Keisha Leanne Bentley-Edwards

Dr. Keisha Bentley-Edwards is the Associate Director of Research for the Samuel DuBois Cook Center on Social Equity and an Associate Professor at Duke University’s School of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine. She is the Co-Director of Duke’s CTSI Center for Equity in Research.  Dr. Bentley-Edwards’ research focuses on how racism, gender, and culture influence health and education outcomes throughout the lifespan, especially for African Americans. Her research emphasizes cultural strengths and eliminating structural barriers to support healthy development in communities, families, and students. Dr. Bentley-Edwards nurtures complex conversations around race and racism in ways that not only identify disparities but prompt meaningful strategies for remedying these disparities around infant and maternal health, cardiovascular disease, and kidney disease, as well as educational disparities.