Dr. Adaobi Anakwe studies the preconception (and perinatal) health of men and women with the goal of improving health outcomes for Black families and communities. Currently, her work seeks to address disparities in maternal and child health outcomes by focusing on paternal contributions to these disparities. She applies a health equity lens, with emphasis on the effects of intersecting roles/identities, and social, structural, and political determinants, to examine Black men’s health prior to having pregnancies with their partner(s), their health development across the life course, and the implications of these changes for mothers, children, and men themselves. Her expertise is in Black paternal health.

She received her PhD in Epidemiology, with emphasis in maternal and child health, from Saint Louis University and a master’s in public health from the University of Missouri. She was a Preparing Future Faculty, for Inclusive Excellence (PFFIE) postdoctoral scholar at the University of Missouri Columbia. She is experienced with utilizing quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods approaches; and community-engaged research approaches that center community voices with relevance for health policy. Dr. Anakwe’s research includes domestic and international global health equity-focused projects that focus on creating an understanding of and improving the social conditions that drive paternal health inequities experienced by the Black/African male diaspora.