Black Women’s Health Study

Ongoing research into causes of health disparities in the United States

African-American women have the highest rate of breast cancer mortality in the US. The Black Women’s Health Study aims to save the lives of African American women around the country.

The Black Women’s Health Study tracks weight, nutrition, body mass index, reproductive history, smoking and alcohol use, physical activity, and disease incidence.

The Black Women’s Health Study, conducted in partnership with Boston University (PI: Lynn Rosenberg) and Lucile Adams-Campbell (PI: subcontract at Lombardi), which began in 1995, is the largest cohort study of African-American women in existence today. It tracks weight, nutrition, body mass index, reproductive history, smoking and alcohol use, physical activity, and disease incidence.

The study provides researchers with invaluable epidemiological data on health risks and disease development. African-American women have the highest rate of breast cancer mortality in the US, the highest incidence and mortality due to colorectal cancer, and are twice as likely to die from cervical cancer than Caucasian women, yet little data exists to explain the divergence.

Continued research into the causes of these disparities remains invaluable to saving the lives of African-American women across the US.