A sheriff and a doctor team up to map childhood trauma

Nancy S. Hardt, M.D.

Nancy S. Hardt, M.D.

UF Health pathologist and obstetrician and gynecologist Nancy S. Hardt, M.D., and Alachua County Sheriff Sadie Darnell were recently featured on National Public Radio’s “What Shapes Health?” series, which aims to highlight social and environmental factors that affect health.

Hardt and Darnell joined forces to improve the health and welfare of Gainesville residents living in a “hotspot” of poverty, child abuse and domestic violence. Using maps revealing poverty and high crime incidence, the two connected the dots between crime, poverty and health issues within Alachua County and developed ways to help improve health outcomes in the underserved population.

Hardt, who came to the University of Florida in 1983, is a professor in the College of Medicine and directs the college’s Mobile Outreach Clinic and Health Disparities and Service Learning programs.

Learn more about Hardt and Darnell’s work at NPR.org.