Dr. Courtney D. Cogburn is an assistant professor at the Columbia School of Social Work and a Faculty Affiliate of the Columbia Population Research Center. Her research integrates principles and methodologies across psychology, stress physiology and social epidemiology to investigate relationships between racism-related stress and racial health disparities across the life course. Her work has been supported by the National Institutes of Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

At the end of 2014, Dr. Cogburn received an award from the Provost’s Grants Program for Junior Faculty Who Contribute to the Diversity Goals of the University for a project titled “Black Face to Ferguson: A Mixed Methodological Examination of Media Racism, Media Activism and Health.”

In addition to her academic research, Dr. Cogburn works with the Southern Jamaica Plain Health Centerat the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and is a senior advisor at the International Center Advocates Against Discrimination in NYC to educate and build community activism around issues of racism and health.

Before coming to Columbia in July 2014, Dr. Cogburn was a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health & Society Scholar at the Harvard School of Public Health. She received her BA in Psychology from the University of Virginia, MSW from the University of Michigan School of Social Work and PhD in the Combined Program in Education and Psychology from the University of Michigan.

We are proud of her achievement and we name her Most Influential 100 Class of 2018 Humanitarian and Religious category.