Jenita Parekh, MPH, PhD, is a senior research scientist at Child Trends dedicated to implementing and evaluating evidence-based programs related to sexual adolescent health with a racial equity lens. Dr. Parekh has 15 years of experience conducting implementation and evaluation research, specializing in community-based participatory research (CBPR) and racial equity approaches to research. Dr. Parekh has managed CBPR projects with multiple grassroots community partners. At Child Trends, she directs randomized control trial studies evaluating teen pregnancy prevention programs and process evaluation studies to improve the quality of implementation. She also serves as the co-principal investigator of a study that explores innovative strategies Title X providers can use to improve family planning service delivery to historically excluded youth.

Dr. Parekh also leads trainings nationwide for foundations, universities, government agencies, and research organizations on how to integrate racial equity in research. She is a lead author of “Five guiding principles for integrating racial and ethnic equity in research” and the report, How to Embed a Racial and Ethnic Equity Perspective in Research.

She has presented her work at Campus Community Partnerships for Health, the American Public Health Association, TPP/Title X grantee conferences, and the National Institute of Health Conference of Implementation and Dissemination and is published in Prevention Science, Evaluation and Program Planning, Violence against Women, and the American Journal of Public Health. She served on the faculty at George Washington University’s School of Public Health, teaching community engagement and advocacy to graduate students. She received her PhD in Maternal and Child Health from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.