Education

B.S., Psychology, Florida A & M University, 1997
M.A., Counseling and Guidance, New York University, 2000
M.A., Community Psychology, Georgia State University, 2003
Ph.D., Community Psychology, Georgia State University, 2005
National Institutes of Health HIV/AIDS Postdoctoral Clinical Research Training Program, 2006-2008
2nd year FIRST Postdoctoral Fellow, 2008 - present

Research Statement

My research experience spans a range of public health issues including HIV/AIDS prevention intervention, intimate partner violence, and adolescent dating violence, with a focus on African American women and youth. At every phase of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, from HIV infection to death due to AIDS-related complications, African Americans are disproportionately affected when compared to whites and other racial/ethnic groups. This disparity is most glaring among African American women, whose rate of AIDS diagnosis is approximately 23 times that of white women in the United States.5 Another public health issue plaguing African American women is intimate partner violence, a major health issue affecting more than 1.5 million women annually in the United States.  I currently work in Emory’s Department of Behavioral Sciences and Health Education, and the Center for AIDS Research (CFAR) investigating the role of dating  and intimate partner violence in increasing the risk of HIV infection in African American adolescent and adult women.  My long range research plans include contributing to the planning, implementation, evaluation, and dissemination of effective interventions designed to prevent violence and the spread of communicable diseases from occurring within dating and intimate partner relationships.  I believe that this can be accomplished by targeting several ecological levels to include the individual, family and peer networks, schools and communities, and society. It is also my desire to contribute to the direction and vision of graduate and undergraduate programs to increase the recruitment, retention, and graduation of ethnic minorities in science-based disciplines.

Publications

Raiford, J.L., Diclemente, R.J., Wingood, G.M. (2009) Effects of fear of abuse and possible STI acquisition on the sexual behavior of young African American women. Am J Public Health. 99(6):1067-71.

Raiford, J. L., Wingood, G. M., DiClemente, R. J. (2007) Correlates of consistent condom use among HIV-positive African American women. Women Health. 46(2-3):41-58.

Raiford, J. L., Wingood, G. M., Diclemente, R. J. (2007) Prevalence, incidence, and predictors of dating violence: a longitudinal study of African American female adolescents.  J Womens Health (Larchmt). 16(6):822-32.

Cook, S., Smith, S., Tusher, C., & Raiford, J. L. (2005). Self-reports of traumatic events in a random sample of incarcerated women.  Women & Criminal Justice, 16(1/2), 107-126.

Raiford, J. L., DiClemente, R. J., & Wingood, G. M. (in press). Predicting risky sexual behavior among African American girls: Relative threat of abuse versus STI acquisition. American Journal of Public Health.

Raiford, J. L., & Wilkins, N.J. (under review).  Psychosocial Predictors of Help-seeking and Strategic Responses among Victims of Adolescent Dating Violence. Journal of Interpersonal Violence.

Emory University School of Public Health
Department of Behavioral Science & Health Education
1520 Clifton Road, Suite 218
Atlanta, GA 30322
Tel: 404.727.8673
Email:jraifor@emory.edu