Linda Sprague Martinez, Ph.D.

Faculty Affiliate, Professor in the Department of Medicine, and Director of the Health Disparities Institute at UConn Health

Linda Sprague Martinez is a professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Connecticut’s School of Medicine, director of the Health Disparities Institute at UConn Health, and faculty affiliate at the UConn School of Social Work.

Dr. Sprague Martinez has expertise in health equity and the social determinants of health; community based participatory research (CBPR) and youth led participatory action research (YPAR); photovoice; community assessment and mobilization; and qualitative research methods and analyses. Having formerly worked in municipal and state governance, and as an adolescent mental health provider, Dr. Sprague Martinez brings practical expertise in cross sector collaborations and resident engagement.

Her community and youth engaged work has been funded by federal agencies as well as foundations and has been published in journals such as the American Journal of Public Health, Health Affairs, Clinical and Translational Science, and Progress in Community Health Partnerships. Sprague Martinez is co-director of the Community Engagement Core for the HEALing Communities Study, Massachusetts and received the 2023 Inaugural NIH HEAL Directors Award for Community Partnerships.

She is also funded by MassCPR to lead research and action to advance equity in access Long COVID treatment and information. Recently, she was appointed to a National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, Medicine committee working on a definition for “Long COVID.”

She is past recipient of Boston Housing Authority, Center for Community Engagement and Civil Rights, Resident Empowerment Coalition, Resident Empowerment Honoree for her work engaging public housing residents and graduate students in community planning.

Dr. Sprague Martinez joined the faculty at UConn in 2023. She earned her MA and Ph.D. in social policy from the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University, an MA in clinical mental health counseling from Rivier College, and a BA from the University of New Hampshire.