Program for Research on Black Americans

Harold W. Neighbors, Director
Cleopatra H. Caldwell	Carmen Green	Daphna Oyserman
Letha Chadiha	James S. Jackson	Robert M. Sellers
Linda M. Chatters	Sean Joe	Robert J. Taylor
Briggett Ford	Laura Kohn-Wood	Steven J. Trierweiler
Hector Gonzalez	Randolph Nesse


	Harold W. Neighbors Director, Program for Research on Black Americans Faculty Associate, Research Center for Group Dynamics Associate Professor of Health Behavior and Health Education, School of Public Health Director, Center for Research on Ethnicity, Culture, and Health (CRECH), School of Public Health Director, Paul B. Cornely Postdoctoral Program, School of Public Health M.A., Social Psychology, 1979, University of Michigan Ph.D., Social Psychology, 1982, University of Michigan Harold W. Neighbors' research interests and areas of publication include psychiatric epidemiology with an emphasis on ethnic and cultural influences on the assessment (diagnosis and case-finding) of mental disorder, and the utilization of informal and professional services by African Americans. His most recent publications focus on the role of African American ministers as a primary help source among African Americans seeking help for emotional problems, the impact of semi-structured diagnostic instruments on black-white differences in depression and schizophrenia, and the role of goal-striving stress on African American mental health. He is co-editor (with James S. Jackson) of the book, Mental Health in Black America (1996), and is Principal Investigator of the NIH-funded CRECH Doctoral Training Program, Promoting Ethnic Diversity in Public Health Training.
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	Cleopatra H. Caldwell Co-Associate Director, Program for Research on Black Americans Assistant Professor of Health Behavior and Health Education Research Investigator and Lecturer, African American Mental Health Research Center Research Center for Group Dynamics & Psychology Department M.A., Human Development, 1975, Wayne State University A.M., Psychology, 1983, University of Michigan Ph.D., Social Psychology, 1986, University of Michigan Cleopatra Howard Caldwell's research interests involve the mental health risks and opportunities involved in early childbearing, perspectives of multiple family members who have been affected by the birth of a baby to a teenage mother, and black churches as community-based institutional support systems. Some of her recent publications include 'Social Networks: Community-based institutional supports for Black women', in N.J. Burgess & E. Brown's African American women: An ecological perspective (2000), and 'Culturally-competent research methods in African American communities: An update', in R. Jones' Advances in African American Psychology (1999).
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	Letha Chadiha Associate Professor of Social Work B.S., 1965, Tuskegee Institute, Tuskegee Institute M.A., Anthropology, 1970, Washington State Universit M.S.W., Social Work, 1985, University of Michigan Ph.D., Social Work and Anthropology, 1989, University of Michigan Associate Professor Letha Chadiha's main research interests are family relations of African Americans. With funds received for a research planning initiative from the University's Office of the Vice President for Research, Chadiha is using qualitative data collected from caregivers, elderly persons, and agency providers to plan and implement a stress and health management program for African American caregivers living in metropolitan Detroit. She was principal investigator from 1999 to 2004 for a grant received from the National Institute on Aging and the Office for Research on Women's Health that focused on the mental health, social functioning, and service use of urban and rural African American caregivers. In another study, she developed and implemented an empowerment intervention with an urban sample of African American women caregivers. Other areas of research/scholarly interest: multicultural issues, social justice, ethnic aging, social work research, marriage relations of African American and White newlyweds, the informal post-hospital home care of African American and White elderly, family caregiving of African American women to older African Americans.
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	Linda M. Chatters Faculty Associate, Program for Research on Black Americans Professor, School of Public Health, Department of Health Behavior and Health Education Associate Professor, School of Social Work Faculty Associate, Center for Research on Ethnicity, Culture, and Health A.B., Psychology, 1975, University of California, Berkeley Ph.D., Psychology, 1983, University of Michigan Linda M. Chatters' research interests encompass family and church-based social support and the relationship between religious involvement and health. Her recent works include the co-authored book (with Robert Taylor and Jeff Levin) Religion in the Lives of African Americans: Social, Psychological and Health Perspectives. Recent articles include" Social support, traumatic events and psychological distress among African Americans" in Journal of Marriage and Family and "Supportive relationships with church members among African Americans" appearing in Family Relations (both co-authored with Karen Lincoln and Robert Joseph Taylor) and “Religious and Spiritual Involvement Among Older African Americans, Caribbean Blacks, and Non-Hispanic Whites: Findings From the National Survey of American Life” and “Religious Participation Among Older Black Caribbeans in the United States” (both co-authored with Robert Joseph Taylor and James S. Jackson). Dr. Chatters is a Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America (Behavioral and Social Sciences Section). She is also Designated by Thomson-ISI as a Highly Cited Researcher in the Category of General Social Sciences. ISI Author Publication Number A0347-2004-0.Dr. Chatters is currently Principal Investigator for the grant, Religious Involvement Among Older African Americans funded by the National Institute on Aging.
