Assistant Professor
Health Management and Policy
aga56@drexel.edu

Degrees

PhD, Epidemiology with emphasis in Maternal and Child Health, Saint Louis University
MPH, University of Missouri

Bio

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 health equity lenses, 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. She is an expert 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, Faculty Diversity (PFFFD) postdoctoral scholar at the University of Missouri Columbia.

She is experienced with utilizing quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods approaches; and community-based participatory research that centers 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.

Research Interests

• Black Paternal Health
• Maternal and Child Health
• Community-Based Participatory Research
• Health Disparities
• Racial and Ethnic Health Inequalities
• Quantitative, Qualitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches

Publications

Majee W, Anakwe A, Onyeaka K, Laboy V, Mutamba J, Shikles M, Chen LW. Participant Perspectives on the Effects of an African American Faith-Based Health Promotion Educational Intervention: a Qualitative Study. J Racial Ethn Health Disparities. 2023 Jun;10(3):1115-1126. doi: 10.1007/s40615-022-01299-2. Epub 2022 Apr 8. PMID: 35394621; PMCID: PMC8992409.

Majee W, Anakwe A, Onyeaka K, Harvey IS. The Past Is so Present: Understanding COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Among African American Adults Using Qualitative Data. J Racial Ethn Health Disparities. 2023 Feb;10(1):462-474. doi: 10.1007/s40615-022-01236-3. Epub 2022 Feb 19. PMID: 35182372; PMCID: PMC8857529.

Anakwe A, Majee W, Ponder M, BeLue R. COVID-19 and crisis communication among African American households. Fam Syst Health. 2022 Sep;40(3):408-412. doi: 10.1037/fsh0000705. Epub 2022 May 12. PMID: 35549489.

Anakwe A, Majee W, BeLue R. COVID-19, "A Gift and a Curse" in Unsettling Times: A Qualitative Study. Fam Community Health. 2022 Jul-Sep 01;45(3):195-201. doi: 10.1097/FCH.0000000000000327. Epub 2022 Apr 7. PMID: 35536702.

Anakwe A, Majee W, Noel-London K, Zachary I, BeLue R. Sink or Swim: Virtual Life Challenges among African American Families during COVID-19 Lockdown. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Apr 18;18(8):4290. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18084290. PMID: 33919524; PMCID: PMC8073619.

Anakwe A, Green J, BeLue R. Perceptions of Cultural Competence and Utilization of Advanced Practice Providers. J Allied Health. 2021 Spring;50(1):54-60. PMID: 33646250.

Majee W, Anakwe A, Johnson L, Rhoda A, Frantz J, Schopp L. A Self-Management Training Intervention: Perceptions and Practices of Community Health Workers in South Africa. Health Promot Pract. 2020 Nov;21(6):983-992. doi: 10.1177/1524839918820038. Epub 2019 Jan 7. PMID: 30616400.

Majee W, Schopp L, Johnson L, Anakwe A, Rhoda A, Frantz J. Emerging from the Shadows: Intrinsic and Extrinsic Factors Facing Community Health Workers in Western Cape, South Africa. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020 May 4;17(9):3199. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17093199. PMID: 32375417; PMCID: PMC7246890.

Majee W, Jooste K, Aziato L, Anakwe A. Scars of disengagement: perspectives on community leadership and youth engagement in rural South Africa. Glob Health Promot. 2019 Sep;26(3):5-14. doi: 10.1177/1757975917715877. Epub 2017 Aug 30. PMID: 28853643.

Majee W, Aziato L, Jooste K, Anakwe A. The Graying of Rural America: Community Engagement and Health Promotion Challenges. Health Promot Pract. 2018 Mar;19(2):267-276. doi: 10.1177/1524839917714768. Epub 2017 Jul 2. PMID: 28669233.

View Dr. Anakwe's full listing on PubMed