Utilizing a multidisciplinary approach, Dr. Stephanie H. Cook integrates the study of attachment theory, minority stress and health risk behaviors among young sexual minority men of color.
As an undergraduate at the University of Michigan, Cook applied for a spot in Dr. Marc A. Zimmerman’s study of South African youth in the Minority Health Research Training Program. Zimmerman says even as a college sophomore, Cook was clear about her goals.
“She knew she wanted to develop research skills and was able to sense a future of what she was going to do,” says Zimmerman. “She was able to describe and connect ideas.”
Cook has a less glowing view of her own abilities in that meeting with Zimmerman, but she is eternally grateful that he saw something in her.
“A lot of young, poor Black women from an urban area don’t get an opportunity,” says Cook. “His mentorship has been fundamental to my success over the years.”
Originally on a pre-med track as an undergraduate, Cook gradually came to see that her talent and focus were best served elsewhere. Zimmerman’s program took her to South Africa, where she witnessed the impact of AIDS on Black and Brown individuals. When she returned to Michigan, she continued to work on research related to HIV/AIDS.
“I realized that my passion was to address the public health needs of people here and abroad to reduce HIV incidents and to promote health and wellbeing, including mental health,” says Cook, who earned a doctorate in public health with a focus on sociomedical sciences from Columbia University.
