Kelly Bower’s research and her public health nursing practice focus on the elimination of racial disparities in women’s, maternal, and infant health. She aims to understand the structural and social determinants that underlie disparities and develop interventions to reverse them. In particular, her work leverages existing health care and public health services, such as maternal, infant, and early childhood home visiting, to implement interventions that promote health equity. Dr. Bower applies a community-engaged approach to her research that comes from her 20 years of experience practicing as a public health nurse working with government and non-profit organizations in Baltimore City, birthing hospitals throughout Maryland, and home visiting programs across the country. She has received funding from the Health Resources & Services Administration and the National Institutes of Health. She earned her PhD from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, where her dissertation focused on the relationship between residential segregation, food store availability, and racial disparities in obesity among women.
JHU Center Affiliation:
Center for Equity in Child and Youth Health and Wellbeing
Center for Health Disparities Solutions
Johns Hopkins Center for Health Equity
Johns Hopkins Urban Health Institute
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