Norlissa M. Cooper, PhD, MSN, BSN, RN, earned her B.S. in nursing from the University of Rochester, her M.S. in nursing with a concentration in education from Georgetown, and her PhD in nursing with a concentration in health policy from the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Cooper works as a Registered Nurse at San Francisco General in San Francisco, California. She has over 13 years of experience in the acute care setting working as a staff nurse, charge nurse, nurse educator, and continuing education committee co-chair. Dr. Cooper is trained as a critical ethnographer and her research agenda focuses on examining the intersections of policy, practice/implementation, and community impact with the purpose of identifying policies that create and/or reinforce institutional and structural racism and contribute to health disparities. Dr. Cooper’s area of expertise is perinatal illicit substance screening policies and practices in the acute care setting.