The Communicating Health Equity and Healing Justice Research Lab (CEHJ) came to life on 性视界传媒鈥檚 campus in October 2021.听聽
鈥淚t started out an all-Black women endeavor, but now it has expanded to Black and Brown men as well as alternative gender identity individuals,鈥 said Akila Ka Ma鈥檃t, the director of the lab and core faculty member with Program and the .听
The lab allows students to engage in the production of research projects and contribute to data collection efforts through an immersive experiential learning and training experience. Its members focus on the mental and reproductive health of Black women as well as identify factors related to internalized racism.听聽
Ashley Dawson, who joined the lab as an undergraduate student, is getting her master鈥檚 in public health with a concentration in health promotion. She hopes to become a public health consultant as well as a program developer so she can provide health intervention for underserved communities.听
鈥淐urrently, we鈥檙e working on the impact of the 鈥淪trong Black Woman鈥 stigma on the birth outcomes in Black women,鈥 said Dawson. 鈥淭his allows us to address the intersectionality and social determinants that are either negatively or positively impacting prenatal health.鈥澛
Sahana Natarajan, who recently graduated from Rutgers Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, is currently working as Mason affiliate faculty in collaboration with the CEHJ research lab.听聽
鈥淗ealth communication was something I had never really done before. Despite that, Dr. Ma鈥檃t believed in my potential and went to great lengths to mentor me,鈥 said Natarajan. 鈥淚鈥檓 still in the process of learning how to lead. I鈥檓 starting to lead my own projects.鈥澛
Natarajan is currently working on a pilot testing a survey to access racial stress and related factors among prenatal Black Women.听聽
鈥淭his lab is really about team collaboration. Along with that, addressing health disparities. If that鈥檚 something that鈥檚 important to you, I think the lab will really benefit you in terms of increasing your abilities and your impact in the world,鈥 she said.听
Mason student J Orisha is also a part of CEHJ and working on this project. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 important that there be more spaces like this for students. [My research interests have] honestly been changing the more involved I get on campus and meet more professors, but it鈥檚 centrally around African American/Black studies and , decolonized research,鈥 said Orisha.听聽聽
鈥淚t鈥檚 an open environment where you mess up, great, you learn and keep moving. I never experienced that in the other schools,鈥 Orisha said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e actually trying to listen to their students. They really do care, and I really, really appreciate it.鈥澛
Ma鈥檃t hopes to collaborate with more disciplines and more community stakeholders. She wants the lab鈥檚 research to extend into the African diaspora and include immigrant communities in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.听
The CEHJ Research Lab meets on Tuesdays from 2-3 p.m. and Thursdays from 1:30-2:30 p.m. in Robeson Room 240A in the Johnson Center.听