Alexis Woods Barr, PhD

About

Alexis Woods Barr is a T32 cancer health disparities postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Health Behavior at UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. Her current work focuses on issues of health equity, including access, achievement, identity, and power, and is informed by social justice, and intersectionality frameworks. She plans to better understand the following: 1) How intergenerational communication serves as a pathway between family history and health behaviors, like breastfeeding, which may reduce cancer risk; and 2) How intergenerational communication could be a source to educate and promote breastfeeding and breast cancer awareness, particularly among the Black community.

Honors and Awards

NIH T32 Cancer Health Disparities Postdoctoral Training Fellowship
2022, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Miriam Labbok Young Investigator's Award
2022, Journal of Human Lactation

Center of Excellence in Maternal and Child Health Education, Science, and Practice Traineeship
2019, University of South Florida

People of Color Breastfeeding Lactation Education Scholarship
2019, Tampa Bay Breastfeeding Taskforce

APHA Public Health Education and Health Promotion Student Award
2019, American Public Health Association

McKnight Doctoral Fellowship
2018, University of South Florida

2017 Annual APHA Student Scholarship
2017, American Public Health Association

9th Annual Graduate Student Research Symposium
2017, University of Florida

McNair Graduate Assistantship
2012, University of Florida Staff

Research Activities

At CGBI, Dr. Woods Barr provides research expertise for multiple programs to improve healthcare quality for the mother-infant dyad. She supports the evaluation of a hospital-based quality improvement initiative focused on maternity practices leading to Baby-Friendly designation based on the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding. She also supports a W.K. Kellogg grant to develop lactation consultant training programs at Historically Black Colleges and Universities to increase representation of people of color in professional lactation services.

Service Activities

- Research Committee Member, Black Mothers Breastfeeding Association (BMBFA) Black Breastfeeding Caucus (2020-Present)

- Member, State of Black Health Task Force (2020-Present)

- Member, Association of Teachers of Maternal and Child Health (ATMCH) (2018-Present)

- Member, National Association of Professional and Peer Lactation Supporters of Color (2018-Present)

- Member, Sisters of the Academy (2017-Present)

Key Publications

The Role of Breastfeeding in Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Sudden Unexpected Infant Death: A Population-Based Study of 13 Million Infants in the United States. Bartick, M., Barr, A. W., Feldman-Winter, L., Guxens, M., & Tiemeier, H. (2022). American Journal of Epidemiology.

Being a Black breastfeeding researcher in a white research world: Speaking with one voice. DeVane-Johnson, S., Woods Barr, A., & Williams, R. (2021). Journal of Human Lactation.

EveryGenerationMatters: Intergenerational perceptions of infant feeding information and communication among African American women. Woods Barr, A. L., Miller, E., Smith, J. L., Cummings, S. M., & Schafer, E. J. (2021). Breastfeeding Medicine.

“…[T] his is What We are Missing”: The value of communicating infant feeding information across three generations of African American women. Woods Barr, A. L., Austin, D. A., Smith, J. L., & Schafer, E. J. (2021). Journal of Human Lactation.

Staff/Administrative Duties

- Project management and evaluation of outcomes from programmatic implementation science research.

Education