Research News

A study coauthored by faculty affiliates Joaquin Alfredo‑Angel Rubalcaba and Alberto Ortega explore the effectiveness of worker‑driven social responsibility programs on infant health outcomes in migrant farmworker communities. Published in Demography, the research examines whether the Fair Food Program, a worker‑rights initiative supported by corporate premiums, has had measurable health impacts on the communities it…

Founding Director William Darity Jr. co-authored a new literature review in The BMJ that directly addresses one of the most persistent critiques of reparations: the claim that no feasible plan exists. The proposal outlines direct monetary payments as the clearest economic measure of the cumulative and intergenerational effects of white supremacy. The article argues that…

New research co-authored by Faculty Affiliate Sarah Gaither, Associate Professor of Psychology & Neuroscience at Duke University, explores how something as routine as demographic forms can influence feelings of inclusion and identity among marginalized communities. Published in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, the study—“Enumeration or Exclusion? Demographic Forms and Latine Identity”—investigates how demographic questions may…

February 20, 2026 — A new first-of-its-kind study of nearly 3,000 adults in New York City finds significant inequities in wealth and health outcomes across the 11 most common racial and ethnic groups, showing that Black and Latino New Yorkers have less wealth and unfairly worse health outcomes compared to others. Conducted in June 2024 by…

Faculty Affiliate Omer Ali is an Assistant Professor of economics at the University of Pittsburgh, and previous postdoctoral fellow a the Cook Center. Ali is the lead researcher on a new article published in Regional Science and Urban Economics this month examining the relationship between race and home values in Durham, North Carolina. The study…

Faculty Affiliate Sandra L. Barnes, the C.V. Starr Professor of Sociology at the Brown University, continues to lead critical conversations on religion, identity, and the lived experiences of Black communities. Her recent publications explore how faith, culture, and structural factors shape well-being and belonging among young Black people with diverse sexual identities. Below are three…

Faculty Affiliate Joaquín Alfredo-Angel Rubalcaba, Assistant Professor in the Department of Public Policy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, is co-author of a new article titled “Farmwork and family: How mixed-status families influence the mental health of foreign-born farmworkers” in SSM – Mental Health. The study explores how immigration-status dynamics within farmworker…

Faculty Affiliate Joaquín Alfredo-Angel Rubalcaba, Assistant Professor in the Department of Public Policy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has co-authored a new article titled “The effects of ongoing internal immigration enforcement on the U.S. agricultural labor supply” in the Journal of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association. Using a novel empirical…

Faculty Affiliate Loneke Blackman Carr, Assistant Professor in the Department of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Connecticut, has co-authored a new NIH workshop report. The report summarizes the outcomes of a 2022 NIH workshop held to assess current evidence, identify gaps, and chart future directions for obesity interventions that advance health equity. Key themes…

Faculty Affiliates Loneke Blackman Carr, Assistant Professor in the Department of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Connecticut, and Kristen Cooksey Stowers, Assistant Professor in the Department of Allied Health Sciences at the University of Connecticut and Adjunct Assistant Professor in Population Health Sciences at Duke University, recently co-authored a new paper. The study highlights…