Faculty Profile

Lisbeth Iglesias-Ríos

Lisbeth Iglesias-Ríos, PhD, MPH, MA

  • Research Investigator

  • Post-Doctoral Fellow in Environmental Toxicology and Epidemiology Program (ETEP) training grant, funded by the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), 2023
  • Post-Doctoral Fellow NIH diversity supplement grant, 2019
  • PhD, Epidemiological Sciences, University of Michigan, 2018
  • MPH,, University of New Mexico, 2020
  • MA, Psychiatry and Medical Psychology, Universidad Autonoma de Barcelona, 2000

Research Interests:

Environmental health, occupational health, social determinants, health equity, community-based participatory research, mixed methods, precarious employment and labor exploitation


Research Projects:

Dr. Iglesias-Rios is the lead investigator of the Michigan Farmworker Project (MFP). Developed in 2019, in collaboration with Dr. Alexis Handal, the goal of this community-based participatory research program is to provide a deeper understanding of the complex working and living conditions of migrant and seasonal farmworkers in the state of Michigan. The MFP seeks to examine the occupational and environmental health exposures experienced by farmworkers in Michigan and relate this understanding to broader social and structural determinants such as precarious employment and labor exploitation.

Iglesias-Rios L, Kort, A., & Handal, A. J. (2024) Precarious Work and Housing for Michigan Farmworkers During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond. Journal of Agromedicine, 1-19. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.umich.edu/10.1080/1059924X.2024.2341803 

Iglesias-Rios L, Valentín-Cortes MA, Marin D, Moberg K, O’Neill MS, Handal AJ. Labor Studies Journal (2023). The Michigan Farmworker Project: A community-based participatory approach to research on precarious employment and labor exploitation of farmworkers. https://doi.org/10.1177/0160449X231196227 

Iglesias-Rios, L, O’Neill, MS and Handal, AJ. (2023). Climate Change, Heat, and Farmworker Health. Workplace Health & Safety 71 (1): 43–43. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/21650799221135581 

Iglesias-Rios, L. (2023). Farmworkers’ vicious cycle of precarious employment, exploitation and climate change. Environmental Health News. https://www.ehn.org/united-farmworkers-2659419671.html  

Handal J. A., *Iglesias-Rios, L. (2023). Fair Housing Access, Affordability, and Quality for Michigan Farmworkers During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond. Report commissioned by the Michigan Department of Civil Rights. https://sph.umich.edu/covid/epidemiology/michigan-farmworker.html 

Iglesias-Rios, L, Marin, DE, Moberg, K and Handal. AJ. (2022). The Michigan Farmworker Project: Development and Implementation of a Collaborative Community-Based Research Project Assessing Precarious Employment and Labor Exploitation. Journal of Community Engagement & Scholarship 15 (1). DOI: https://doi.org/10.54656/jces.v15i1.466 

Handal J. A., *Iglesias-Rios, L., Fleming, J. P., Valentín-Cortés, M., O’Neill, M. (2020). “Essential” but expendable: Farmworkers during the COVID-19 pandemic -The Michigan Farmworker Project. American Journal of Public Health. 110, doi:10.2105/AJPH.2020.305947 

Handal J. A., *Iglesias-Rios, L., Fleming, J. P., O’Neill, M. The Michigan Farmworker Project Policy Brief. (2020). https://sph.umich.edu/covid/epidemiology/michigan-farmworker.html  

*Co-first author- contributed equally to the research

Email: [email protected] 

Address: 6634 SPH I
1415 Washington Heights
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109

For media inquiries: [email protected]

Areas of Expertise: Environmental Health,  Health Equity,  Mental Health,  Occupational Health