Specialization:
Integrative Anthropological Sciences (IAS)
Education:
Biological Anthropology (B.S.), UC San Diego, 2025
Biography:
As a biocultural anthropologist, I am passionate about understanding the interactions between one's environment and health outcomes, specifically focusing on women's health and early childhood development. Utilizing frameworks like developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD) and evolutionary theory to understand social determinants of health, I am interested in how social support can influence development and wellbeing, especially within the birthing sphere, postpartum, and early childhood. I enjoy using mixed methods frameworks, leveraging interviews and participant observation, as well as biomarker, survey, and population-wide health data. Over the past 5 years, I have worked as a research assistant in the Non Epigenetics Lab, where I have collaborated on multiple research projects focusing on preterm birth, overmedicalization, social support, and acculturative stress in immigrant communities. At UCSB, I will be engaging in research surrounding the role of social support surrounding the perinatal period in collaboration with the Cottage Hospital and local birthing centers. I believe in making research accessible, and utilizing an anthropological lens to analyze medical research in order to create equitable health outcomes for all.
Research Interests:
Social Determinants of Health/Reproductive Ecology/Biocultural Anthropology/Reproductive Justice/ Evolutionary Anthropology/Social Support
Publications:
Lucia C. Rejzek, Annette Lee, Zaira P. Leal Hernandez, Ramya M. Rajagopalan, Amy L. Non, Obstetric views on reduced preterm birth rates early in the COVID-19 pandemic, Social Science & Medicine, Volume 390, 2026, 118855, ISSN 0277-9536, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.118855.
Leal Hernandez, Z.P., Rejzek, L.C., Oliner, J. et al. U.S. preterm birth rates reduced nationwide, particularly among medically-induced deliveries, during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown period. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth (2026). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12884-026-09858-9
Non AL, Rabay CJ, Rejzek LC. Beyond the genome: intergenerational inheritance through epigenetics and other pathways. Epigenomics. 2025 Nov;17(16):1137-1140. doi: 10.1080/17501911.2025.2568370. Epub 2025 Oct 1. PMID: 41030070; PMCID: PMC12562667.