Research at a glance
Research Topics
Current position
- Assistant Professor
- Department of Public Health – School of Health Professions
- Department of Women’s and Gender Studies – College of Arts & Science
Educational background
- Ph.D. – University of South Carolina, Public Health – Health Promotion, Education and Behavior, 2018
- M.S.P.H. – University of South Carolina, Public Health – Health Promotion, Education and Behavior, 2014
- B.S. – Converse College, Biology, 2011
Research interests
- Social Determinants of Health
- Mental Health
- Suicidality and Suicide Prevention
Classes taught
- P HLTH 2200: Introduction to Public Health and Health Promotion
- WGST 4610: An Intersectional Examination of Health Inequalities
Publications
- Lewis, K.R., Cummings, J.L, & Williams, M.* (In-Press; 2026) “You only want us here so it’s not a 100 percent White school”: Black College Students Negotiating, Coping with, and Resisting a White Institutional Space. American Educational Research Journal. doi.org/0.3102/00028312261446322
- Lewis, K.R., Taylor, K., Watson, T., and Cummings, J.L. (2026). These experiences kill you emotionally”: Examining how Black Emerging Adults Construct Meaning of Race-Based Traumatic Stress. Emerging Adulthood. doi.org/10.1177/21676968261424937
- Carlos Chavez, F.L., Lewis, K.R., Moore, B.A., Tang, T., Vargas, E., Hermsen, J.M., Lee, R.E., McKelvey, W., Chapman, D., and Rikoon, J.S. (2026) Meal Preparation Strategies and Food Insecurity among Unaccompanied Latino Migrant Farmworker Youth in Georgia and Florida: A Mixed-Methods Approach. Journal of Agromedicine. doi.org/10.1080/1059924X.2025.2580500
- Lewis, K.R., Cummings, J.L., Walsemann, K.M, & Mann, E.S. (2026) “They don’t have to make room for me because this is their space”: Black College Students’ Narratives of Racism, Whiteness, and Mental Health. Social Problems. doi.org/10.1093/socpro/spaf011
