Linda Sprague Martinez

Linda Sprague Martinez, Ph.D., is an associate professor and chair of the Macro Department at the Boston University School of Social Work where she teaches courses in community planning, assessment and analysis as well as health equity.  She is interested in examining asset-based strategies to tackle health inequities; as such community engaged research (CEnR) approaches like community based participatory research (CBPR) and youth led participatory action research (YPAR) are central to her work. Having formerly worked in municipal and state governance, and as an adolescent mental health provider, she brings practical expertise in community collaborations designed to engage diverse communities of color and low-income residents in community planning and intervention development. In 2017 she was a Boston Housing Authority, Center for Community Engagement and Civil Rights, Resident Empowerment Coalition, Resident Empowerment Honoree.

Dr. Sprague Martinez has an active community engaged research portfolio. Her community and youth engaged work has been funded by federal agencies as well as foundations and has been featured by local, national and international media outlets.  She is the Co-Director of Community Engagement for the Boston University Clinical Translational Science Institute (UL1TR001430) and for the HEALing Communities Study, Massachusetts (M1DA049412).  In addition, as part of an interdisciplinary research collaborative focused on transportation related air pollution (TRAP) and funded by the National Institute of Environmental Science (NIEHS), she is studying community processes associated with TRAP-related public health action (R01ES026980 & R01ES030289). In addition to her funded research, Dr. Sprague Martinez serves as an External Evaluator for the Boston Public Health Commission’s Boston Youth Resiliency and Recovery Collaborative.  

Dr. Sprague Martinez completed her undergraduate studies at the University of New Hampshire, graduate studies at Rivier College and doctoral studies at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University.  A first-generation college student, she grew up in Southern New Hampshire and has spent the last 17 years living in Boston’s Roxbury neighborhood with her partner, Nilson. They have two sons ages 13 and 10 who keep them on their toes.