Where Lived Experience Becomes Evidence.
I AM Research Institute is a public-facing research hub advancing racism-focused science, Black health research, mental health inquiry, chronic disease studies, caregiving research, institutional trust work, and systems-of-care evidence.
We build studies, develop grants, create Black health data infrastructure, train scholars, and open real pathways for communities, funders, institutions, and researchers to act on evidence.
Black Health Co-OP
Our flagship initiative for Black health data, study recruitment, public reporting, and community-linked evidence.
Annual Survey
The State of Black Data Survey captures experience, need, institutional trust, caregiving, and systems reality.
Studies & Scholars
Current and future opportunities for participants, fellows, assistants, students, and racism-focused scholars.
Fund / Partner
Connect with I AM around grants, institutions, community partnerships, research infrastructure, and public data.
Research with urgency, clarity, and public consequence.
I AM Research Institute was built to give racism-focused research a durable home: a place where studies can be developed, data can be protected, grants can be pursued, scholars can be trained, and communities can see value returned from the knowledge they help create.
We do not treat research as a closed academic exercise. We build evidence that can move communities, reshape institutions, attract funding, inform policy, strengthen public health strategy, and create tools people can actually use.
I AM centers Black health, public data, research translation, scholar formation, and institutional accountability.
Black Health Co-OP
Black Health Co-OP is the central public research and data initiative of I AM Research Institute. It strengthens how Black health realities are documented, studied, protected, translated, and acted upon.
The Co-OP creates a visible entry point for study participation, community partnership, scholar involvement, public reporting, grant development, and future data products.
Annual State of Black Data Survey.
The Annual State of Black Data Survey is the institute’s recurring public research instrument. It gathers insight on health, mental health, caregiving, institutional trust, community needs, family systems, and lived conditions across Black communities.
The survey gives I AM a living data engine: one that can identify patterns, generate annual reporting, support grant proposals, guide research priorities, and help partners respond to what communities are actually reporting.
The survey translates lived conditions into annual reporting, study development, grant priorities, and public tools.
Captures What Standard Datasets Miss
Documents barriers, needs, trust, access, caregiving, mental health, and institutional experiences in clearer language.
Feeds Studies and Grants
Converts findings into research questions, funding proposals, briefs, public reports, and partner strategy.
Guides Partners and Funders
Gives institutions, funders, and community partners recurring insight they can use for action and accountability.
What we study and build.
I AM’s work spans racism-focused research, public data collection, health systems inquiry, community partnerships, scholar training, and translation tools that move evidence into action.
Racism, Institutions, and Health
Research on racism as a structural, institutional, historical, clinical, and measurable force shaping health and care.
Identity, Adversity, and Mental Health
Studies on distress, help-seeking, resilience, belonging, stigma, institutional trust, and access to care.
Chronic Illness and Health Systems
Work on chronic disease, patient experience, medical listening, navigation, disability, pain, and care access.
Caregiving, Fathers, and Kinship Care
Studies on caregivers, family pressure, court stress, child welfare contact, and intergenerational responsibility.
Public Research and Survey Infrastructure
Development of Black Health Co-OP, the Annual State of Black Data Survey, and community-facing tools.
Scholar Pipeline and Public Translation
Training pathways that connect methods, writing, public scholarship, grant logic, and institutional consequence.
Built from real research, national review, and public-facing evidence.
I AM grows from Dr. Jenkins’s work conducting studies, including CHOP study experience, reviewing for the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, and supporting public translation connected to the National Academies Health Equity Roundtable.
Multiple ways to build with I AM.
Whether you are a participant, scholar, funder, institution, or community partner, the institute is structured to create meaningful entry points into research and public evidence.
Join a Study
Express interest in current or upcoming studies related to Black health, mental health, caregiving, racism, and systems of care.
Fellows & Research Assistants
Explore training pathways for undergraduate, graduate, doctoral, postdoctoral, and early-career researchers.
Support Research Infrastructure
Fund Black Health Co-OP, the annual survey, community research initiatives, scholar training, or future institute studies.
Develop Grant Partnerships
Collaborate with I AM on grant strategy, research design, evaluation planning, recruitment, and translation outputs.
Host Listening and Data Sessions
Partner with the institute on local information gathering, engagement sessions, and public-facing research conversations.
Public Scholarship & Briefings
Invite the institute for public discussion, translation briefings, panels, media work, or thought leadership engagement.
Build evidence with us.
Use this form to connect about studies, Black Health Co-OP, the Annual State of Black Data Survey, research partnerships, grant development, community sessions, media, or scholar opportunities.
