Anthropology Ph.D. student Anitra Higgins studies how nutrition, toxicology, policy and institutional structures impact on Black and Indigenous peoples’ health and agency
Anitra Higgins
By Jessica Krueger, CLA Student Writer - August 4, 2025
During her undergraduate years at Purdue University, Anitra Higgins was not always sure of what she wanted to do. It became clear to Higgins early on that a degree in biochemistry, the major she had first declared, would not satisfy her long standing fascination with history and culture. To better suit her interests, she swapped biochemistry with health and disease, and added an additional major in anthropology. Energized by her new course of study, Higgins completed an undergraduate research project centered on black soul food and the relationship between health and culture in black communities. That’s where, she said, her passion for medical anthropology and food studies began.
Now a Ph.D. student of applied anthropology at the School of Language, Culture, and Society, Higgins is continuing her research at the intersections of food, health, and community. Working under Dr. Melissa Cheyney and Dr. Lisa Price, she is developing a project that will examine how health policy impacts people with chronic illness and autoimmunity in majority black communities. How, Higgins asks in her research, do people—especially those with lasting health conditions—use community and food to cope under the socioeconomic pressures and barriers to health which exist in our society today?
Higgins chose to attend Oregon State (from which she received the university’s Prestigious Diversity Fellowship) because, as she said in her own words, “I really wanted to learn how to do work within the community and not just do research for research’s sake. I could learn about things all day long, but I felt like I needed to contribute to the communities that I’m a part of and that I want to serve.”
Though still early in her Ph.D. career, for her dissertation Higgins is interested in community care networks (CCCs) and their relation to autoimmunity in black communities. “Though some versions of healthcare exist in Black and Indigenous communities, community care networks may fill in the gaps and provide culturally specific healthcare support. I wanted to look at how CCCs affect the prevalence in autoimmune diseases, like multiple sclerosis and lupus.”
Outside of class, Higgins is working with Black Futures Farm to develop a toolkit for black farmers in Oregon. Located on 1.15 acres in Portland, Black Futures Farm grows fresh produce for local communities and offers a space for black-identified people to gather and reconnect with the land. Higgins will be developing surveys, analyzing data, and visiting other local black-owned farms to identify what resources would be most helpful in aiding black farmers’ success. Once this information is gathered, she will design a digital platform, organize a series of workshops, or plan regular community gatherings to support black farmers as they grow produce, tend land, and confront systemic barriers to food-security and property-ownership.
This is not the first time that Higgins has served her local community—nor will it be the last. After graduating from Purdue, she volunteered with AmeriCorps in her hometown of Memphis, Tennessee, to teach school-age children how to advocate for themselves, build team-based networks, and develop healthy leadership skills. The following year, Higgins managed a local co-op’s SNAP program while pursuing a master’s degree in food studies at Indiana University in Bloomington.
Under the mentorship of Dr. Andrea Wiley and Dr. Frederika Kaestle, Higgins wrote a master’s thesis which examines how socioeconomic factors impact the consumption of ultra-processed foods by minority populations.
Given Higgins’s long resumé of anthropological research and community outreach, no one would know that she had once considered a career in archaeology. While at Purdue, Higgins attended a six week-long archaeology field school but quickly realized that it was not for her. “It was a great experience, I met some cool people, and I would do it again,” she said. “But I was also very certain that archaeology was not what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. And I was okay with that.”
Asked what advice she would give to others trying to find their niche, Higgins replied: “Try anything and everything that you’re interested in as the opportunity allows. Even if you think you might not like it, now you know. It’s not going to be a question mark later on. Even if you don’t think you have the skills or qualifications for it, apply anyway. Because you probably do, or you’ll learn them on the job. Try it, be curious. You’ll never know what will happen.”
“I try to be okay with the uncertainty,” she added, “because I know at some point I’ll figure out where I’m going, and sometimes I don't know where I’m going until I’m there. And that’s okay.”
Once she completes her Ph.D., Higgins hopes to work as an advocate for her community in some way, whether as a policy analyst or through non-profit work. “I just want to help those around me. I would love for something I did to be towards change at the very least.”
By the time she retires, Higgins said, “I just want to be satisfied with whatever I’ve done with my life and to not have any regrets. So, whatever that looks like, however I get there, I just want to be like ‘I did what I needed and I did what I wanted to do,’ and that’s good enough.”