Professor leads research into health disparities in African American women

Racism and discrimination can seep into every aspect of a Black woman’s life and have negative consequences on health. Loyola nursing professor and associate dean of research and scholarly innovation Karen Saban is working on an intervention to reduce race-based stress in Black women.

“Even if you control for things like weight, smoking, and diet, disparities still exist, especially for women of color,” Saban notes. “We know that stress—particularly social stressors like discrimination—can increase inflammation and risk of cardiovascular disease.”

Saban worked with psychologists Darnell Motley of the University of Chicago and Lamise Shawahin of Governors State University to design the Resilience, Stress, and Ethnicity (RiSE) intervention. In March 2023, the researchers received over $3.3 million from the National Institute on Aging, one of the 27 Institutes and Centers of the National Institutes of Health, to support their work through January 2028.

The five-year, randomized controlled trial will examine the impact of the RiSE intervention on well-being, inflammation, and DNA methylation in African American women at risk for cardiometabolic disease. Dr. Jacquelyn Taylor, a professor at the Helen F. Pettit School of Nursing at Columbia University in New York City, and Saban are principal investigators for this study. Together they are recruiting 250 African American women from the Chicago and New York City areas between the ages of 50 and 75 who have cardiometabolic risk factors. Participants are randomized to either RiSE intervention or a Health Education program, both of which are group-based and eight weeks long.

Saban notes that while the RiSE intervention can help Black women better cope with stress associated with racism and discrimination, it’s imperative to continue working to eradicate discriminatiom throughout society.

“RiSE may help individuals cope with racism, but eliminating structural racism on a systemic level is so needed,” she says, noting the program may also benefit Black men, students of color, and LGBTQIA+ individuals. “RiSE is a low-cost, low-risk intervention that may be effective in helping reduce chronic stress in a variety of populations.”

Read more stories from the Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing.