entire pregnancy”: A qualitative study of pregnancy care in prisons and jails during the COVID-19 pandemic. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 25(1), 815. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12884-025-07908-2

• Osman I, Beck A, Watson A, Shlafer RJ (2025). A Qualitative Review of Organizational COVID-19 Communications and Guidance for Pregnant and Postpartum People who are Incarcerated. Health Equity, 9(1), 305–315. https://doi.org/10.1089/heq.2024.0235 

• Acri M, Buchanan G, Manhart M, Beck A, Knitter A, Sandler B, Roney L. (2023). Triangulating HPV Vaccine Hesitancy from Multiple Perspectives: A Scoping Review. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/m42vs

• Acri M, Beck A, Chun Y, Shannon M, Roll S, & Grinstein-Weiss M. (2022). Predictors of and barriers to receipt of advance premium tax credits. The American Journal of Managed Care, 28(11), 594–599. https://doi.org/10.37765/ajmc.2022.89262

Community Reports: 

*Indicates author was member of community advisory board

• University of Minnesota Community Research Council*, Beck A, Osman, I., Shlafer, R. J. (2025). Participatory Research with People Impacted by Incarceration: A Resource Guide for Researchers and Practitioners. Shlafer Program for Research on Criminal Justice & Health, University of Minnesota Medical School, Department of Pediatrics.

• Pierson, K., Beck A, Thomas, K., Siegler, A., & Shlafer, R. J. (2025). How to Start a Prison Doula Program. Shlafer Program for Research on Criminal Justice & Health, University of Minnesota Medical School, Department of Pediatrics.

• Beck, A., Osman, I., Wilson, S., Marsh, L. N., Zielinski, M., Corbett, A., Siegler, A., & Shlafer, R. (2024). Supporting pregnant and postpartum people in prison: Highlights from a multi-site study. Shlafer Program for Research on Criminal Justice & Health, University of Minnesota Medical School, Department of Pediatrics.

• Maudrie T, Beck A, Anderson O, Walls M, Harvin J, Stately A, LaFloe B,* Vital J,* Thunder R,* Dionne V,* Norris A.* (2024). Cultivating Healthy Futures for the Twin Cities American Indian/Alaska Native Communities: Report on the Health Needs & Priorities of American Indians/Alaska Natives Living in Minneapolis and Saint Paul. Center for Indigenous Health and Native American Community Clinic. Minneapolis, Minnesota.  

• Beck A. (2017). Sokapsksino: Advocacy Guide for Food Sovereignty and Food Security on the Blackfeet Reservation. Saokio Heritage. Blackfeet Reservation, Montana.

• Beck A. (2017). Ahwahsiin: Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Food Sovereignty on the Blackfeet Reservation. Saokio Heritage. Blackfeet Reservation, Montana.

Select Popular Press: 

• "Truth and Reckoning" Fall 2024 Issue and September 4, 2024 online. Yes! Magazine.

• “Parole Requirements Stack the Odds Against Indigenous People,” March 3, 2022, TalkPoverty.

• “The Yurok Tribe Is Using California’s Carbon Offset Program to Buy Back Its Land,” April 19, 2021. Yes! Magazine.

• “Medicaid enrollment programs offer hope for formerly incarcerated individuals and savings for states,” February 20, 2020, Health Affairs Blog.

• “Should fossil fuel companies be held accountable for MMIW?”  October 4, 2019, Yes! Magazine.

• “Missing, Murdered, But Never Forgotten: How Indigenous activists are creating decolonial systems of justice to heal from violence,” Issue #80, Fall 2018, Bitch Magazine.

• “Unnatural Selection: How Racism Warps Scientific Truth,” Issue #76, Fall 2017, Bitch Magazine

• See full list here. 

Contact:
beck1369@umn.edu