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Anita Fernander is an Associate Professor of Behavioral Science in the College of Medicine at the University of Kentucky. She received her Ph.D. in Clinical Health Psychology from the University of Miami, has a Master's Degree in the same and holds two Bachelor's degrees (one in Physical Education and the other in Psychology) from Oakwood College (now Oakwood University) an HBCU in Huntsville, Alabama. Prior to arriving at the University of Kentucky she completed a post-doctoral fellowship in Medical Psychology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. Her primary area of research and teaching has focused on examining the impact of race-related stress and the political and social determinants of health on health inequities among African Americans. For example, she has received NIH funding to examine the impact of racism on smoking behaviors and nicotine metabolism among African Americans. She teaches the following courses: "Race, Racism and Health Disparities among Blacks in the U.S.", "The History of Medicine among Blacks in the U.S.: Implications for Health Disparities" and "Introduction to Clinical Medicine" to medical students and graduate students across the spectrum of health and social sciences. She recently was appointed as Health Equity Thread Leader for undergraduate medical education in the College of Medicine at the University of Kentucky. In addition, she serves as the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Director in the Department of Behavioral Science. Her current scholarly passion is focused on increasing the number of under-represented minorities in medicine, training and mentoring students and faculty regarding cultural humility, and promoting diversity, inclusivity, and equity in academic medicine and research. She developed and is in the process of implementing a mentorship pipeline program for Black males from Kindergarten thru Residency to increase the number of Black males applying to and successfully matriculating through medical school. She is also Founder & Chair of the Lexington-Fayette County Health Disparities Coalition is cross-network community organization whose mission is to transform the community where health inequities are mitigated and/or eliminated through intentional actions, strategic policies, and targeted advocacy that result in tangible and sustainable health outcomes for disparate populations in Lexington-Fayette County.
Post-doctoral Fellowship Medical Psychology, Mayo Clinic, 2002
Ph.D. Clinical Health Psychology, University of Miami, 2000
Oakwood College, 1993 & 1994, B.A. Physical Education, B.A. Food & Nutrition
Anita Fernander is an Associate Professor of Behavioral Science in the College of Medicine at the University of Kentucky. She received her Ph.D. in Clinical Health Psychology from the University of Miami, has a Master's Degree in the same and holds two Bachelor's degrees (one in Physical Education and the other in Psychology) from Oakwood College (now Oakwood University) an HBCU in Huntsville, Alabama. Prior to arriving at the University of Kentucky she completed a post-doctoral fellowship in Medical Psychology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. Her primary area of research and teaching has focused on examining the impact of race-related stress and the political and social determinants of health on health inequities among African Americans. For example, she has received NIH funding to examine the impact of racism on smoking behaviors and nicotine metabolism among African Americans. She teaches the following courses: "Race, Racism and Health Disparities among Blacks in the U.S.", "The History of Medicine among Blacks in the U.S.: Implications for Health Disparities" and "Introduction to Clinical Medicine" to medical students and graduate students across the spectrum of health professions and social sciences. Her current scholarly passion is focused on increasing the number of under-represented minorities in medicine, training and mentoring students, faculty, and staff regarding cultural humility, and promoting diversity, inclusivity, and equity in academic medicine and research. She developed and is in the process of implementing a mentorship pipeline program for Black males from Kindergarten thru Residency to increase the number of Black males applying to and successfully matriculating through medical school. She is also Founder & Chair of the Lexington-Fayette County Health Disparities Coalition a cross-network community organization whose mission is to transform the community where health inequities are mitigated and/or eliminated through intentional actions, strategic policies, and targeted advocacy that result in tangible and sustainable health outcomes for disparate populations in Lexington-Fayette County.
Dr. Fernander has a Ph.D. in Clinical Health Psychology from the University of Miami and has been in the Department of Behavioral Science at the University of Kentucky since the Fall of 2002. Dr. Fernander’s research focuses on health disparities, particularly among African Americans. She examines the influence of ethno-culturally specific constructs such as acculturative and race-related stress and John Henry active coping on risk factors (i.e., blood pressure and smoking) for cardiovascular disease and cancer. Dr. Fernander has been funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) to examine psychosocial factors related to tobacco use and nicotine metabolism among African American women, and by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to examine use of the tobacco cessation quitline among underserved Kentuckians as a function of county level smoking policies and regulations. Her current scholarly passions are focused on increasing the numbers of under-represented minorities in academic medicine, training and educating students and faculty on cultural humility, and issues related to diversity, inclusivity and equity in academic medicine.
