Sheretta T. Butler-Barnes

Dr. Sheretta T. Butler-Barnes is Professor and Dean’s Distinguished Professorial Scholar at Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) Brown School of Social Work, with affiliations in African and African American Studies and the Division of Data and Computational Sciences. She is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Biomedical Data Science at Meharry Medical College, advancing an integrated program of research at the intersection of developmental science, population health, and computational analytics.

A developmental psychologist, Dr. Butler-Barnes investigates how racialized stress exposures, including interpersonal racism, vicarious exposure to racial violence, and social media-based experiences shape and culturally grounded coping processes shape developmental and health trajectories among Black youth and families. Her work centers family systems as critical contexts through which risk and resilience processes unfold, linking early life experiences to well-being, educational outcomes, and risky behaviors, as well as chronic disease risk across the life course.

Her research program is organized around two integrated areas:

1) Black Families, Racialized Stress, and Developmental Health
This line of work examines how racialized stress exposures and protective family processes, including racial socialization and coping self-efficacy, influence Black Americans well-being, educational outcomes, and risky behaviors, with particular attention to Black women and girls’ development. This research advances culturally responsive, developmentally grounded models that account for both vulnerability and resilience within family, school, and community contexts.

2) Cardiovascular Health and Structural Inequities
This emerging line of research builds on her prior work on racial stress and coping to examine how structural racism and chronic psychosocial stress contribute to cardiovascular risk, including hypertension and congestive heart failure, among Black populations. Her work emphasizes the role of stress physiology, coping mechanisms, and social determinants in shaping long-term health disparities.

Across both areas, Dr. Butler-Barnes leverages biomedical data science approaches—including advanced statistical modeling and population health analytics—to examine multilevel pathways linking social experiences to health outcomes. Her work aims to inform interventions and policies that reduce disparities and promote health equity across the lifespan.

She previously served as the Inaugural Sojourner Truth Visiting Professor of Racial and Social Justice at Rutgers University School of Social Work (2023–24). Dr. Butler-Barnes earned her PhD and MA in psychology from Wayne State University and her BS in psychology from Michigan State University.

In Brown School News

How racial stress shapes Black parents’ confidence in discussing race, study finds
November 12, 2025

NSF Funds Training Program to Boost Regional Quantum Workforce
July 19, 2022

Butler-Barnes Receives NSF Grant to Study Impact of Racial Violence
August 30, 2021

Butler-Barnes awarded seed grant to study parental messaging about race
July 13, 2020