Dr. Hood has extensive training and experience in community-engaged health disparities research funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), including a two-year NCI-funded traineeship in Eliminating Health Disparities completed in the nationally-recognized Health Communication Research Laboratory (HCRL), formerly at Saint Louis University. Dr. Hood also completed a two-year NCI-funded postdoctoral fellowship in Cancer Health Disparities at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill's Gillings School of Global Public Health.
Dr. Hood’s research agenda has a strong emphasis on addressing chronic disease health disparities in ethnic minority and underserved populations. In particular, her research seeks to identify mechanisms and develop culturally appropriate approaches to increase social support and health communication as critical strategies for promoting chronic disease prevention, coping, and self-management. Dr. Hood values multidisciplinary research collaborations, and has worked in teams to develop and test innovative community-based health promotion interventions in unique settings such as barbershops and family reunions. Dr. Hood’s series of interrelated studies, completed within her Communicating about Health Across Related GEnerations (C.H.A.R.G.E) project, have investigated health information sharing processes and norms in African American familial networks. Dr. Hood's research utilizes mixed-methods, incorporating both qualitative and quantitative methodology, including social network analysis.
- Health Disparities
- Family Health
- Men’s Health
- Health Communication
- Social Support
- Mixed-Methods Research
- Social Network Analysis
- Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR)
