Elena Ruíz

Dr. Elena Ruíz (she/her) is the founder and director of the Research Institute for Structural Change (RISC) at Michigan State University. She is a political theorist working on systemic violence and violence prevention in public health. She holds a tenured faculty appointment in philosophy (with a joint appointment in the CAL Dean’s Office, Research and Scholarship unit) and has affiliations in American Indian and Indigenous Studies, Chicano and Latino Studies, The Research Consortium on Gender-Based Violence, and The Center for Gender in a Global Context at MSU.

At RISC, Dr. Ruíz develops policy-focused research and social action research programs in coordination with community organizations dedicated to structural change, focusing on health disparities and promoting equitable health policy for survivors of gender-based violence. Dr. Ruíz serves as an advocate for survivors and has authored dozens of articles in leading journals and publications on gender-based violence and structural oppression. She has served as Principal Researcher on Gender-Based Violence for the MeToo organization and is the author of Structural Violence (Oxford University Press). She is currently leading a national project to update the Survivor’s Agenda in 2026 and works as an organizer for community-led anti-violence coalitions.

Dr. Ruíz is currently accepting dual enrollment (JD, MD, MPH, PPA) doctoral students working on structural and policy-based solutions for gender-based violence (sexual assault, rape, DV, IPV, TDV) in law and healthcare.