Principal Investigator, National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute. R03. “The Impact of Smoke-Free Policy on QuitLine Utilization and Smoking Outcomes”. September, 2009 to September, 2011.
Principal Investigator, University of Kentucky, College of Medicine, Department of Behavioral Science. “Focus Groups among African American Female Current and Former Smokers”. November, 2009 to June, 2010.
Principal Investigator, Commonwealth of Kentucky Lung Cancer Research Program Investigator-Initiated Research Grant. “Examination of the Breathe Free for Women Stop Smoking Program among African American Women: A Pilot Study”. September, 2007 to August, 2009.
Principal Investigator, NIH K-12 award, DA01014040-04, “The Influence of Stress and Coping on Smoking Status and Smoking Behaviors Among Disadvantaged African American Women, National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), 2003-2006.
Principal Investigator, University of Kentucky College of Medicine Research Fund Grant, “Stress, Coping, Smoking and Nicotine Metabolism Among Pregnant African American Women”, 2003-2004.
ARD-Studio Washington. (July 7, 2020). Radio/Print interview in German. Coronavirus in den USA Dreimal höheres Risiko für Schwarze. Von Torsten Teichmann, Korrespondent. https://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/coronarisiko-usa-101.html.
WUKY-NPR 91.3. (June 24, 2020). Radio interview. “Outside the Margins: COVID-19, Health Inequalities and the Black Community. Greg Davis & UK Now. https://www.wuky.org/post/outside-margins-covid-19-health-inequalities-a....
The Herald-Leader (Posted online June 19, 2020). Op-Ed. “ Systemic racism in the U.S. now shows us a tale of two pandemics”. https://www.kentucky.com/opinion/op-ed/article243640677.html. By Ariel Arthur, Carrie Oser, Anita Fernander, Nancy Schoenberg, Lovoria Williams, and Vivian Lasley-Bibbs.
The Herald-Leader (Posted online June 11, 2020. Published in print June 14, 2020). Newspaper Interview. “ COVID-19 toll in black community no surprise to UK researcher: Racism ‘embedded’ in healthcare”. https://www.kentucky.com/opinion/linda-blackford/article243393036.html.
The Herald-Leader (Posted online April 30, 2020. Published in print May 4, 2020). Op-Ed. “Racism, injustice are “pre-existing conditions’ that lead to racial disparity in COVID-19 cases”. https://www.kentucky.com/opinion/op-ed/article242404396.html. By Anita Fernander, Lovoria Williams, Nancy Schoenberg, and Ariel Arthur.
Ighodaro, E.T., Nelson, P.T., Kukull, W.A., Schmitt, F.A., Abner, E.L., Caban-Holt, A., Bardach, S.H., Hord, D.C., Glover, C.M., Jicha, G.A., Van Eldik, L.J., Byrd, A.X., and Fernander, A. ( 2017). "Challenges and considerations related to studying dementia in Blacks/African Americans". Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, 60(1), 1-10.
Fernander, A., Hahn, E., Rayens, M.K., and Adkins, S. (2014). "Local smoke-free laws, quitline call rate, and smoking status in Kentucky". American Journal of Health Promotion, 29(2), 123-126.
Rayens, M.K., Fernander, A., Hahn, E. and Okoli, C. (2013). "Racially classified social group differences in cigarette smoking, nicotine dependence, and readiness to quit". Journal of Addictions Nursing 24(2), 71-81.
Nasim, A., Fernander, A., Townsend, T.G., Corona, R. and Belgrave, F.Z. (2011). “Cultural Protective Factors for Community Risks and Substance Use Among Rural African American Adolescents”. Journal of Ethnicity in Substance Abuse, 10, 316-336.
Fernander, A., Resnicow, K., Viswanath, K. and Perez-Stable, E. (2011). “Cigarette smoking interventions among diverse populations”. American Journal of Health Promotion, 25(5), S1-S4.
