Global Health and Rights Project Affiliated Researcher

Sociology Department, University of Georgia
2024

Natalia Pires de Vasconcelos is a sociologist and lawyer from São Paulo, Brazil. Her work aims to understand how legal institutions can impact people’s health and well-being, currently focusing on how exposure to the criminal legal system contributes to medical avoidance behavior and mortality. Natalia holds a Ph.D. in Law and a B.A. in Social Sciences from the University of São Paulo, along with an L.L.M. from Yale Law School. She is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in sociology at the University of Georgia, under the mentorship of Dr. Sarah Shannon and Dr. Ron Simons. Her research looks at the impact of privatizing correctional healthcare on mortality in American state prisons, as well as medical avoidance behavior after exposure to the criminal legal system.