Since joining Ohio State, Dr. Darryl Hood has contributed through his community engaged research to influence curriculum, programs and policy. His research focus has been to determine if there are associations between the built, natural and social environment and disparate health outcomes in vulnerable populations. He has taken on the issue of environmental injustice head-on and in a holistic way. He has recently framed the challenge as an opportunity for a system approach to understand the many inputs to disparities in health in the time of COVID.

Currently, Hood is leading efforts to develop a program with the residents of the King-Lincoln Bronzeville district and Mt. Vernon neighborhoods. Enriching Environmental Endeavors via e-Equity, Education and Empowerment envisions that the OSU African American and African Studies Community Extension Center (CEC) will serve as the nucleus for change and equity in the district. This initiative reflects his capacity to forge critical alliances, with multiple partners, to accomplish goals.

Hood is also leading a project to document a significant dampening of maternal and child health disparate outcomes including infant mortality, to positively improve the health and development of residents in the high-risk neighborhoods and census tracts of Columbus, which has one of the higher infant mortality rates in the country. Community partners in this work include Columbus Early Learning Centers, PrimaryOne Health (Health care provider), CareSource of Ohio (Medicare provider), and St. Vincent Family Center (family mental health). An additional critical impact of these important collaborations is the facilitation of broader community engagement with Ohio State, as a whole, including greater access for collaborating colleges.

https://engage.osu.edu/2021-university-outreach-and-engagement-awards-0