Fernander, A., Rayens, M.K., Zhang, M. and Adkins, S. (2010). “Are age of smoking initiation and purchasing patterns associated with menthol smoking?”. Addiction, 105 (Suppl. 1), 39-45.
Fernander, A., Rayens, M.K., Hahn, E., Zhang, M. and Adkins, S. (2010). “Menthol smoking, smoke-free policies, and cessation services”. Addiction, 105 (Suppl. 1),105-114.
Fernander, A. Moorman, G.*, and Azuoru, M*. (2010). “Race-related stress and smoking among pregnant African American women”. Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica, 89, 558-564.
Fernander, A., Bush, H., Goldsmith-Mason, S.*, White, P. and Obi, B^. (2009). “End-of-Treatment Smoking Cessation among African-American Female Participants in the Breathe Free for Women Smoking Cessation Program: Results of a Pilot Study”. Journal of the National Medical Association, 101(10), 1034-1040.
Hedgecock, S. and Fernander, A. (2009). A Review of smoking among rural African Americans: Recommendations for research and cessation interventions”. Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice, 3(1), 115-132.
Fernander, A. and Schumacher, M. (2008). An examination of socio-culturally specific stress and coping factors on smoking status among African American women. Stress & Health. Published online: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/smi.1214. July 14, 2008.
Fernander, A., Schumacher, M., Wei, X., Crooks, P. and Wedlund, P. (2008). Smoking risk and the likelihood of quitting among African-American female light and heavy smokers. Journal of the National Medical Association, 100(10), 1199-1206.
Fernander, A., Schumacher, M. and Nasim, A. (2008). “Socio-cultural stress, smoking risk and cessation among African American women”. Journal of Black Psychology, 34(1), 49-69.
Fagan, P., Moolchan, E.T., Lawrence, D., Fernander, A. and Ponder, P.K. (2007). “Identifying health disparities across the tobacco continuum.” Addiction, 102(Supplement 2), 5-29.
Moolchan, E.T., Hayward, M.D., Fagan, P., Fernander, A., Velicer, W., King, G. and Clayton. (2007). “Addressing tobacco-related health disparities”. Addiction, 102(Supplement 2), 30-42.
Fernander, A., Shavers, V. L. and Hammons, G. (2007). “A biospsychosocial approach to examining tobacco-related health disparities among racially classified social groups”. Addiction, 102(Supplement 2), 43-57.
Fernander, A. (2007). “Race, genes and tobacco related health disparities in the U.S.: What is the role of genetics?”. Addiction, 102(Supplement 2), 58-54.
Fernander, A., Patten, C., Hurt, R., Croghan, I., Offord, K., Schroeder, D., and Eberman, K. (2006). “Characteristics of six-month tobacco use outcomes of black patients seeking smoking cessation intervention.” Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, 17, 413-424.
Fernander, A., Price, M., Flisher, A.J., Chalton, D., King, G. and Lombard, C. (2006). “Gender differences in depression and smoking among youth in Cape Town, South Africa. Ethnicity and Disease, 16, 41-50.
Fernander, A., Wilson, J., Staton, M. and Leukefeld, C. (2005). “Exploring the type-of-crime hypothesis, religiosity, and spirituality in an adult male prison population”. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 49(6), 682-695.
Fernander, A., Patten, C. Hurt, R., Croghan, I., Schroeder, D. and Eberman, K. (2005). “Exploring the association of John Henry Active Coping, Education and John Henryism on smoking behavior and nicotine dependence among Blacks. Social Science and Medicine, 60(3), 491-500.
Fernander, A., Wilson, J., Staton, M. and Leukefeld, C. (2004). “An exploratory examination of the Spiritual Well-Being Scale among incarcerated Black and White Male Drug Users”. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 48(4), 403-413.
Fernander, A., Duran, R., Saab, P. and Schneiderman, N. (2004). “John Henry Active Coping, education, and blood pressure among urban blacks”. Journal of the National Medical Association, 96(2), 246-255.
Fernander, A., Durán, R., Saab, P., Llabre, M. and Schneiderman, N. (2003) “Assessing the reliability and validity of the John Henry Scale for Active Coping among an urban sample of African-Americans and white-Americans”. Ethnicity and Health, 8(2), 147-161.