Kiana Wilkins is a PhD candidate and graduate research assistant in the Sociology department at Rice University. Kiana's dissertation project seeks to understand American Indian health in urban areas, ranging from how urban American Indians access healthcare and how urban spaces themselves shape health status. Her general research focuses on how various intersections of race, class, gender, indigeneity, and sexuality relate to wellbeing. Using Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance(BRFSS) data, she is currently working on a paper looking at how marital status, gender, and American Indian/ Alaska Native identity shape self-rated health outcomes.

Kiana earned her Bachelor degree in Sociology with a minor in Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies from California State University Long Beach. Correct pronouns are she/her. For more information on Kiana's work please email her at kiana.wilkins@rice.edu.