This month’s podcast features an insightful interview with Dr. Karlene Cunningham, who leads essential support for birthing individuals of color. Her work with doulas highlights the importance of recognizing and uplifting the talents and gifts that communities already offer to birthing people. Dr. Cunningham also discusses how her early research on adolescent sexual relationships can inform interventions and studies related to birthing individuals. Additionally, she shares her pioneering efforts to ensure that AI research includes voices often marginalized or overlooked in developing interventions.

Guest bio

Dr. Karlene Cunningham earned her PhD in Clinical Psychology from Auburn University and completed an internship in Behavioral Medicine at Brown University's Alpert Medical School. She has also completed NIH-funded fellowships in Adolescent/Young Adult Bio-behavioral HIV research, Clinical and Community-Based HIV/AIDS, and Leadership in Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning and Health Equity.

Dr. Cunningham is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine at East Carolina University's Brody School of Medicine. She directs the Sexual Health and Reproductive Equity Engagement (SHaRE2) lab. Her passion lies in using a reproductive justice lens to address gaps in perinatal mental health research and improve systems of care for birthing people, especially those in marginalized and rural communities. Her clinical work focuses on hospital-based consultation-liaison, specializing in reproductive psychology.