Faculty Affiliate Keisha Bentley-Edwards, Associate Professor of Medicine at Duke University, will deliver the Richard Payne Lecture in Faith, Justice, and Health Care this Friday. The event is hosted by the Theology, Medicine, and Culture Initiative at Duke Divinity School.
Her lecture, titled Black Women’s Religion and Their Health: When Individual and Institutional Factors Intersect, represents her interdisciplinary research focus in how racism, gender, and cultural factors influence human development and health across the lifespan, with a particular focus on African American populations.
Her work emphasizes the role of cultural assets, like religion, in promoting healthy development within families and communities, while identifying structural barriers that contribute to disparities in preventable conditions including heart disease, infant and maternal mortality, and kidney disease.
Find more information about her lecture here: 2025 Payne Lecture in Faith, Justice, and Health Care