Creating a world that is safer and healthier for women to love, work, live, play, and care for themselves and their families.

Welcome to the Threads Research Lab!

Led by Dr. Kamila A. Alexander, at Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, our work is all about recognizing & building human connections as a transformational way to create sustainable healthy communities.

Dr.  Kamila A. Alexander

Kamila A. Alexander’s research focuses on promoting sexual and reproductive health equity through violence prevention. Her work examines the complex roles that structural determinants such as gender-based violence, societal gender expectations, and economic opportunities play in the experiences of intimate human relationships. Using health equity and social justice lenses, she aims to learn why individuals make particular sexual decisions and how they convey those decisions to their emotional partners, how we can promote safe relationships, and how we might expand current prevention efforts to mitigate intimate partner violence, unintended pregnancies, and sexually transmitted infections including HIV. Read more.

Our Research

  • Black Women and Intimate Partner Violence (IPV)

    Black women’s experiences of IPV are unique and their effects reverberate across our society.
    Learn more

  • HIV Prevention and Sexual Health

    Partner-independent reproductive and sexual health strategies can prevent HIV and unintended pregnancies by expanding the menu of options for protection.
    Learn more

  • Social Networks

    The people in our networks can help us stay healthy through emotional support, resources, and modeling protective behaviors.
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  • Men's Health

    Men’s trauma experiences can affect young women’s health behaviors.
    Learn more

  • Reproductive Coercion

    Decisions about when and how to have children should not be controlled by a partner or state wishing to have power over another.
    Learn more

How violence disrupts women’s health

  • Isolation

    Women experiencing IPV report feeling isolated from their communities. Research shows they often have fewer people in their social networks that can provide support and resources

  • Dependency

    Women report they have fewer options for employment, housing, and freedom to decide when and how to have sex

  • Stress & Poor Mental Health

    Women report persistent feelings of sadness, overwhelm, and negative thoughts that makes it hard to get through the day

Are you or someone you know a Black women living with HIV who might be interested in joining this research study? If so please call 443-927-9247 to learn more. #blackwomen #HIV #yourvoicematters #health #wellness
Join the Threads Research Lab to celebrate November. We stand with Native American survivors of gender-based violence during ALL months of the year. During this month, we continue to call for culturally-responsive solutions to the unjust and dispropo
Congratulations to Gloria Mpundu, PhD candidate and Threads Lab research assistant, on presenting her Research, Examining Coping Strategies in the Context of Intimate Partner Violence among Young Black Women in Maryland at the APHA 2024 Annual Meetin
October is #DomesticViolenceAwarenessMonth, and we're highlighting some of the new policies that empower survivors and promote safety. Want to know more about these policies and how they're being implemented? Check out this link: https://nnedv.org/p
Do you know anyone between the ages of 18-24 who may be interest in participating in the STRIDE Study? This study explores how multiple forms of discrimination in healthcare settings intersect with IPV survivorship and influence the overall well bein
Breaking the misconceptions about domestic violence is crucial to supporting survivors. Know the truth, spread awareness, and help end the cycle of abuse. #DVAM #IPV #NoSurvivorJusticeWithoutRacialJustice #DVAM2024 #believesurvivors #research #black
Help do your part to end violence against women. #DVAM #DV #IPV #HealHoldCenter #NoSurvivorJusticeWithoutRacialJustice #DVAM2024 #CallforUnity #believesurvivors
The Threads Lab recently participated in the Clothesline Project, a visual art exhibit that raises the awareness on the impact of violence and supports survivors, in honor of Domestic Violence Awareness Month. #DV #IPV #DVAwarenessMonth #endthesilenc
Do you know anyone between the ages of 18-24 who may be interest in participating in the STRIDE Study? This study explores how multiple forms of discrimination in healthcare settings intersect with IPV survivorship and influence the overall well bein
There are local resources available for survivors of domestic violence including counseling, crisis intervention, legal services, shelter, and more. #DV #ipv #DVAwarenessMonth #endthesilence #HealHoldCenter #NoSurvivorJusticeWithoutRacialJustice #DVA

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