My research is interdisciplinary in nature, which is a product of my research, training, and interests in Africana Studies, Biology, Demography, Gerontology, and Sociology.  The broad focus of my research addresses race/ethnic and gender inequality in health and aging, with a specific focus on the African Diaspora.  I examine the intersection of social, biological, and demographic factors and institutional structures and the impact of these factors or circumstances on people of African descent throughout their life course.   My research is not limited to comparisons of minorities to the dominant (white) groups as I also examine within-group variation in health, given that people of the African Diaspora are not a monolithic group.

As a researcher who often employs quantitative methods, I have developed a secondary research focus that examines the link between social inequality and methodology.  This research has informed my more recent appreciation of mixed methodological approaches and cross-disciplinary research, which I now embrace and is reflected in some of my most recent projects. 

More specifically my published and current research on inequalities in health and aging fall into three research areas:   disparities in health outcomes, methodological issues in studying race and health, and aging in the African Diaspora.