Independent research infrastructure · population health · data · public evidence

We build the evidence infrastructure for better health.

I AM Research Group develops the research, data, methods, and public tools needed to understand health outcomes and strengthen decision-making. We build studies, data systems, research methods, public evidence, and scholar pipelines designed to move from rigorous inquiry into real institutional and community use.

ResearchStudies + questions
MethodsMeasurement science
DataPopulation intelligence
ScholarsTraining + formation
Public EvidenceReports + tools + translation

Research agenda

The questions are connected because health systems are connected.

I AM studies the conditions that shape health outcomes across people, places, institutions, care systems, and data environments.

01

Population Health & Outcomes

Research on the conditions, environments, institutions, and systems that shape health outcomes across populations.

02

Mental Health & Chronic Disease

Questions at the intersection of stress, disease, care, resilience, behavior, and long-term health outcomes.

03

Health Data & Population Intelligence

Public data products, surveys, dashboards, and source-governed systems that make health patterns easier to understand and act on.

04

Access, Trust & Systems of Care

Access, communication, trust, caregiving, and the systems people must navigate when they seek care.

05

Measurement Science & Research Methods

Better ways to ask, measure, analyze, and interpret health questions without flattening context, categories, or lived experience.

Research infrastructure

One research group. Multiple public engines.

The platforms turn research capacity into public participation, recurring data, population intelligence, global visibility, and scholar development.

CO-OP

Black Health Co-OP

Community-facing research infrastructure connecting participation, survey work, public evidence, and health visibility.

Explore Black Health Co-OP
GBHA

Global Black Health Atlas

A public data platform for country-level population health visibility, demographic context, data-quality notes, and health intelligence.

Open the Atlas
DATA

State of Black Data

A recurring public survey designed to surface needs, experiences, research priorities, and evidence for reports and future studies.

View State of Black Data
RA

Research Academy

The scholar-development engine for research assistants, fellows, students, and emerging researchers learning to design rigorous studies, work with data, and communicate evidence publicly.

Explore the Research Academy

How evidence moves

Research is a chain of accountability.

I AM is designed so the work does not stop at an interesting question or a published finding. The system moves evidence toward use.

01

Question

Name the problem clearly enough to study it.

02

Method

Build measures that respect history, categories and context.

03

Study

Collect and interpret evidence with methodological discipline.

04

Public Evidence

Translate findings into reports, tools, data and accessible explanation.

05

Consequence

Return the evidence to the institutions and communities that can use it.

The I AM standard

Rigorous enough for science. Clear enough for public life.

The research standard is not only about what I AM studies. It is about how the group treats methods, missingness, public responsibility and scholar formation.

01
Measure the conditions that shape outcomes directly.Do not reduce complex health questions to demographic shorthand when the research question requires more.
02
Treat data limits as evidence.Absence, missingness and inconsistent categories can reveal institutional priorities and blind spots.
03
Govern sources visibly.Build public products with traceable evidence, definitions and limits.
04
Return evidence to the public.Research translation is part of the work, not an afterthought after publication.
05
Train people to continue the work.Scholar formation is infrastructure for the next generation of rigorous health and population research.

Proof of work

Research experience. Scientific review. Public translation. Scholar formation.

I AM grows from a body of applied health research, national scientific review, public-health translation, and research training rather than from a branding exercise.

Study experience

Applied Health Study Work

Health-facing scholarship that informs study design, community engagement and the group’s approach to evidence.

National review

Scientific Review

Research expertise brought into national scientific and public-health knowledge environments.

Public translation

Public Health Roundtables

Public-facing work that connects research, scientific review, health systems, and understandable evidence.

Scholar formation

Next Generation Pipeline

Training emerging scholars in research questions, methods, data interpretation, grants and public scholarship.

Research outputs

The work should leave the lab in more than one form.

Different audiences need different evidence products. I AM is built to publish across scholarly, public and institutional formats.

StudiesOriginal research and structured inquiry.
ReportsLong-form analysis and public findings.
BriefsConcise evidence for decision-makers and communities.
DashboardsVisible data architecture for recurring questions.
Methods NotesTransparent guidance on measurement and interpretation.
BriefingsVideo and live translation for public audiences.

Scholar pipeline

Training the next generation is part of the research.

I AM is not only a place to conduct research. It is a place to learn how to do research well—through questions, measures, data, grants, manuscripts, and public translation.

Research DesignQuestions, literature, concepts and study architecture.
MethodsMeasurement, categories, validity and interpretation.
DataCleaning, analysis, visualization and limits.
Public ScholarshipWriting, reports, presentations and translation.
Kevin Ahmaad Jenkins, PhD
I AM Research Institute seal

Founder

Kevin Ahmaad Jenkins, PhD

I AM Research Group was founded as independent research infrastructure for questions that require methodological seriousness, public visibility, and durable support. The aim is larger than a single study: build the house, the methods, the data, the scholars, and the public tools needed for rigorous health research to grow.

The founder’s role is to set the intellectual direction, develop research architecture, build partnerships and create a platform where scholars and communities can produce evidence with methodological independence and public usefulness.

Build with I AM

Fund the research. Strengthen the methods. Expand the public evidence.

Partner with I AM Research Group on health studies, data infrastructure, grant development, scholar training, public translation, and community-facing research platforms.

Research briefings

Methods and evidence, explained publicly.

This section appears automatically when briefing videos are added in the configuration below.