Faculty Spotlight: A JEDI Mindset

Black men and women who are disproportionately impacted by stress due to social and environmental conditions, face higher rates of hypertension and heart disease compared to other racial groups, according to research by Anita Fernander, professor in the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine.

Fernander, who is also FAU’s first appointed chief justice, equity, diversity and inclusion (JEDI) officer, studies the relationship between race-related stress and health disparities among African Americans.

Her work helps students, researchers and health care professionals understand that race plays and important role in health care. It informs the public regarding the political and social determinants of health and helping future health care professionals how to understand and exercise cultural humility when treating patients of different races and ethnicities, she said.

Fernander began her work studying disparities in rates of hypertension among blacks and whites in the United States as an undergraduate. She earned her bachelor's degree in psychology and physical education, with a minor in nutrition, from Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama. As a student, she entered a program offered by the National Institute of Health to study differences in cardiovascular reactivity and blood pressure among races.

She also earned her master’s and doctorate degree in clinical health psychology from the University of Miami, and later spent two decades as a professor at the University of Kentucky.

Now, as a professor at FAU and the inaugural chief JEDI officer in the College of Medicine, Fernander hopes to create a more diverse and inclusive culture at the university by advocating for justice, equity, diversity and inclusion principles throughout, she said.

“It is important to understand that health disparities exist between various racially classified social groups,” she said. “These disparities are not due to inherent biological differences or genetic predispositions, but to historical and contemporary political and social determinants of health.”

Here is more about Fernander’s research and future goals:

Q: Tell us more about your research focus?

A.My work aimed to understand why health disparities and inequities exist in African Americans. From my research I determined that some of the dynamics of why health inequities exist are due to systematic long-standing exclusion to factors embedded within the political and social determinants of health, and some are due to lack of cultural humility exhibited on the part of the health care provider. In this new position as chief JEDI officer, one of my goals is to address the underrepresentation of minorities in the health care workforce and field of biomedical research to address some of these issues. I further want to make sure inclusivity and diversity happens in the college of medicine.

Q: What have you discovered that you enjoy the most about your research?

A.During my earlier days as a graduate student, I looked at the relationship between stress and cardiovascular reactivity as a precursor to the development of hypertension. We conducted laboratory studies that examined cardiovascular reactivity to racially-based and other stressful scenarios in the laboratory among various populations and found links between various cardiovascular indices and stress-based scenarios.

Even in tobacco related health outcomes there are disparities among African Americans. While their smoking rates are similar, and even lower than other racial/ethnic groups, the way in which they smoke tobacco and the way in which nicotine is metabolized in their bodies is different, which many believe may be due to racialized stress, which then leads to disparate rates of tobacco-related morbidity and mortality.

Q. What makes you excited to carry your work out at FAU?

A.To be able to push for social justice here at FAU when it relates to the health and health care inequities is my passion. I’m pleased to be in a position of leadership where I have the ability to create and implement JEDI initiatives and the ability to impact more people.

Q. What’s the biggest milestone in your career?

A.First, understanding that without community engagement, the research or work towards increasing the health care workforce wouldn’t be possible. Second, I would also say when I took a step back and began understanding the foundational issues around health disparities it helped me create courses that allowed students to learn about race, racism and health inequities and the history of medicine for African Americans. I’m able to utilize critical race theory to explore historical and contemporary political and social determinants of health during the 17th century to-date to enlighten students and colleagues in the medical field about the foundational issues as to why racial/ethnic health disparities exist. One of the most impactful experiences for me has been to educate students who otherwise would not have received this type of education.