Product of Your (Social) Environment: Police Violence Exposure and Cardiometabolic Risk Among Black Women

Presented by Latesha K. Harris, PhD, RN. We often hear that "people are products of their environment." Dr. Harris's research asks a related but deeper question: how do social realities, including violence exposure and structural inequities become biologically embodied and influence women's cardiometabolic health across the life course? People's opportunities, exposures and health risks are shaped by their environments, but they are not solely determined by them. Health risks are influenced by a complex interplay of lived experience and social realities that influence exposure to stress, adversity and opportunity across the life course. What happens to us, around us, and to the people we know, affects us. In this talk, Dr. Harris shares the personal and scientific motivations behind her work, presents findings from her novel investigation of police violence and cardiometabolic risk among black women, and discusses future directions for research and intervention. Dr. Harris is a clinical associate in the school of nursing and a nursing postdoctoral fellow in the national clinician scholars program at Duke University. Her research focuses on understanding the biological and health consequences of structural inequities among historically marginalized populations, with a particular focus on black women. Her work examines the impact of social determinants of health, chronic stress, and structural inequities on cardiometabolic health and healthy agin across the lifecourse. Dr. Harris emphasizes culturally responsive, equity-centered approaches to promoting health and well-being.