Equip families
Equip families with practical guidance on planning, navigating care, and sharing responsibility across siblings and generations.
National Institute for African American Health
African American health across the life course
NIAAH prepares the people who will provide care, equips the clinicians who deliver it, and supports the families who carry it.
Health is shaped long before a clinic visit and long after it. It is shaped in classrooms, in exam rooms, and at kitchen tables where families care for aging parents. NIAAH works at each of those points, bringing clinical medicine and social science together so African American families and the health systems that serve them can do better across generations.
Our model
One life course. Four points where health is made.
NIAAH's approach comes from life course research: health outcomes in later life are built by experiences in childhood, education, work, and family. That is why our programs do not stand alone. Each one serves a different point on the same path, and each strengthens the others.
The student
We help African American students from high school through professional school find mentors, guidance, and a path into the health professions.
The clinician
We prepare physicians and health professionals to communicate clearly, build trust, and provide informed care to African American patients.
The family
We support the families who manage care at home, especially adult children caring for aging parents, and make their work visible to health systems.
The elder
We advance aging with dignity, connecting gerontology, medicine, and community practice so older adults are understood and well served.
Underneath all four: research, public scholarship, and trusted health information through NIAAH Press and the NIAAH library.
Signature initiative
Family Care & Equity
Redistributing the circle of care for Black families
In African American families, caregiving for aging parents often falls on one person, often a daughter, often while she is working and raising her own children. That work is largely invisible to employers, health plans, and health systems, and it carries real costs to the caregiver's health, income, and future.
Family Care & Equity is NIAAH's national initiative to change that. It brings medicine, sociology, gerontology, and community practice together to do three things:
Inform systems
Inform health systems and employers about what Black family caregivers carry and what support helps them stay healthy and employed.
Build the evidence
Build the evidence through research on Black aging and family caregiving, including a national NIAAH report on Black family caregiving, now in progress.
For clinicians and health systems
NIAAH Certified
Professional preparation for the care of African American patients
Health systems are accountable for outcomes across every population they serve. NIAAH Certified gives physicians and health professionals the knowledge to communicate clearly, build trust, and apply precision medicine with African American patients.
The program begins with eight hours of continuing medical education through Pri-Med, covering precision medicine, communication, and trust. NIAAH is now building the full certification: published standards, a formal assessment, and a clinical advisory board to oversee both.
For health systems
NIAAH works with hospitals, medical groups, and health plans to bring NIAAH Certified to their clinical teams. Contact us to discuss a system partnership.
The pipeline
NIAAH Scholars
Building the next generation of African American health leaders
Patients do better when they can trust the people caring for them, and representation in the health professions is part of that trust. NIAAH Scholars connects African American students with mentors, academic guidance, and professional relationships that help them finish the path they started.
The program is open beyond medicine. We welcome students headed into nursing, public health, research, social work, psychology, and the social and behavioral sciences, because African American health depends on all of them.
271Scholars listed
66Mentors listed
138Scholar mentor matches reported
Figures as of October 2026.
High school students
Exploring health careers and preparing for college
Undergraduates
At HBCUs and other colleges, in any major, committed to African American health
Graduate and professional students
In clinical care, research, public health, policy, and related fields
Where our scholars and mentors come from
NEOMEDCase Western Reserve UniversityMorehouse School of MedicineUniversity of Illinois ChicagoWashington University in St. LouisUNC Chapel HillOhio University
These institutions are represented in NIAAH’s contact and engagement data; this does not by itself indicate a formal institutional partnership.
Leadership
Medicine and social science, together
NIAAH is led by a physician and a sociologist. That pairing shapes everything we do: clinical knowledge tells us what happens in the exam room, and social science tells us what happens everywhere else.
Founder and Board Chairman
Gregory L. Hall, M.D.
Internal medicine physician and medical director of the University Hospitals Cutler Center for Men in Cleveland. Associate Professor at Northeast Ohio Medical University and Associate Clinical Professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. Former chairman of the Ohio Commission on Minority Health. Author of Precision Medicine for African Americans (Springer) and Better Black Health, and longtime presenter on the Pri-Med continuing medical education network. Dr. Hall founded NIAAH to mentor future physicians, educate clinicians, and advocate for better health outcomes in the Black community.
President and CEO
Timothy D. Goler, Ph.D.
Medical sociologist specializing in aging and the life course, Chair of the Sociology Department at Norfolk State University, and author of Liberated Mind and Aging and Caregiving in Black America. A Marine Corps veteran and longtime builder of institutions for Black communities.
Selected scholarshipLiberated Mind: A Guide to Black Clarity
Publishing
NIAAH Press
NIAAH Press publishes practical, evidence-based work on African American health for families, clinicians, and community leaders. Our list connects medical knowledge with the social conditions, history, and family life that shape health. We welcome proposals from scholars, clinicians, and community practitioners.
Research, data, and health information
Trusted health information
A curated starting point for families, students, and professionals. Search by topic, then follow each resource to its original source.
Search results are limited to CDC, NIH, MedlinePlus, Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, Johns Hopkins Medicine, and UCSF Health. Results open in a new tab. Check each source and consult a qualified health professional for personal medical advice.
Health of the Black or African American population
CDC FastStats brings together national measures on health conditions, causes of death, and infant health, with links to the underlying data sources.
Explore CDC dataWorking together to reduce Black maternal mortality
CDC explains factors connected to maternal health and offers information for patients, families, and health professionals.
Read the resourceInfant mortality data and context
CDC provides national infant mortality information, including rates by race and ethnicity and links to public health objectives.
Explore infant health dataDiabetes statistics and related resources
NIDDK connects readers to diabetes statistics, including information on prevalence among African Americans, risk factors, and additional data sources.
Explore diabetes resourcesFinding help for mental health concerns
NIMH offers guidance for finding mental health support, including federal resources and ways to locate services.
Find mental health supportCaregiving toolkit
NIA gathers articles, worksheets, videos, and referral resources to support families and professionals navigating caregiving.
Explore the caregiving toolkitServices for older adults living at home
Learn about support such as home care, transportation, respite, and ways to find local services for older adults and families.
Find aging and care resourcesUnderstanding health disparities
NIMHD describes how health disparities are defined and measured, helping readers distinguish observed differences from explanations of their causes.
Read NIMHD’s overviewNIAAH Certified
NIAAH’s clinician education program focuses on personalized, inclusive care and communication with African American patients.
Explore NIAAH CertifiedPatient advocacy and health education
Explore NIAAH’s current health information and patient advocacy materials for African American patients and families.
Browse NIAAH resourcesBlack Mamas Matter Alliance
Learn about a Black women led alliance advancing Black maternal health, rights, and justice through research, advocacy, and cultural change.
Explore the Alliance’s workBlack Women’s Health Imperative
Explore policy priorities and research focused on advancing the health and well being of Black women and girls.
Explore policy and researchThe Center for Black Health & Equity
Find issue areas and resources from a public health organization working with communities and people of African descent.
Explore issue areasNo resources match that search. Try another term or choose “All resources.”
About this collection. This initial collection is a starting point, not a complete catalog of African American health research and resources. NIAAH identifies each resource’s source and will expand and review the collection over time. Follow the links for current guidance. For personal medical decisions, speak with a qualified health professional. Is there a resource we should consider? Suggest a resource to NIAAH.
Working together
Our partners
NIAAH works with universities, community organizations, health funders, and industry partners who share our commitment to African American health.
Get involved
Build this work with us
We work with health systems, employers, universities, community organizations, and funders. Every partnership starts with a shared need and outcomes we can measure together.