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	Briggett Ford Assistant Professor of Social Work Faculty Associate, Research Center for Group Dynamics, Institute for Social Researach B.A., English and Psychology, 1986, University of Michigan , Ann Arbor , MI M.S.W., 1989, University of Michigan , Ann Arbor , MI M.P.H., 1998, University of Pittsburgh , PA Ph.D., Social Work, 1998, University of Pittsburgh , PA Briggett Ford received her Ph.D. in Social Work from the University of Pittsburgh in 1998. Dr Ford's research focuses on psychiatric risk factors among African-Americans, including the study of psychiatric diagnosis and mental health treatment effectiveness. Her research interests also include examining the influence that exposure to violence and trauma has upon the mental health of African-Americans. Currently Dr. Ford is involved in the analysis of data from the National Survey of American Life. Dr. Ford is also involved in examining ways to reduce the disparity in infant mortality by examining ways to develop effective prenatal interventions with African American women.
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	Hector Gonzalez Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Public Health Sciences, Wayne State University Assistant Research Scientist, Epidemiology Department, School of Public Health, University of Michigan Dr. González’ primary research objectives are to determine modifiable risk factors for disability and to develop and implement cost-effect methods for reducing public health burdens, particularly in disadvantaged populations. Since his clinical and research fellowship at the University of California, Davis, Department of Neurology and later as faculty in the Department of Preventive Medicine and Epidemiology, he has been a co-investigator of the Sacramento Area Latino Study on Aging (SALSA). Work in this prospective cohort study of Aging in older Mexican Americans formed his research objectives into research foci on the leading determinants of morbidity facing the U.S. and global populations, vascular disease and depression. Dr. González is pursuing his research agenda as Principal Investigator of a National Institute of Mental Health funded study to examine Vascular Depression and Function in Older Latinos. In addition, he is co-investigator of the NIMH sponsored National Latino Asian American Survey, which is a cross-sectional, psychiatric epidemiologic study in a nationally representative sample of Latinos and Asian Americans.
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	Carmen Green Associate Professor of Anesthesiology, Medical School Faculty Associate, Research Center for Group Dynamics B.S.,University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI Michigan State University College of Human Medicine Dr. Green is an Attending Physician in the Multidisciplinary Pain Center, and serves on the Department of Anesthesiology's Education and Research Committee. Administratively, Dr. Green serves as Medical Director for the Acute Pain Service within the Department of Anesthesiology Multidisciplinary Pain Center. Dr. Green's health services research agenda focuses on 1) racial, ethnic, age, gender, and social stratification variables on pain management outcomes; 2) quality of life and outcomes for patients with acute, cancer, and chronic pain; 3) physician variability in pain management decision-making; 4) quality of care and access to pain management; and 5) graduate and continuing medical education in pain management.
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	James S. Jackson Research Professor, Research Center for Group Dynamics Professor of Psychology Director of the Institute for Social Research M.A., Psychology, 1970, University of Toledo Ph.D., Social Psychology, 1972, Wayne State University Research efforts include conducting national and international surveys of black populations focusing on racial and ethnic influences on life course development, attitude change, reciprocity, social support, physical and mental health and coping. Jackson is currently principal investigator of one of the most extensive social, political, economic, and mental and physical health studies of the African American and Caribbean populations ever conducted, "The National Survey of American Life" and the "The Family Survey across Generations and Nations," and the "National Study of Ethnic Pluralism and Politics." Teaching centers on social factors in health, race and racism, and social exchange and social influences.
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	Sean Joe Faculty Associate, Research Center for Group Dynamics Assistant Professor, School of Social Work Assistant Professor, Psychiatry, University of Michigan Medical School Director, Emerging Scholars Interdisciplinary Network B.A, 1991 Africana Studies, State University of New York at Stony Brook M.S.W, 1994 Social Welfare, State University of New York at Stony Brook Ph.D., 1999 Social Work, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Dr. Joe's current research interests focuses on developing a father focused family-based interventions to prevent urban African-American adolescent males from engaging in multiple forms of self-destructive behaviors, including suicidal behavior. Dr. Joe co-chairs the Emerging Scholars Interdisciplinary Network's Research study Group on African- American Suicide. He also has significant interest in theoretical and methodological issues related to community level intervention research to address disparities, community organizing, and positive youth development.
