Joining a roster of “extraordinary health leaders” under 40
years old, Naa Oyo A. Kwate ’02Ph.D. is one of 10 practitioners and
researchers to receive the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s (RWJF)
first-ever Young Leaders Award.
“It’s a little surreal,” said Dr. Kwate, an Associate Professor
of Human Ecology and Africana Studies at Rutgers, the State
University of New Jersey. “To be counted among such an eclectic
group of people, who bring so many diverse perspectives to the
table, is a huge honor. When I learned that they’d received 850
applications, and I was one of only 10 they’d chosen, I was
floored.”
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation created its Young Leaders
Award in recognition of the foundation’s 40th anniversary. Each
honoree received $40,000 as part of the award, which highlights the
early contributions made by many young health practitioners and
researchers. Based in Princeton, NJ, the foundation is the largest
U.S. philanthropy devoted exclusively to public health.
"As we reflected on our accomplishments over the past 40 years,
we also wanted to look to the future," said Risa Lavizzo-Mourey,
MD, RWJF President and CEO. "We're proud to acknowledge our
honorees’ early success, and we’re inspired by the potential they
have to improve U.S. health and health care.”
Dr. Kwate’s research focuses on the health impact of racism,
inequality and “neighborhood context” among African Americans. She
began studying these areas as a doctoral candidate at St. John’s.
“There’s a lot of important work that’s being done on the topic of
discrimination and social inequality,” she said. “The academic
experience I gained at St. John’s was instrumental in shaping my
understanding of the field, especially the ways that social
position affects people’s health.”
In 2009, while an Assistant Professor at Columbia University’s
Mailman School of Public Health, Dr. Kwate won the National
Institutes of Health (NIH) Director’s New Innovator
Award. The award supported her research into
racism’s complex health effects on urban African-Americans. Dr.
Kwate also developed a “counter-marketing” campaign to combat those
effects. Conducted in African-American neighborhoods, the campaign
employed outdoor advertising that highlighted facts about
inequality.
Beverley Greene, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology, was Dr. Kwate’s
mentor at St. John’s. “She was always a shining star among her
peers,” said Dr. Greene. “It’s no surprise that she has
accomplished so much, so early in her career. Her research is
groundbreaking in its importance, and we are extremely proud to
call her one of our own.”