Dr. Caroline R. Efird is an assistant professor in the Department of Health Management and Policy in the School of Health at Georgetown University. Her research seeks to promote health equity by addressing social and structural drivers of health disparities and inequities. As an interdisciplinary social scientist, she primarily uses mixed-methods to investigate how whiteness influences the health and well-being of racially majoritized and minoritized populations. As someone who grew up in a rural community in the US South, she is also particularly passionate about health equity research that supports rural populations. Dr. Efird has published her scholarship in journals such as the American Journal of Public Health, Social Science & Medicine, Du Bois Review: Social Science Research on Race, Pedagogy in Health Promotion, and others.
Dr. Efird is a faculty affiliate of the Global Mental Health and Well-Being Initiative and the Medical Humanities Initiative at Georgetown University. She holds a Ph.D. and MPH in Health Behavior from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Gillings School of Global Public Health. She also completed a postdoctoral research fellowship with the Racial Justice Institute . Prior to her career in health equity research, Dr. Efird earned a B.S. (with highest honors) in Elementary Education from Appalachian State University and she worked with children and families in public schools and non-profit settings for over 9 years.