Faculty Profile
Enrique Neblett, PhD
- Professor, Health Behavior and Health Equity
- Director, Detroit Community-Academic Urban Research Center
Enrique W. Neblett, Jr. is one of the leading U.S. scholars in the area of racism and health, with a particular focus on understanding how racism-related stress influences the mental and physical health of African American young people. Through a research program that integrates psychology, biology, developmental and family science, and public health, his scholarship has added to the body of evidence that: 1) racism undermines the health and well-being of African American adolescents and young adults; and 2) Black youth's beliefs about the significance and meaning of race, as well as family messages about race, can protect youth from the psychological and physical harm associated with exposure to racial discrimination. Using longitudinal and psychophysiological methods, Dr. Neblett and his collaborators have examined the mechanisms by which racial discrimination, internalized racism, and impostor feelings can affect health. This work also includes investigations of the interplay between youth's sociocultural strengths and biological processes to understand the pathways by which youth are more vulnerable to, or protected against, the negative health effects of racism. In Dr. Neblett's newest line of research, he conducts community-based participatory research with an eye toward developing and implementing interventions, programs, and policies to address the health consequences of structural racism and promote health equity.
Dr. Neblett's research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the William T. Grant Foundation, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. He served a four-year term on the Society for Research on Adolescence Executive Council (2018-2022), and in 2018, was appointed Director of Diversity Initiatives in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Neblett serves as an associate editor for Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology and for Developmental Psychology. He was the Program Co-Chair for the 2021 American Psychological Association Society for the Psychological Study of Race, Ethnicity and Culture (Division 45) Biennial Conference and Chair of the 2013 National Black Graduate Conference in Psychology.
In 2022, Dr. Neblett was selected as a recipient of the Society for Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology Distinguished Career Award, and in 2021, he was named the inaugural recipient of the National Institute of Mental Health James Jackson Memorial Award. Dr. Neblett has also received several teaching and mentoring awards including recognition as Mentor of the Year by the Black Caucus of the Society for Research in Child Development (2019), the Tanner Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, the Faculty Award for Excellence in Doctoral Mentoring (2017), and the Chapman Family Teaching Award (2014). From 2008- 2019, he was a professor of psychology and neuroscience at UNC. From 2006-2008, Dr. Neblett was a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Research Fellow.
Dr. Neblett earned his Sc.B. from Brown University and his M.S from the Pennsylvania State University. He earned his Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Michigan in 2006 and completed postdoctoral training at Howard University in Psychology and Cardiovascular Psychophysiology.
- PhD, Psychology (Clinical), University of Michigan, 2006
- MS, Psychology (Child Clinical), The Pennsylvania State University, 2001
- ScB, Psychology, Brown University, 1996
- Montclair Kimberley Academy, Montclair, New Jersey
- Racism, Racism-Related Stress, and Health
- Black/African American Mental Health
- Adolescent and Emerging Adult Health
- Racial Identity and Racial Socialization
- Resilience (Individual, Community, and System)
- Health Disparities and Health Equity
- Social Determinants of Health
- Stress and Coping
- Structural Racism and Black American Mental Health (National Institute of Mental Health) https://reporter.nih.gov/search/8aLFvJcRtU6yEZZo9Gzpqw/projects
- Focus: Mental Health: A Stress and Workforce Development Intervention Promoting Racial and Economic Justice Among Youth (William T. Grant Foundation, Spencer Foundation, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation) https://sph.umich.edu/news/2022posts/institutional-change-grant.html
- Collaborative Proposal: Developmental Mechanisms of African American Ethnic and Racial Identity During the Transition to Adulthood (National Science Foundation) https://nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1823963andHistoricalAwards=false
- Peer Group Mentoring for Racially Underrepresented Early Career Biomedical Researchers (National Institute of General Medical Sciences) https://projectreporter.nih.gov/project_info_description.cfm?aid=9720491andicde=46149328
Neblett, E.W., Jr. (2019). Racism and health: Challenges and future directions in behavioral and psychological research. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 25(1), 12-20.
Lee, D.B., and Neblett, E.W. (2019). Religious development in African American adolescents: Growth patterns that offer protection. Child Development, 90(1), 245-259.
Willis, H.A., and Neblett, E.W. (2018). OC symptoms in African American young adults: The associations between racial discrimination, racial identity, and obsessive-compulsive symptoms. Journal of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders, 19, 105-115.
Seaton, E.K., Gee, G., Neblett, E.W., and Spanierman, L. (2018). New directions for racial discrimination research as inspired by the Integrative Model. American Psychologist, 73(6), 768-780.
Jones, S.C.T., and Neblett, E.W. (2017). Future directions in research on racism-related stress and racial-ethnic protective factors for Black youth. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 46(5), 754-766. doi: 10.1080/15374416.2016.1146991
Lee, D.B., Kim, E.S., and Neblett, E.W. (2017). The link between discrimination and telomere length in African American adults. Health Psychology, 36(5), 458-467.
Jones, S.C.T., and Neblett, E.W. (2016). Racial-ethnic protective factors and mechanisms in psychosocial prevention and intervention programs for Black youth. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 19(2), 134-161. doi: 10.1007/s10567-016-0201-6
Neblett, E.W., Jr., and Roberts, S.O. (2013). Racial identity and autonomic responses to racial discrimination. Psychophysiology, 50(10), 943-953.
Neblett, E.W., Jr., Rivas-Drake, D., and Umana-Taylor, A.J. (2012). The promise of racial and ethnic protective factors in promoting ethnic minority youth development. Child Development Perspectives, 6(3), 295-303.
Neblett, E.W., Jr., and Carter, S.E. (2012). The protective role of racial identity and Africentric worldview in the relationship between racial discrimination and blood pressure. Psychosomatic Medicine, 74(5), 509-516.
Neblett, E.W., Jr., White, R.W., Ford, K.R., Philip, C.L., Nguyen, H.X., and Sellers, R.M. (2008). Patterns of racial socialization and psychological adjustment: Can parental communications about race reduce the impact of racial discrimination? Journal of Research on Adolescence, 18(3), 477-515.
Neblett, E.W., Jr., Philip, C.L., Cogburn, C.D., and Sellers, R.M. (2006). African American adolescents' discrimination experiences and academic achievement: Racial socialization as a cultural compensatory and protective factor. Journal of Black Psychology, 32(2), 199-218.
Email: eneblett@umich.edu
Office: 734-647-5237
Fax: 734-763-7379
Address: 2766 SPH I
1415 Washington Heights
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2029
For media inquiries: sph.media@umich.edu
Areas of Expertise: Health Equity, Mental Health, Racism
Enrique Neblett in the News
Enrique Neblett appointed director of the Detroit URC
U-M Social Work and Public Health professor Katrina Ellis appointed associate director
Michigan Public Health and Focus: HOPE receive grant to support workforce development programs for Black youth
Enrique Neblett to lead project