HAMPLAB is a community of Faculty, students, volunteers, and community partners. Our research leverages the health justice framework and the decolonial perspective in sciences to examine health and aging outcomes in Black Americans, African immigrants and refugees, and West Africans. One line of our research focuses on brain health and cognitive functioning. We study early onset and risks of cognitive decline, progression, and conversion to Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementia (ADRD) long before the presentation of behavioral symptoms. Another line of our research focuses on early cancer detection and survivorship. We study psychosocial factors that predict fatal-stage cancer diagnosis, cancer screening, and cancer preventive health behaviors. Additional lines of our research focus on other health outcomes and caregiving, including pain, immunological diseases, cardiovascular diseases, and diabetes.
Our mission is to enhance the quality of life by improving the physical, mental, and cultural health of aging Black communities through collaborative research, education, and services.