Professional Statement
Dr. Kamesha Spates (she/her/hers) is a community college alum, first-generation college graduate, medical sociologist, and health equity scholar whose work bridges Africana Studies, sociology, bioethics, medicine, and public health. Her scholarship examines how structural racism, gendered racism, and social inequities shape Black mental and physical health, with particular attention to suicide, trauma, resilience, and collective healing.
She is the founder and director of the ROOTS to Wellness Lab—Researching Outcomes for Optimal Total-body and Systemic Health—an interdisciplinary hub in the Department of Africana Studies. The lab advances community-engaged, qualitative, human-centered, and translational research focused on Black health equity, centering community knowledge, cultural wisdom, and diasporic healing practices.
Across her work, Dr. Spates reframes Black health beyond narratives of pathology by emphasizing agency, resistance, resilience, and collective healing. Her research identifies culturally grounded pathways to wellness while addressing the social and psychological consequences of anti-Black racism, racialized trauma, and gendered stress.
Dr. Spates is the author of two books and dozens of peer-reviewed articles in leading journals. Her work has also appeared in public-facing outlets, including USA Today, Essence Magazine, and HuffPost. She has received recognition from the American Sociological Association and the North Central Sociological Association, and her scholarship has been recognized among the most downloaded in the discipline.
Dr. Spates is also committed to mentorship and training the next generation of equity-focused scholars. Through the ROOTS to Wellness Lab, she works closely with students on interdisciplinary research, community partnerships, and public scholarship that connects academic inquiry with real-world impact.
Her human-centered design approach supports community-centered research and intervention development in Black communities, using co-design and co-creation to prioritize shared knowledge, practical solutions, and sustained engagement.
Appointments
- William S. Dietrich II Endowed Chair and Director of Graduate Studies Department of Africana Studies Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts & Sciences
- Secondary Faculty Departments of Psychiatry and Sociology Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts & Sciences
- Associate Faculty Institute for Bioethics
Education and Training
- PhD, Texas A&M University, 2009
- MSc, Texas A&M University, 2004
- BA, Northern Illinois University, 2002
Professional Interests in Bioethics
Representative Publications
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Spates K, Hicks S, Mauerman B, & Evans N. (2026) “A Qualitative Exploration: Black Women Living with Depression.” OBM Integrative and Complementary Medicine, 11(2).
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Slatton B, Spates K, & Faniel M. (2025). Black men’s patient-clinician experiences: Pathways to enhanced healthcare outcomes in the United States. Healthcare, 13(11), 1230.
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Grills C, Aird E, Auguste E, Adibu F, Bethea S, Endale T, Haggins K, Mendenhall R, Newland Z, Primm A, & Spates K. (2025). Re-Creating the Circle: A Collective Vision for Radical African Healing in Community. American Psychologist, 80(4), 589.
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Spates K, Craver M, Conklin D, Reynolds I, & Leftwich C. (2025). “Unseen Scars”: Exploring the Mental Health Challenges of Black Students in the Dual Contexts of Racial Violence and the COVID-19 Crisis. Transcultural Psychiatry, 62(6), 750–760.
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Carney-Knisely G, Griffin M, Crawford A, Spates K, & Singh P. (2024). Police Killings of Unarmed Black Persons and Suicides Among Black Youth in the US: A National Time-Series Analysis. Annals of Epidemiology, 94, 91–99.
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Singh P, Carney-Knisely G, Spates K, Griffin M, Fairchild A, & Bruckner T. (2024). Black Emergency Department Visits for Schizophrenia/Psychosis Following the Police Killing of George Floyd. SSM–Mental Health, 6, 100342.
Recent Funding
- Kent State University, Research and Sponsored Programs , "Readiness of African American Communities of Northeast Ohio to Address Suicide, Phase II", Co-PI, 2022
- Kent State University College of Arts and Sciences COVID-19 Restart Research Award, "Community-Engaged Initiatives to Increase the Readiness of Northeast Ohio's Black Community to Address Suicide", Co-PI, 2021
- Kent State University College of Health and Human Services Seed Grant, "Community-Engaged Initiatives to Increase the Readiness of Northeast Ohio's Black Community to Address Suicide", Co-PI, 2020
Awards and Honors
- North Central Sociological Association Scholarly Achievement Award, 2023
- Applied, Clinical, and Public Sociologist of the Year Award, North Central Sociological Association, 2026
- Esteemed Alumnus Award, Northern Illinois University Department of Sociology, 2022
Media
- Invited Talk: “Reclaiming Evidence: A Sociological Approach to Suicide Among Black Women in the United States.”
- Podcast Interview: “When Strong Isn’t Enough: Suicide and Black Womanhood.”
- Article: “Suicide Rates Among Black Youth Outpacing Other Groups in Recent Years.”
- Coverage: “The Other Pandemic: Why Racism Is a Public Health Crisis.”
- Feature: “Saving Our Sisters: Suicide and the Black Community.”