John Sullivan

John Sullivan is a doctoral student at the UT Austin School of Social Work. He completed a Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies and Master of Social Work at Arizona State University. John is interested in improving health care and social services for marginalized mobile populations, including migrants and transnational families. John’s research focus is grounded in direct social work practice with detained immigrants in the health units of the Maricopa County Jail in Phoenix, Arizona. He has assisted families at migrant service organizations in rural Mexico and has volunteer experience with Iraqi refugee families resettled to Arizona. In 2013, John was awarded a Fulbright grant to Mexico to research the processes of medical repatriation, or the practice of returning uninsured/undocumented migrants with serious illnesses or injuries from U.S hospitals to countries of origin—and its impact on patient and family well-being. During his research fellowship, John collaborated with health professionals in public hospitals across Central-Southern Mexico as well as faculty at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). John will continue research into cross-border care and service utilization, with a focus on continuity of care for migrants with chronic conditions. He is interested in transdisciplinary efforts to find policy-fixes that honor patient treatment preferences and rights to continued care and family well-being.