Allana T. Forde, Ph.D., M.P.H., FAHA

Stadtman Tenure-Track Investigator
Division of Intramural Research
allana.forde@nih.gov
301-480-3158

Dr. Allana T. Forde is a Stadtman Tenure-Track Investigator in the Division of Intramural Research of the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities. Her research focuses on the stressors that are more frequently experienced by racial and/or ethnic minority populations and how these stressors impact health and health disparities.

Dr. Forde is particularly interested in examining how stressors contribute to cardiovascular risk, morbidity, and mortality, with a specific focus on African American, Afro-Caribbean, and Afro-Latino populations. Her research also explores the heterogeneity within and between racial and/or ethnic minority groups to identify protective and adaptive factors that may explain why certain groups do not develop the adverse health outcomes arising from stress. An extension of her research includes exploring the psychological, behavioral, and biological mechanisms through which stressors impact cardiovascular outcomes.

Prior to joining NIMHD, Dr. Forde was a postdoctoral research fellow at the Urban Health Collaborative at Drexel University. During her fellowship, she was awarded a research grant from the American Heart Association and was selected to participate in the NHLBI Saunders-Watkins Leadership Workshop for early career investigators who are committed to the field of implementation research on health disparities.

Dr. Forde received a B.A. in child development and community health from Tufts University, an M.P.H. in epidemiology from George Washington University, and a Ph.D. in epidemiology from Columbia University. She is an elected Fellow of the American Heart Association.

Selected Publications

• Forde, A. T., Sims, M., Muntner, P., Lewis, T., Onwuka, A., Moore, K., & Diez Roux, A. V. (2020). Discrimination and hypertension risk among African Americans in the Jackson Heart Study. Hypertension, 76(3), 715-723.
• Forde, A. T., Lewis, T. T., Kershaw, K. N., Bellamy, S. L., & Diez Roux, A. V. (2021). Perceived discrimination and hypertension risk among participants in the multi‐ethnic study of atherosclerosis. Journal of the American Heart Association, 10(5), e019541.
• Fernandez, J. R., Montiel Ishino, F. A., Williams, F., Slopen, N., & Forde, A. T. (2022). Hypertension and diabetes status by patterns of stress in older adults from the US health and retirement study: a latent class analysis. Journal of the American Heart Association, 11(12), e024594.
• Aronoff, J. E., Quinn, E. B., Forde, A. T., Glover, L. M., Reiner, A., McDade, T. W., & Sims, M. (2022). Associations between perceived discrimination and immune cell composition in the Jackson Heart Study. Brain, behavior, and immunity, 103, 28-36.
• Lawrence, W. R., Jones, G. S., Johnson, J. A., Ferrell, K. P., Johnson, J. N., Shiels, M. S., ... & Forde, A. T. (2023). Discrimination experiences and all-cause and cardiovascular mortality: Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis. Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, 16(4), e009697.

Page updated March 12, 2025