1250 BELLFLOWER BOULEVARD
LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA 90840
562.985.4111
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The Center for Health Equity Research (CHER) promotes health equity by engaging researchers and community partners in conducting rigorous and innovative public health research, and place-based and program evaluation. Our research focuses on diverse, underserved, and high risk populations. Center staff and affiliated faculty have extensive experience in community-based research.
CHER has mentored approximately 122 Fellows since 2017 and CHER Fellows come from diverse disciplines including medicine, nutrition, nursing, psychology, public health, rehabilitation services, sociology, social work, speech and language pathology. The majority of the CHER Fellows are from minority serving institutions and from underrepresented minority populations.
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Dr. Amber Johnson
Director of the ºÚÁÏÍø Center for Health Equity Research
Dr. Amber Johnson is an associate professor in the Department of Health Science. Her career has focused on reducing inequities and disparities among marginalized populations. She uses this position to inspire and embolden the next generation of leaders to develop innovative solutions to public health challenges facing our society.
Dr. Johnson has been successful in obtaining funding from the NIH’s National Institute for General Medical Sciences and National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities to investigate how discrimination, emotion, and cardiovascular disease risk factors can lead to health disparities among Black women. She has also received funding through the City of Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services to conduct community-empowered research projects, community health prevention education, community health assessment, and outreach.
Furthermore, Dr. Johnson has been actively involved in promoting equity in the City of Long Beach. She previously assisted the City of Long Beach’s city-wide equity efforts by conducting a qualitative during the 2020 Framework for Reconciliation. During this time, she worked to create the Black Health Equity Collaborative, a collaborative of Black-serving organizations focusing on reducing Black health inequities. She is currently partnering with the City of Long Beach to assist in the implementation of the Black Community Health Strength Needs Assessment utilizing geographical information systems to map culturally relevant resources as identified by community members.
Dr. Johnson hopes to continue CHER’s legacy of health equity research by providing student training opportunities and early exposure to careers in health and human services. She is currently representing the College of Health and Human Services in the K-16 collaborative funded through Unite-LA which aims to enhance the number of underrepresented Long Beach students pursuing health-related majors at ºÚÁÏÍø. In partnership with the College of Engineering, Long Beach Unified School District, and Long Beach Community College, she has led the development of a new CHHS Ambassador Program and Sankofa Health and Engineering Summer Academy at the BEACH, bringing 80 middle school students to ºÚÁÏÍø to participate in interactive workshops with CHHS faculty.
