The Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion will host a webinar entitled: The Socio-Economic Impact of Black Fatigue. Black fatigue is described as repeated variations of stress resulting in extreme exhaustion, which causes physical, mental, and spiritual maladies. Intergenerational stress and trauma create a cycle of trauma stemming directly from centuries of systemic racism. This panel is an interactive forum intended to stimulate lively discussion on issues significant to the histories, stories, and voices of Black people. Speakers Dr. Lauren D. Hill, Ph.D., Dr. Troy Muhammad, and Dr. Mia Rochelle Lowden will lead a question-and-answer session.

We highly encourage you to attend this event that teaches the detriments of systemic racism and offers meaningful ways to center, honor, and uplift Black individuals and communities.

Individuals who need Sign Language Interpreting and/or reasonable accommodation to participate in this event should contact Monique Robinson at monique.robinson@nih.gov or call 301-496-6301. Requests should be made at least five business days before the date of the event.

Speaker Bios:

Dr. Lauren D. Hill, Ph.D. is the Deputy Director of the Office for Disparities Research and Workforce Diversity (ODWD) at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). ODWD advances NIMH efforts to promote equity in research, to address the mental health needs of individuals and communities negatively impacted by health disparities, and to promote diversity and inclusion for those underrepresented in the research workforce.

Prior to joining ODWD, Dr. Hill was the Director of Research Training and Career Development in the NIMH Division of Services and Intervention Research, managing a large and diverse program of training grants and initiatives. Before coming to NIMH, Dr. Hill had faculty appointments in the Departments of Medical and Clinical Psychology and Family Medicine at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences F. Edward Hébert School of Medicine (USU) and was Director of the Education Core of the NIH-funded USU Center for Health Disparities Research and Education.

Dr. Hill earned a B.S. in Biology-Psychology from Tufts University and a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at American University in Washington, DC. Her clinical psychology internship was in adult behavioral medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, where she provided psychological and behavioral health care for individuals living with HIV/AIDS and patients with chronic pain. She completed post-doctoral training in community-partnered health disparities research, with a focus on studying health disparities that disproportionately impact Black and African American people.

Dr. Troy Muhammad, Ph.D. is an educator at the National Cancer Institute in Shady Grove, Maryland, Office of Workforce Planning and Development. He is the Program Manager for the Post-Doctoral Fellowship programs which prepares today’s doctors of chemistry, biology, epidemiology, and genetics for research success through workforce optimization initiatives.

He is also the Program Manager for developing NIH’s leaders by implementing several leadership development programs for various levels of leadership as well as managing the agency’s strategic planning program.

Dr. Muhammad is also an Adjunct Professor of Psychology instructing Graduate Level Students in Leadership, Industrial/Organizational Psychology and Consulting courses leading to Master and Doctorate degrees in Industrial/Organizational Psychology.

His educational background includes a master’s degree in Industrial and Organizational Psychology and a Doctorate Degree in Education with a focus in Leadership.

Dr. Mia Rochelle Lowden, Ph.D. is the Chief Diversity Officer at the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR). Dr. Lowden provides strategic leadership for NINR to advance diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA). She also co-leads the Stewardship Writing Group for the NIH DEIA Strategic Plan and co-chairs the Understanding stakeholder experiences through listening and learning (U Committee) of the NIH UNITE Initiative for Ending Structural Racism. Dr. Lowden serves on the Steering Committee of the NIH Committee on Women of Color in Biomedical Careers and is Chair-Emeritus and a Steering Committee member of the Special Populations Research Forum.

She joins NINR from the NIH Office of the Director, where she managed the HIV/AIDS Scholars Program and created a communications strategy that helped expand the social media presence of the Office of Research Infrastructure Programs. Before that, she coordinated strategic planning activities for the NIH Alzheimer’s disease research portfolio while serving at the National Institute on Aging.

Dr. Lowden received her Ph.D. in Biology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she studied genomic dynamics of cells at the early stages of cancer. After postdoctoral training in endocrinology at the University of Virginia, Dr. Lowden completed the Science and Technology Policy Fellowships Program through the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

During her AAAS fellowship, Dr. Lowden co-founded the Science Technology and Art Affinity Group. She integrates her interest in art into science outreach activities and has designed multiple graphics used at NIH. She is a proud alumna of Carleton College where she first discovered blending art and science and received a Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry.

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