Faculty/Staff Stephen B. Thomas, PhD

Philip Hallen Professor of Community Health and Social Justice
Associate Dean for Diversity

Graduate School of Public Health
A740 Crabtree Hall
Pittsburgh, PA 15261

Phone: 412-624-5665
Fax: 412-624-8679
E-mail: sbthomas@pitt.edu

RESEARCH

My research focuses on the translation of evidence-based science on chronic disease into community-based interventions designed to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in health and health care. More specifically, my research has focused on understanding how social context shapes attitudes and behaviors of underserved, poorly served, and never-served segments of our society toward participation in health promotion and disease prevention activities. I am particularly focused on how the legacy of the Syphilis Study at Tuskegee (1932–72) has impacted trust and influenced the willingness of African Americans to participate in medical and public health research. As director of the Center for Minority Health, I am principal investigator on EXPORT Health, and the National Institutes of Health-funded Center of Excellence in Partnerships for Community Outreach, Research, and Training to eliminate racial and ethnic health disparities.

TEACHING

I am involved in the training and mentoring of junior faculty interested in minority health. I am developing an overview course on minority health to be part of a certificate program in minority health and health disparity research. Additionally, I am working on the development of a certificate program on public health and the faith community.

SERVICE

I am a charter member and fellow in the American Academy for Health Behavior and serve as associate editor for the journal Health Promotion Practice. I serve on the Institute of Medicine committee on youth population and military recruitment physical, medical, and mental health standards and the American Medical Association’s Ethical Force Program expert advisory panel on patient-centered communication for vulnerable populations. Additionally, I serve on the boards of the Rails to Trails Conservancy, Community Behavioral Health Care Organization, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Active Living by Design. At the University of Pittsburgh, I serve on the chancellor’s diversity committee and the diversity committee for the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, and serve as faculty associate in the Center for Bioethics and Law. In the city of Pittsburgh I am on the Board of Directors for the United Way of Allegheny County.

MOST RECENT PUBLICATIONS

• Thomas S, Fine, M, Ibrahim, S. (guest editors, in press) Health Disparities: The Importance of Culture in Health Communication. American Journal of Public Health.

• Thomas, S, Pincus, H, Keyser, D. (in press) A Community-Based, Systems Approach for Reducing Disparities in Maternal and Child Health Care: The Pittsburgh Collaborative Model. Public Health Reports.

• Thomas, S, Ford, A, Murthy, V, Vogel, K, Crosby, K. (second quarter, 2004). Preventing Cancer in Minority Communities: How a Family Health History Can Save Lives. Oncologistics

• Hutchinson, A., Corbie-Smith, G., Thomas, S., Mohanan, S., del Rio, C. (2004). Understanding the patient’s perspective on rapid and routine HIV testing in an inner-city urgent care center. AIDS Education and Prevention. 16: 101-114.

• Ibrahim, S, Thomas S, Fine, M. (2003 guest editors): Achieving Health Equity: An Incremental Journey. American Journal of Public Health, 93(10): 1619-1621.

• Corbie-Smith, Thomas S, St. George, D. (2002): Distrust, race and research. Archives of Internal Medicine, 162: 2458-2463.

• Roe, K., Thomas, S., (2002). REACH 2010: Engaging the Circle of Research and Practice to Eliminate Health Disparities: An Interview with Imani Ma’at. Health Promotion Practice, 3(2), 120-124.

• DiIorio, C., Resnicow, K, Thomas, S., Wang, D.T., Dudley, W.N., Marter, D., and Lipana, J., (2002). Keepin' it R.E.A.L.!: Program Description and Results of Baseline Assessment. Health Education and Behavior, 29(1).

• Thomas, S. (2001). The color line: Race matters in elimination of health disparities. American Journal of Public Health, 91(7), 1046-1948.

• Freimuth, V., Quinn, S., Thomas, S., Cole, G., Zook, E., and Duncan, T. (2001). African Americans' Perspectives on Research and the Tuskegee Syphilis Study: Results of a Qualitative Study in Four Cities. Social Science and Medicine, 52, 797-801.