Derek Griffith

Professor, Health Management and Policy and Professor, Department of Oncology, Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Founding Co-Director, Georgetown Racial Justice Institute (RJI), Founder and Director of the Center for Men's Health Equity in the Racial Justice Institute

Georgetown University

Dr. Derek M. Griffith is a Founding Co-Director of the Racial Justice Institute, Founder and Director of the Center for Men’s Health Equity, Member of the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, and Professor of Health Management & Policy and Oncology. Trained in psychology and public health, Dr. Griffith’s program of research focuses on developing strategies to achieve racial, ethnic and gender equity in health. He specializes in interventions to promote Black men's health and well-being and interventions to mitigate the effects of structural racism on health. Dr. Griffith is a contributor to and editor of three books – Men’s Health Equity: A Handbook (Routledge, 2019), Racism: Science and Tools for the Public Health Professional (APHA Press, 2019), and Health Promotion with Adolescent Boys and Young Men of Colour: Global Strategies for Advancing Research, Policy, and Practice in Context (Springer, 2023). He has been interviewed for and quoted in national news outlets such as Ebony, NPR, The Washington Post, and The New York Times. Dr. Griffith has provided expert review of reports from the World Health Organization and others. He is the author of over 150 peer-reviewed manuscripts, and he has been the principal investigator of research grants from the American Cancer Society, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and several institutes within the National Institutes of Health. He has received three noteworthy honors: (a) Tom Bruce Award from the Community-Based Public Health Caucus of the American Public Health Association in recognition of his research on “eliminating health disparities that vary by race, ethnicity and gender”, (b) he was named a Fellow of the American Academy of Health Behavior for his significant contributions to the field of health behavior research, and (c) he was named one of 1,000 Inspiring Black Scientists in America by the Cell Mentor’s Community of Scholars.