Nao Hagiwara, Ph.D., is a Professor of Public Health Sciences and Director of the Program on Health Disparities and Community Engagement Research at the University of Virginia (UVA). She joined the Department of Public Health Sciences at UVA in August 2023. The core goal of her research program is to develop theory-driven interventions that are designed to reduce racial/ethnic disparities in healthcare and health and ultimately promote social equity.
With a training background in basic experimental social psychology, Dr. Hagiwara grounds her applied disparities research in social psychology theories of stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination. Dr. Hagiwara stands at the forefront of research on healthcare providers’ explicit and implicit biases. As Principal Investigator and Co-Investigator on numerous NIH-funded projects, she examines the intricate interplay of these biases in patient-provider communication across diverse clinical environments. Additionally, Dr. Hagiwara explores the complexities surrounding the management of chronic stress among individuals from socially minoritized groups, investigating the diverse circumstances and resilience strategies that enable them to confront and navigate the adversities stemming from experiences of discrimination.
To date, her work on provider bias has appeared in flagship journals, including The Lancet, as well as popular media outlets, such as CNN and New York Times. She is also the co-author of a book, “Unequal Health: Anti-Black Racism and the Threat to America’s Health.” Dr. Hagiwara is the Incoming President of Social Personality & Health Network (SPHN).
Education:
Postdoctoral Fellowship, Behavioral Oncology, Karmanos Cancer Institute, 2012
Ph.D., Social Psychology, Michigan State University, 2010
M.S., Social Psychology, Michigan State University, 2006
B.A., Psychology & Sociology (double majors), 2004
Contact Information:
Tel: (434) 924-8784
Email: nh6ty@virginia.edu
560 Ray C. Hunt Drive, Rm 2109 (Fontaine Research Park)
Expertise:
Stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination; Racial/ethnic disparities in healthcare and health; Patient-provider communication; Mixed methods research designs
Recent Honors & Awards:
Research in Diversity Award, Social Personality & Health Network (2023)
Fellow, Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (2023)
Excellence in Scholarship Award (Mathematics and Sciences), College of Humanities and Sciences, Virginia Commonwealth University (2023)
Outstanding Scholarship Award, Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University (2023)
Recent Publications:
(A complete list of published work is available at MyBibliography and Google Scholar.)
- Jindal, M., & Hagiwara, N. (2024). Strides in racial bias training. JAMA Network Open, 7(3), e242164.
- Hagiwara, N., Duffy, C., & Quillin, J. (2023). Implicit and explicit racial prejudice and stereotyping: The prevalence and variation among genetic counselors. Journal of Genetic Counseling, 32, 397-410.
- Hagiwara, N., Dovidio, J. F., Stone, J., & Penner, L. A. (2020). Applied racial/ethnic healthcare disparities research using implicit measures. Social Cognition, 38, 69-98.
- Hagiwara, N., Kron, F. W., Scerbo, M. W., & Watson, G. S. (2020). A call for grounding implicit bias training in clinical and translational frameworks. The Lancet, 395(10234), 1457-1460.
Book:
Penner, L. A., Dovidio, J. F., Hagiwara, N., & Smedley, B. D. (2023). Unequal Health: Anti-Black Racism and the Threat to America‘s Health. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Nao Hagiwara CV
X handle: @hagiwara_nao