Shawnita Sealy-Jefferson, PhD, MPH

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. Dr. Sealy-Jefferson’s scholar-activism draws from the Reproductive Justice Framework and seeks to empirically document associations between systems of oppression and preterm birth; explicate the intervening biologic, social and psychosocial mechanisms; and 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.

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 is documenting the magnitude and severity of court-ordered and illegal residential evictions, as well as their impact on the health of Black families in Detroit. This mixed-methodology multi-level study prioritizes community power and agency and centers the voices, experiences and ways of knowing of Black women. 

Reproductive Justice, social epidemiology, adverse birth and maternal outcomes, Black/African American families and communities

• Postdoctoral Fellowship, Wayne State University
• PhD, Epidemiological Sciences, University of Michigan, School of Public Health
• MPH, Public Health Practice, Wayne State University
• BS, Clinical Laboratory Science, Wayne State University

• PUBHEPI 4410: Conceptual Foundations of Social Epidemiology
• PUBHEPI 6410: Principles of Epidemiology

1. Sealy-Jefferson, S., Roseland, M., Cote, M., Lehman, A., Whitsel, E.A., Booza, J., Simon, M., Rural-Urban Residence and Stroke Risk and Severity in Postmenopausal Women: Women’s Health Initiative. (in-press) Women’s Health Reports.
2. Sealy-Jefferson, S., B. Butler*, T. Price-Spratlen, R. K. Dailey and D. P. Misra (2020). "Neighborhood-Level Mass Incarceration and Future Preterm Birth Risk among African American Women." J Urban Health 97(2): 271-278.
3. Sealy-Jefferson, S. and D. P. Misra (2019). "Neighborhood Tax Foreclosures, Educational Attainment, and Preterm Birth among Urban African American Women." Int J Environ Res Public Health 16(6): 904.
4. Sealy-Jefferson, S., F. N. Mustafaa and D. P. Misra (2019). "Early-life neighborhood context, perceived stress, and preterm birth in African American Women." SSM Popul Health 7: 100362.
5. Sealy-Jefferson, S., M. E. Roseland, M. L. Cote, A. Lehman, E. A. Whitsel, F. N. Mustafaa, J. Booza and M. S. Simon (2019). "Rural-Urban Residence and Stage at Breast Cancer Diagnosis Among Postmenopausal Women: The Women's Health Initiative." J Womens Health (Larchmt) 28(2): 276-283.
6. Sealy-Jefferson, S., M. L. Cote, R. T. Chlebowski, K. M. Rexrode and M. S. Simon (2018). "Post-Stroke Cancer Risk among Postmenopausal Women: The Women's Health Initiative." Womens Health Issues 28(1): 29-34.
7. Sealy-Jefferson, S., L. Messer, J. Slaughter-Acey and D. P. Misra (2017). "Inter-relationships between objective and subjective measures of the residential environment among urban African American women." Ann Epidemiol 27(3): 164-168.
8. Sealy-Jefferson, S., J. Slaughter-Acey, C. H. Caldwell, J. Kwarteng and D. P. Misra (2016). "Neighborhood Disadvantage and Preterm Delivery in Urban African Americans: The Moderating Role of Religious Coping." SSM Popul Health 2: 656-661.
9. Sealy-Jefferson, S., C. Giurgescu, J. Slaughter-Acey, C. Caldwell and D. Misra (2016). "Neighborhood Context and Preterm Delivery among African American Women: the Mediating Role of Psychosocial Factors." J Urban Health 93(6): 984-996.