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	Laura Kohn-Wood Associate Professor, Department of Clinical Psychology Faculty Associate, Program for Research on Black Americans B.S., Psychology, Howard University, 1990M.A., Clinical Psychology, University of Virginia, 1993 Ph.D., Clinical Psychology, University of Virginia, May 1996. Minor Area: Community Psychology Dr. Kohn-Wood's research is broadly related psychopathology, in particular, African American populations, gender and ethnic differences in etiology and expression of symptoms, and contextual/familial risk factors. Also, she is investigating questions related to mental health services and underserved populations including utilization, barriers to care and intervention development.
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	Randolph Nesse Research Professor, Research Center for Group Dynamics , ISR Professor of Psychiatry, University of Michigan Medical School Professor of Psychology, University of Michigan Director, Evolution and Human Adaptation Program, Research Center for Group Dynamics M.D., 1974, University of Michigan Medical School Dr. Nesse's research focuses on the evolutionary origins and functions of the emotions, especially low mood and anxiety. He is involved in a major study of bereavement, and an attempt to understand how mood helps to regulate choice of goals, and how and why depression arises when people pursue goals they cannot reach. He has a background and continuing interest in the neuroendocrinology of stress and the life circumstances that arouse stress. He has helped to develop the field of Darwinian medicine, and to organize the Evolution and Human Adaptation Program at the University of Michigan. He teaches courses on evolution and psychiatry and a weekly seminar on interviewing.
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	Daphna Oyserman Research Professor, Research Center for Group Dynamics Professor of Psychology and Professor of Social Work M.S.W., 1983, Hebrew University, Jerusalem M.A., Social Psychology, 1985, University of Michigan Ph.D., Social Work & Social Psychology, 1987, University of Michigan How do social and cultural contexts shape the sense we make of ourselves? In what ways does self-concept (the way we think about ourselves) influence how we think generally? My research focuses on the processes by which social and cultural contexts set up and afford particular ways of making sense of ones' self; create meaning; and structure perceived possibilities. Specific research includes studies of antecedents and consequences of self-concept and racial-ethnic identity. A second line of interest focuses on preventive interventions, including developing theoretical frameworks to understand the process of risk and how it can be reduced and frameworks for understanding how culture, race, place, and developmental phase influence the generalizability of interventions.
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	Robert M. Sellers Faculty Associate, Research Center for Group Dynamics Associate Professor of Psychology B.A., Psychology, 1985, Howard University Ph.D., Social Psychology, 1990,University of Michigan Current research focuses on the influence of the interaction between person characteristics and contextual factors on adjustment and behavior. Specific interest focus in two areas. The first area examines the significance and meaning that African Americans attribute to race in their self-definition. This research has resulted in a conceptual framework for the investigation of African American racial identity. The second area of research focuses on factors associated with the academic and social development of college athletes. Particular attention has been placed on the role of individual motivation as well as sociodemographic and structural forces.
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	Robert J. Taylor Faculty Associate, Research Center for Group Dynamics Associate Dean for Research and Sheila Ford Collegiate Professor of Social Work B.A., Sociology, 1974, Northwestern University M.S.W., 1976, University of Michigan Ph.D., Social Work and Sociology, 1983, University of Michigan Robert Joseph Taylor is the Sheila Feld Collegiate Professor of Social Work and the School's Associate Dean for Research. He is a Faculty Associate with the Program for Research on Black Americans at the Institute for Social Research and the Center for Afro-American and African Studies. He also is affiliated with the Center for Research on Race, Religion and Health. Professor Taylor has published extensively on the informal social support networks (i.e. family, friends, and church members) of adult and elderly Black Americans. He has been Principal Investigator of several grants from the National Institute on Aging which examine the role of religion in the lives of Black and White elderly adults. He is also a Co-Prinicipal Investigator of the National Survey of American Life. He has edited two books: Family Life in Black America (1997) and Aging in Black America (1993), with James S. Jackson and Linda M. Chatters. He is the founding editor of African American Research Perspectives and has been on several editorial boards including the Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences, Journal of Marriage and the Family, and Family Relations.
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	Steven J. Trierweiler Associate Research Scientist, Research Center for Group Dynamics Associate Professor of Psychology A.M., Clinical Psychology, 1980, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Ph.D., Clinical Psychology, 1984, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Research focuses on interpersonal perception, cognition, and judgment; and scientific thinking in applied contexts. Current work involves (1) Clinical judgment and decision making in psychodiagnostic interviewing in a cross racial/ethnic context; (2) interpersonal event memory as realized in psychotherapeutic and supervisory narratives, and the ways clinicians access and derive clinical hypotheses based on such narratives; (3) interpersonal perception, cognition and interaction in couples and families. Teaching emphasizes (1) the development of critical thinking and inquiry skills in clinical psychology students via training in scientific methodology -- including philosophy of science, traditional research design and statistics, measurement theory, qualitative research methods, and evaluation research; and (2) training models for integrating scientific and clinical thinking in psychological practice.