Faustine Williams, Ph.D., MPH, M.S.

Stadtman Tenure-Track Investigator
NIH Distinguished Scholar
Immigrant Health & Health Disparities (IHD) Research Laboratory
faustine.williams@nih.gov
301-827-2727

Dr. Faustine Williams is a Stadtman Tenure-Track Investigator and NIH Distinguished Scholar in the Division of Intramural Research at NIMHD. She is a trained transdisciplinary researcher with a focus on immigrant mental health and well-being. Dr. Williams’ Immigrant Health & Health Disparities (IHD) Research Laboratory is housed in the Population and Community Health Sciences Branch of the Intramural Research Program.

As an immigrant, Dr. Williams understands the processes of immigration and acculturation can be highly disruptive and translate to a higher risk for stress-related disease and suboptimal lifestyles. Given the rapidly growing United States immigrant population and the known health risks associated with acculturation, it is critical to examine the complex relationships that can compromise immigrants' health. However, studying acculturation and social determinants of immigrant health is particularly challenging due to the complex interactions of factors and their fluid nature. These factors, which are sociocultural, environmental, economic, biological, and genetic, are often interconnected, requiring interdisciplinary and novel approaches to disentangle effects.

Dr. Williams applies transdisciplinary measures such as community-based system dynamics to understand the dynamic complexity underlying acculturative stress and mental well-being. The goals of her research are to:

• Assess the knowledge, attitudes, concerns, risk factors, and coping mechanisms relating to psychological distress and well-being from cultural perspectives.
• Design interventions to improve psychological distress and well-being for immigrants in the United States.

Dr. Williams was an assistant professor at East Tennessee State University and a staff scientist at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis before joining NIH. Dr. Williams received her Ph.D. in applied social sciences, her MPH in health promotion and policy, and her M.S. in health informatics from the University of Missouri, Columbia.

Selected Publications

¹ NIH Mentored Postbaccalaureate; ² NIH Mentored Postdoctoral/Medical Fellow; ³ Mentored Graduate Student; ⁴ NIH Collaborator; ⁵ Outside Collaborator

• Ormiston, C.K.¹, Chiangong, J.¹, & Williams, F. (2023, Jan 9). The COVID-19 pandemic and Hispanic/Latina/o immigrant mental health: Why more needs to be done. Health Equity, 7(1):3-8. doi: 10.1089/heq.2022.0041.
• Adzrago, D.³, Sulley, S.⁵, Ormiston, C.K.¹, Mamudu, L.⁵, & Williams, F. Differences in the perceived likelihood of receiving COVID-19 vaccine. (2022, Oct 22). Int J Environ Res Public Health, 19(21):13723. doi: 10.3390/ijerph192113723.
• Montiel Ishino, F.A.², Villalobos, K.¹, & Williams, F. (2022 Oct 18). Substance use from social distancing and isolation by us nativity during the time of COVID-19: Cross-sectional study. JMIR Public Health Surveill. doi: 10.2196/38163. Online ahead of print.
• Zarei, K.², Kahle, L.^5, Buckman, D.W.⁵, Choi, K.⁴, & Williams, F. (2022, Aug 6). Parent-child nativity, race, ethnicity, and adverse childhood experiences among U.S. children. J Pediatr,. S0022-3476(22)00672-2. doi:10.1016/j.jpeds.2022.07.050.
• Villalobos, K.¹, Montiel Ishino, F.A.², McNeel, T.S.⁵, & Williams, F. (2022, Jun 1). Examining the relationship of sociodemographic factors, neighborhood cohesion and abnormal sleep duration among U.S. foreign-born subpopulations in the National Health Interview Survey. BMC Public Health, 22(1):1099. doi: 10.1186/s12889-022-13523-z.

Page updated March 21, 2023