HELLO, I'M
Jaime Slaughter-Acey.
Epidemiologist & Social Justice Warrior for Health Equity
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Gillings School of Public Health
Chapel Hill, NC
My Expertise
WHERE I FOCUS
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Racial disparities in COVID-19
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Intersectionality and health inequalities
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Urban Health
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Health & place
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Systemic Racism (structural, cultural & intergenerational)
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Colorism (skin tone bias) & Appearance-based bias
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Measurement of racism & discrimination
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Stress, resilience & pregnancy
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Impact of racism on maternal & infant health
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Perinatal healthcare: prenatal care and home visiting
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Neurodevelopmental disorders originating in the perinatal period
About
MY BACKGROUND
I am a maternal & child health (MCH) and social epidemiologist whose work focuses on socio-environmental and psychosocial determinants of women’s and family health across the lifecourse, with emphasis on health equity. My research emphasizes the use of socioecological and life-course approaches with Intersectionality Theory to study and address the ways that systemic racism, both structural and cultural, intersects with other aspects of social identity to create inequalities in MCH and other health outcomes.
My current research, funded by the Russell Sage Foundation and the National Institute of Health (NIH), investigates the social significance of skin color as a driver of prepregnancy cardiometabolic health and birth outcomes for Black women. I am the Principal Investigator of the Interdisciplinary Research Invested in Social Equity (I-RISE) & Health Lab, which aims to integrate social science literature with epidemiologic and system science methods to the study of systemic racism, both structural and cultural, and its intersection with other aspects of social identity to create health and health care inequalities in MCH.
My research, published in major journals, has been widely cited. Most notably, I won the 2020 NIH Matilda White Riley Early Investigator Award for my research on skin tone bias, racial discrimination and prenatal care use.
Education
WHERE I'VE STUDIED
Postdoctoral Fellow, Perinatal & Social Epidemiology
Michigan State University – East Lansing, MI
PhD, Maternal & Child Health Epidemiology
University of Illinois at Chicago – Chicago, IL
MPH, Maternal & Child Health
Tulane University – New Orleans, LA
BS, Ocean Engineering
Texas A&M University – College Station, Tx
Research & Scholarship
MY HIGHLIGHTS
View More On
LIFE-2 Study
Grant Title. Looking Back to Look Forward: Social Environment Across the Life Course, Epigenetics, and Birth Outcomes in Black Families
(NIA R01AG069003)
What We’re Doing
The LIFE-2 Birth Cohort Study is a groundbreaking research initiative led by Dr. Jaime Slaughter-Acey, University of North Carolina, and Dr. Dawn Misra, Michigan State University, both professors of epidemiology.
Our goal is to understand how a Black mother’s lifelong social environment affects her epigenetic makeup—biological changes in how genes function—and how these changes may influence her baby’s health at birth.
We are enrolling 1,000 Black mothers in metro Detroit, collecting detailed information about their lives—from their own birth to their pregnancy today—validated with help from grandmothers. We’ll also analyze biological samples (dried blood spots) collected at birth from both mother and child to study how social conditions leave a mark on the epigenome.
Why LIFE-2 is Unique
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Integration of Lifecourse and Intergenerational Approaches. LIFE-2 assesses maternal exposures from childhood to pregnancy and their effects on infant health.
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Comprehensive Multi-level Data Collection. We examine how factors like neighborhood stress and systemic racism shape health on a cellular level.
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Epigenetic Innovation. We’re linking social conditions directly to biological markers in both mother and infant.
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Representation Matters. Black women are drastically underrepresented in genomic research. LIFE-2 is helping to change that.
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We support team science for public health research, and LIFE-2 serves as a model for future interdisciplinary research.
💙 Support the Work
Help Us Keep the LIFE-2 Study Moving Forward. Our research is grounded in a simple but powerful belief: that Black mothers, babies, and families deserve to thrive. The LIFE-2 Study was designed to build evidence that supports change. Recent political interference has threatened the future of this work, but we’re committed to continuing.
If you'd like to stand with us, you can make a gift through the UNC Department of Epidemiology.
In the “Why I Give” or memo field, please note your gift is in support of Dr. Slaughter-Acey’s work or the LIFE-2 Study.
Every contribution helps us sustain this vital research, train the next generation of equity-minded scientists, and keep pushing for justice.
In The News
As a public health scholar and expert on racism and maternal & child health I am often called upon by the media to bring commentary and perspective regarding a broad range of social, cultural, and health issues. To date I have been featured or mentioned on the following platforms.
Black History Month and the Celebration of Black Joy
We hear stories of struggle all the time — in February, let's uplift stories of celebration.
Let’s sing the praises of Black scholars, like Jaime Slaughter-Acey, PhD, MPH and organizations like Black Mamas Matter, which are working hard to shed light on Black women’s experiences by making sure we’re reflected in data and research.
By Rochaun Meadows-Fernandez
TeenVogue, February 25, 2020
‘The Hungriest Summer’: Without Weekly $600 Checks, More Families May Struggle To Put Food On Tables
As millions of Americans are now out of hundreds of extra dollars in pandemic unemployment benefits, food banks are seeing a surge in food insecurity.
By Kate Raddatz
WCCO CBS Minnesota, July 28, 2020
People of color in Twin Cities Continue to Bear Brunt of Coronavirus
Black and Hispanic Minnesotans are far more likely to be infected than white Minnesotans, state data show.
By Marissa Evans, MaryJo Webster and Michael Corey
StarTribune, August 1, 2020
Awards
WHERE I SHINE
Matilda White Riley Early Stage Investigator Award
NIH Office of Behavioral and Social Science Research
Health Equity Leadership & Mentoring Fellow
University of Minnesota
Delta Omega Honorary Society in Public Health
University of Minnesota
Illinois Public Health Research Predoctoral Fellow
University of Illinois at Chicago
Douglas Passaro Scholar
University of Illinois at Chicago
Membership & Service
WHERE I BELONG