Biography

My primary research interests include understanding the social and contextual factors influencing pregnancy and birth, and how these factors contribute to existing racial/ethnic health disparities in the US. Some additional research interests include examining neighborhood context and health, community-based participatory research techniques and the effects of slavery on current health disparities in the US. I received my PhD in Maternal and Child Health with a specialization in Perinatal Epidemiology at the University of North Carolina's (UNC) Gillings School of Global Public Health. I received a pre-doctoral grant from the National Institutes of Health to complete my doctoral studies and dissertation research, which investigated the effects of institutional racism, perceived discrimination and other social stressors on the risk of preterm birth. My MPH was in Maternal and Child Health from UNC, and my BA was in Sociology/Anthropology Pre-Med from Spelman College.