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Chelsey R. Carter, PhD, MPH

she/her/hers
Assistant Professor of Public Health (Social and Behavioral Sciences) and Assistant Professor of Anthropology (Secondary)
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About

Titles

Assistant Professor of Public Health (Social and Behavioral Sciences) and Assistant Professor of Anthropology (Secondary)

Biography

Chelsey R. Carter is an Assistant Professor of Public Health in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Yale School of Public Health with a secondary appointment in the Department of Anthropology. She is a Black feminist anthropologist of medicine, public health, and race from St. Louis, Missouri. Her scholarship examines the relationship(s) between social determinants of health (e.g., anti-Black racism, socioeconomic status, gender) and neurodegenerative diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and motor neuron diseases (MND). Carter has a background in anthropology and public health, with specific training and expertise in ethnographic research, qualitative methodologies, and applied public health interventions. Her most recent research on race and ALS informs her first book project, tentatively titled, Finding the Forgotten: Race, Bias, and Care in the World of ALS. This book centers on the experiences of Black people living with ALS (and their families), scientific knowledge production, and how embodied inequality impacts diagnosis, treatment, and engagement in clinical trials.

Her current research projects investigate precision medicine and genomic research in Black communities (The Black Genome Project) and caregiving among persons impacted by ALS. Her scholarship has been funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Andrew Mellon Foundation, the Wenner Gren Foundation, and more. Her public and scholarly work has been published in Anthropology News, Scientific American, Museum Anthropology, Medical Decision Making, British Journal of Health Psychology, American Ethnologist, and Medical Anthropology Quarterly.

She is Founder and Director of The LEITH (Lived Experiences Igniting Transformations in Health) Lab, a hub to address Black invisibility and misdiagnosis for rare neurodegenerative and genetic diseases, in honor of anthropologist, Dr. Leith Mullings.

Appointments

Other Departments & Organizations

Education & Training

Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow
Princeton University (2022)
MPH
Washington University in St. Louis (2021)
PhD
Washington University in St. Louis (2021)
BA
Emory University, Anthropology (2012)

Research

Overview

Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)

Health Disparate, Minority and Vulnerable Populations; Health Equity; Neurodegenerative Diseases; Qualitative Research; Systemic Racism

Research at a Glance

Publications Timeline

A big-picture view of Chelsey R. Carter's research output by year.
7Publications

Publications

2022

2021

2020

2018

  • Racist Monuments are Killing Us
    Carter, C. R. (2018). Racist Monuments are Killing Us. Museum Anthropology, 41(2), 139-141.
    Commentaries, Editorials and Letters

Academic Achievements & Community Involvement

  • honor

    Principal’s Development Fund Visiting Scholar

  • honor

    Distinguished Teaching Award

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