Dr Jenny Douglas wins award to improve health of black women in the UK

Dr. Jenny Douglas, a Senior Lecturer in Health Promotion at the Open University (OU), Faculty of WELS, has been awarded a prestigious £153,273 Accelerator Award from the Wellcome Trust. This funding will support a two-year research initiative aimed at improving the health and wellbeing of Black women in the UK.

The Wellcome Trust Accelerator Awards are designed to support researchers of Black, Bangladeshi, and Pakistani heritage in the UK, helping them to advance their careers and build stronger professional profiles.

On receiving the funding, Jenny expressed her excitement:

“I am delighted. This is the first time the OU has had funding for researching Black women’s health and wellbeing. This Award is important because it will enable the development of an evidence base on Black women’s health and wellbeing. We know of some existing inequities in the health and wellbeing of Black women, for example maternal mortality, but there are many more areas where Black women experience poorer health.

The project will consist of three phases:

• Phase 1: An initial scoping review.
• Phase 2: A cohort study using secondary and existing data.
• Phase 3.: A feasibility study for establishing a Black Women’s Health and Wellbeing Research Centre in the UK. In this instance, black women are defined as as African, Caribbean and Black Mixed Heritage women living in the UK.

“This research will enable us to bring together a specific and comprehensive database on the intersectional factors that influence the health and wellbeing of Black women and to establish a Research Centre where individuals, researchers, practitioners, policy makers, activists and politicians can access this information. The overall aim is to lead to an improvement in the health and wellbeing of Black women across the UK.”

Jenny is the Founder and Chair of the Black Women’s Health and Wellbeing Research Network at the OU. A research network which started in 2011 and promotes the health and wellbeing of black women through research and knowledge exchange.

Her extensive academic background includes a PhD in Women’s Studies, multiple advanced degrees in health-related fields, and affiliations with institutions such as Simon Fraser University in Canada and George Washington University in the USA. She is actively involved in public health initiatives and serves as a trustee and director for several organisations.