Founder and Director of the Center for Research on Men’s HealthVanderbilt University
Dr. Derek M. Griffith is professor of Medicine, Health and Society, and he is the director of the Center for Research on Men’s Health at Vanderbilt University. In July 2021, he will move to Georgetown University as founding co-director of the Racial Justice Institute, founder and director of the Center for Men’s Health Equity. At Georgetown, he also will have appointments as professor of Health Systems Administration and Oncology. Trained in psychology and public health, Dr. Griffith develops strategies to achieve racial, ethnic, and gender equity in health using an intersectional lens. He has particular expertise in Black men’s health.
Dr. Griffith has published over 135 peer-reviewed manuscripts, one of which was on men and COVID-19 that was Preventing Chronic Disease’s most cited publication in 2020. He is a contributor to and editor of two books – Men’s Health Equity: A Handbook, and Racism: Science and Tools for the Public Health Professional. He has been the principal investigator of research grants from a number of foundations and government agencies in the United States and he is a member of the editorial boards of several men’s health and public health journals.
Dr. Griffith has provided expert review of policy reports from the World Health Organization and he is a member of the Board of Trustees of Global Action on Men’s Health. He has collaborated with colleagues in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand and the United States on men’s health and efforts to mitigate racism’s effects on health. Dr. Griffith led the development and dissemination of the Tennessee Men’s Health Report Card that has become a global model for educating policy makers and other stakeholders about men’s health. He has been a leading voice arguing that a gendered approach to COVID-19 and health equity should explicitly include men’s health, and he was named one of 1,000 Inspiring Black Scientists in America by the Cell Mentor’s Community