We’re excited to welcome Shawnita Sealy-Jefferson, PhD, MPH from The Ohio State University to give our first SPIRIT talk of the spring 2025 semester.

Dr. Sealy-Jefferson will be presenting on “Neighborhood eviction trajectories and odds of moderate and serious psychological distress during pregnancy among African American women”.

Dr. Sealy-Jefferson is a social epidemiologist whose primary research seeks action to combat manifestations of structural racism that limit the human rights of Black families and communities. Dr. Sealy-Jefferson is the Founder, Director, and Principal Investigator of the Social Epidemiology to Eliminate Disparities (SEED) Lab. The mission of the SEED Lab is to conduct high quality epidemiologic research to find solutions to the disproportionate burden of infant mortality among Black women. Specifically, Dr. Sealy-Jefferson’s scholar-activism draws from the Reproductive Justice Framework and seeks to: (1) empirically document associations between systems of oppression and preterm birth (which is the leading cause of infant death), (2) explicate the intervening biologic, social, and psychosocial mechanisms, as well as (3) identify effect modifiers of these associations among Black women. The goal of her scholarship is to inform future intervention studies, policy change, and social activism. To this end, Dr. Sealy-Jefferson is the Principal Investigator of the Social Epidemiology to Combat Unjust Residential Evictions (SECURE) Study, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. In partnership with a Community Advisory Board of Black women leaders, the SECURE study will document, for the first time, the magnitude and severity of court-ordered and illegal residential evictions, as well as their impact on the health of Black families in Metro-Detroit, MI. This mixed-methodology multi-level study will prioritize community power and agency, and center the voices, experiences, and ways of knowing of Black women. The SECURE study is unapologetically, *FOR US, BY US* and our work is grounded in HOUSING IS A HUMAN RIGHT and BLACK LIVES MATTER.