Research Abstract
Dr. Okechukwu's research focuses on how work, and home environments interact to shape health and cancer prevention behaviors, and how to modify these settings to improve the health of vulnerable populations. Her research interests include the translation of community-based cancer prevention and control interventions into practice, occupational determinants of health and health behaviors, methods of intervention design and evaluation, and the contribution of work-related social determinants to population health disparities. She has especially focused her attention on tobacco use among working class population, and has also investigated the links between racial discrimination and smoking and the effectiveness of workplace-based smoking-cessation programs.
Dr. Okechukwu received the James Zimmer New Investigator Research Award by the Aging and Public Health section of the American Public Health Association and the best paper by junior faculty award by the International Conference on Work and Family in Barcelona. In addition, she is a member of the team that received the 2015 Rosabeth Moss Kanter Award for Excellence in Work-Family Research, an international award recognizing the best work-family paper globally. Dr. Okechukwu headed the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Workplace Injustice white paper team in 2011. The team presented their findings at the First National Conference on Eliminating Health and Safety Disparities at Work. She is an investigator and member of the Work, Family and Health Network and the Harvard Center for Work, Health and Well-being. Dr. Okechukwu was a Robert Wood Johnson Health and Society Scholar at the University of California San Francisco, and the University of California Berkeley.
