Quianta Moore of the University of Houston Law Center Class of 2009.
uly 6, 2021 - Quianta Moore, a 2009 alumna of the University of Houston Law Center, recently received support for her work in child health policy to advance the health and wellbeing of children in the form of a $4 million endowment from the Huffington Foundation. Moore currently serves as a Huffington Fellow in Child Health Policy at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy.
“This endowment created sustainability for my children’s health program at Rice University’s Bakers Institute for Public Policy, such that we can more readily respond to emerging societal challenges with empirical research,” she said.
Moore said that endowments serve as a way for academic centers to conduct research while having stable funding. With the funds not tied to a certain project, the programs are free to conduct research and inform policies on relevant issues.
“We have been working on an evidence-based, data-driven plan to inform the allocation of those resources in the state,” Moore said. “For instance, the American Rescue Plan created an opportunity to drastically shift the trajectory of low-income children in Texas.”
After graduating with her Bachelor of Arts in sociology from Cornell University, Moore entered the Baylor College of Medicine hoping to obtain her M.D. During her time in medical school, she realized that lawyers also played an important role in the decisions that affected the practice of medicine.
This combined interest led to Moore receiving a M.D. from the Baylor College of Medicine and a J.D. from the Law Center.
“I loved my time at UHLC,” Moore said. “My law school education expanded my intellect and taught me how to think logically and strategically. I also learned how to write, which has helped tremendously in my career.
“The faculty was incredibly supportive. Dean Sondra Tennessee was particularly supportive in ensuring that as a dual-degree student I still got the full law school experience.”
At the beginning of her career, Moore focused on telemedicine and school-based clinics, but her priorities changed when she became a mother.
“After having my own children and having an opportunity to help a local foundation understand more about early childhood brain development, I realized that almost every major societal inequity resulted from what did or did not occur within the first couple years of life,” she said.
“Early childhood brain development allowed me to use my scientific and medical training in a way that could impact population health and wellbeing.”
Moore advises students to ensure the legal education they obtain challenges them, as it will serve them well in the future.
“Use your education to advocate and improve the community in which you live, while also staying in a place of curiosity so that you continue to learn and grow.”
