CRHSJ

Doctors at UAMS kneeling in front of medical building

Center for Research, Health, and Social Justice

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research team
Members of the research team include, (back row, l-r) Keneshia Bryant-Moore, PhD, FNP-BC, RN, Pebbles Fagan, PhD, Carol Cornell, PhD, Linda Luster and Christina Hamilton; (front) Elizabeth Taylor, Elaine T. Prewitt, DrPH, and Tiffany Haynes, PhD. Pictured separately are, from top: Mark Williams, PhD, Chris Long, PhD, and Mignonne Guy, PhD (Virginia Commonwealth University).

Arkansas, located in the Southern region of the United States, ranks among the lowest in the nation in overall health outcomes and in cancer and cardiovascular disease (CVD). Within Arkansas, place- and race-based disparities are quite profound, and rural residents and Blacks/African Americans fare the worst. Forty-one percent of Arkansans live in rural areas where socioeconomic distress, chronic disease risk factors, and social structural factors underlying these disparities have not changed in decades. Poverty and food insecurity are higher, and wages, employment opportunities and health care access are lower in rural than in urban Arkansas. Blacks/African Americans have the highest cancer and CVD mortality rates, the worst socioeconomic indicators, and have experienced enormous historic trauma, particularly in the Delta regions. 

The Center for Research, Health, and Social Justice (CRHSJ) uses a social justice framework to conduct research, engage communities, and build a diverse and competent research workforce to reduce disparities in cancer and cardiovascular disease. Social justice focuses on improving lives and wellbeing of historically marginalized and oppressed groups that face racism and discrimination. The CRHSJ is designed to become a national model for eliminating chronic disease disparities using social-justice-informed research, training, and community engagement.

CRHSJ Online
 

Primary Institution
 

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Logo for University of Arkansas Medical Sciences

 

Partner Institutions

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Logo for the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

4301 W. Markham St.
Little Rock, AR 72205
United States

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Logo for the Arkansas Department of Health

Arkansas Department of Health

4815 W. Markham St.
Little Rock, AR 72205
United States

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Virginia Commonwealth University

907 Floyd Ave.
Richmond, VA 23284
United States

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Eastern Carolina University

E 5th St.
Greenville, NC 27858
United States

Projects

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Evaluation of a Comprehensive School Nutrition Enrichment Intervention (CSNEI) in Rural School Districts
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University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

4301 W. Markham St.
Little Rock, AR 72205
United States

CRHSJ: #1
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FRESH Delivers: An Innovative Approach to Reducing Tobacco Use Among Rural Black/African American Smokers
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Logo for the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

4301 W. Markham St.
Little Rock, AR 72205
United States

CRHSJ: #2
Photo of a CRHS researcher in a barbershop
Reducing Alcohol Use among Black Men: Barbershop SBIRT
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Logo for the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

4301 W. Markham St.
Little Rock, AR 72205
United States

CRHSJ: #3
Cigarette smoking
Black Health Block Quit and Screen Project
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Logo for the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

4301 W. Markham St.
Little Rock, AR 72205
United States

CRHSJ: #4

Team

Leadership

Carol Ellen Cornell, PhD
Principal Investigator (MPI)
Pebbles Fagan, PhD, MPH
Principal Investigator (MPI)

Projects

Christopher Long
Principal Investigator
Kelsey Bounds
Project Manager
Bonnie Faitak
Project Manager
Joe Thompson, MD, MPH
Team Member
Rachel Novotny, MS, PhD
Team Member
Anthony Goudie, PhD
Team Member
James Selig, PhD
Team Member
Geoffrey Curran, PhD
Team Member
Bryan Law
Team Member
Stephanie Alsbrook, LD, MS, RD
Team Member
Ally Mrachek
Team Member
Pebbles Fagan, PhD, MPH
Principal Investigator
Katherine Donald
Executive Director, Coalition for a Tobacco Free Arkansas
Dina Jones, PhD, MPH
Co-Investigator
Ruofei Du, PhD, MS
Co-Investigator
Elaine Prewitt, DrPH
Co-Investigator
Mohammad Orloff, PhD
Co-Investigator
Ashley Clawson, PhD
Co-Investigator
Sandilyn Bullock, MPH
Project Director
Maher Alsaadi
Research Assistant
Heather Robeson
Lab Technician
Tiffany Haynes, PhD
Principal Investigator
Michael Cucciare, PhD
Alcohol Treatment
Taren Swindle, PhD
Implementation Science
James Selig, PhD
Biostatistician
Anna Davis
Community Health Worker Training
Camille Hart, MPH
Project Manager
Tamier Wells, MPH
Program Coordinator
Damon Hart
Steering Committee Member
Danny Baxter
Steering Committee Member
Darnell Rice
Steering Committee Member
Roderick Vincent
Steering Committee Member
Pebbles Fagan, PhD, MPH
Project Lead
Mignonne C. Guy, PhD
Project Lead
Ashley Clawson, PhD
Project Lead
Katherine Donald
Co-Investigator
Ruofei Du, PhD, MS
Co-Investigator
Mohammad Orloff, PhD
Co-Investigator
Eric Soule, PhD
Co-Investigator
Afsheen Hasan, PhD
Postdoc

Cores

Pebbles Fagan, PhD, MPH
Co-Director
Mark Williams
Co-Director
Carol Ellen Cornell, PhD
Director
Elaine Prewitt, DrPH
Deputy Director
Linda Luster, CGM, MSHS
Deputy Director
Ashley Clawson, PhD
Co-Investigator
Valandra Oliver-German, DrPH
Director
Elizabeth Taylor
Director
Sandra Cooper
Community Health Worker
Wonda Miller
Community Health Worker
Sean Young, PhD
Co-Investigator
Mignonne C. Guy, PhD
Director
Dina Jones, PhD, MPH
Co-Investigator
Eric Soule, PhD
Co-Investigator

Working Groups

James Selig, PhD
Member
Ruofei Du, PhD, MS
Member
Valandra Oliver-German, DrPH
Member
Pebbles Fagan, PhD, MPH
Member
Carol Ellen Cornell, PhD
Member
Kristina Hood, PhD
Member
Mark Williams
Member
Mignonne C. Guy, PhD
Member
Kwame Abdul-Bey
Member
Loretta Alexander
Member
Camille Hart, MPH
Member
Linda Luster, CGM, MSHS
Kelsey Bounds
Member
Carol Ellen Cornell, PhD
Member
Pebbles Fagan, PhD, MPH
Member
Matthew Moltz
Member

Partner Institutions

Tiffany Haynes, PhD
Carol Ellen Cornell, PhD
Pebbles Fagan, PhD, MPH
Valandra Oliver-German, DrPH
Mark Williams
Camille Hart, MPH
Elizabeth Taylor
Dina Jones, PhD, MPH
Wonda Miller
Sandra Cooper
Ruofei Du, PhD, MS
James Selig, PhD
Kelsey Bounds
Bonnie Faitak
Mignonne C. Guy, PhD
Sean Young, PhD
Eric Soule, PhD
Elaine Prewitt, DrPH
Christopher Long
Linda Luster, CGM, MSHS
Sandilyn Bullock, MPH
Matthew Moltz
KJ Bryant, BS, BSN, MSN, PhD
Ashley Clawson, PhD
Kenya Eddings, MPH
Mignonne C. Guy, PhD
Kristina Hood, PhD
Eric Soule, PhD