Biography
Dr. Cheryl A Armstead is a tenured Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology and a core faculty member of the Cancer Prevention and Control Program. Her current work emphasizes training communities and students in health-equity advocacy. She has nationally recognized expertise in the areas of social inequities (e.g.,stress), community-based participatory research, biological and sociocultural influences on health disparities and mixed-methods research. As a well-respected member of the local African-American community, Dr. Armstead contributes over 20 years of behavioral medicine research experience among African Americans in South Carolina. She is currently conducting research into community stress, psychosocial risk research and health equity analyses in African-American communities, including a study on “Twenty-First Century Stress Effects of Racism on Health." In addition, Dr. Armstead runs the University of South Carolina Health Equity Laboratory.
Dr. Armstead believes that “equitable” research should provide direct benefits to the community. Therefore, she attempts to garner participation of the community in both practical and educational experiences regarding the grantsmanship process. Her main goal is to enhance the capacity of the African-American community to be viable competitors for grant funding through knowledge, equity, self-agency and empowerment. Dr. Armstead has been awarded grants from the National Health Lung and Blood Association, the National Institute for Mental Health, the National Cancer Institute and the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities. She is currently a grant reviewer for several federal and local organizations.
Research Interest
Stress Reduction, Disparities Research, Relationships Between Stress and Cardiovascular Reactivity to Laboratory Stress, Hostility and Stress Reactivity, Socioeconomic Status and Cardiovascular Disease, Health Promotion, Health Communication, Cancer Screening, Diet and Diet Assessment and Physical Activity