• A person crying while clutching a pillow.

About the Lab

The Racial Trauma Health Lab, founded and developed by Dr. Raja Staggers-Hakim focuses on how the processes of racism, in all forms, impact the overall health of people of color and especially of African Americans. The lab examines existing scholarship on racism and health, conducts secondary analysis using national datasets, collects original survey data, and conducts qualitative interviews to describe various forms and experiences of racism. Racial Trauma Health Lab is interested in understanding the consequences of racism on social, psychological, physiological, and biological changes. Researchers explore behavioral patterns and coping mechanisms that people engage when exposed to racism in different forms, contexts, and amounts immediately and over time.

Core Research Questions

Researchers are interested in several broad questions related to racism and health, including:

  1. What are the multiple pathways through which racism harms health?
  2. What coping strategies do people engage to deal with racism?
  3. How does racial coping impact long term health?
  4. What factors mediate the impact of racism on adverse health?

Areas of Research

  • Racism and Substance Use Disorder in African American Adults
  • Racism and Coping Strategies in African American Adults
  • Racism and Mental Health in African Americans
  • Racism and Quality of Life in African Americans and Indigenous Populations
  • Racism, weight, and dietary practices in African Americans, Latinos, and Indigenous Populations
  • Racism and high-risk sexual behavior in African Americans
  • Media exposure to racism and health in African Americans

Ongoing Projects

  • Racism, Maladaptive Coping and Substance Use Disorder: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
  • Racism and Substance Use Disorder Findings from CARDIA Study.
  • Applying the Racism Health Theory to Breast Cancer Outcomes in Black Women.