Christina Melander

Christina Melander serves as a research public health analyst for RTI, where she specializes in participatory and trauma-informed approaches for research on human trafficking and violence. Her work includes designing, establishing, and facilitating research advisory councils, novel group or community-based data collection, and research engagement opportunities focused on people who have lived-experience. Additionally, she has extensive experience designing, conducting, and analyzing qualitative and mixed-methods data.

Currently, Ms. Melander is involved in multiple projects. These projects include a prevalence study on sex trafficking in Sacramento County, California. She works on an evaluation of programs providing services to Native American victim/survivors of human trafficking and offers technical assistance for projects addressing female genital mutilation/cutting.

Before joining RTI in 2021, Ms. Melander was a Research Fellow for the University of Minnesota’s Urban Research and Outreach-Engagement Center. She is an Adjunct Lecturer at the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School of Public Policy as well, where she teaches a course on community-engaged and participatory research methods and policy advocacy. In addition, Ms. Melander is Spanish proficient.