How can community engagement work with research and advocacy to achieve beauty justice? In this episode, Dr. Tamarra James-Todd is joined by Dr. Dede Teteh to discuss how her work is rooted in all three of these practices and what she has found in her research on the relationship between Black identity, breast cancer risk, and beauty product usage. They also discuss Dr. Teteh’s journey from being a “bench scientist” to becoming a community-engaged researcher and health educator, the joy she’s found in doing Community Based Participatory Research (known as CBPR), and the value in bringing your whole self to your research. 

Dede K. Teteh, Dr.P.H. is a certified health education professional with a wide breadth of experience across academia, research, policy development, and strategic communications. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Public Health in the Department of Health Sciences at Chapman University and an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Division of Health Equities at City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center (Duarte, CA). Her area of research includes 1) endocrine-disrupting chemical exposures in hair and other personal care products and breast cancer risk with a particular focus on Black women (the Bench to Community Initiative); and 2) the impact of social determinants of health on lung cancer surgery family caregivers and patients. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology and minor in Theology from St. John’s University in Queens, New York; a Master of Public Health in Health Education & Promotion from Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA; and a Doctor of Public Health in Health Education from Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, California. You can follow Dede and her work here-Twitter: @DrTeteh; @bench2community