Henry Edmonds, an outreach program coordinator at the Duke-UNC Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center since 2022, takes pride in his success with increasing African American participation in the center’s studies of medical research protocols.
He notes that Alzheimer’s disease strikes the African-American community especially hard, yet Blacks are generally underrepresented in the center’s brain health research. To help address this gap, Henry cultivates partnerships between researchers and underrepresented communities, particularly African Americans. He spends most of his time working with the NC Registry for Brain Health, whose mission is to increase awareness of Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders and to connect North Carolinians of all ages to research opportunities designed to improve brain health.
Prior to joining the department’s Division of Behavioral Medicine & Neurosciences, Henry served for 20 years as an outreach program coordinator with the Joseph and Kathleen Bryan Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center in the Department of Neurology. And before that, his professions and avocations included pastor, community organizer, and social justice activist.
He recently shared some reflections on his work and his life.
What do you enjoy most about working in Duke Psychiatry?
I get the opportunity to do the kind of work that I would be doing even if I were not being paid to do it. I have worked most of my life as a community organizer with poor and disadvantaged populations, for which the social conditions in which they are born and live and age do not ensure opportunities to be healthy and live their best lives.
What’s your best memory of your time working in Duke Psychiatry?
Last year I had the opportunity to organize a Black Men’s Health Symposium. For some time, I have been concerned with the poor representation of Black men in our research protocols. Moreover, Black men have the lowest life expectancy and suffer worse health outcomes than any other racial group in America. Any health professional will tell you that Black men are dying young at an alarming rate, and it’s driven by racial discrimination, mass incarceration, poor education, lack of trust in healthcare providers, and lack of affordable health care.
At the symposium, we brought together healthcare providers, researchers, community activists, organizers, and key community gatekeepers to discuss ways to break down historic and contemporary barriers that have led to poor health outcomes for Black men.
What’s your professional superpower?
I am a retired pastor after 20 years in a local Durham church. Before I was a pastor, I was a community organizer and social justice activist.
I am the product of civil rights demonstrations at Shaw University in Raleigh. It was at Shaw that I first became involved in social justice issues. When I returned home to Philadelphia, I worked with welfare rights organizations, public housing tenant organizations, and other community groups that embraced social justice issues. Before coming to Duke, I took my social justice work to my ministry in the Black church as pastor, educator, and church leader.
The skills I learned as a community organizer and communicator have become my superpower, if there is any such thing. Organizing and communicating skills are essential to the work I do as an outreach program coordinator at Duke.
What brought you to Duke … and what keeps you here?
Before coming to Duke, I was a pastor, and my wife was a teacher in the Wake County School System. My father-in-law was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, so to understand the disease, I brought researchers from the Bryan Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (ADRC) to my church.
Not long after, I was asked to join a group of visitors at the ADRC. This was a group of African American community advocates across the state who were trained at Duke to go back to their communities to advocate for research protocols and educate their communities about Alzheimer’s.
This is essentially the same work I am doing now at Duke. I do this work out of love and commitment to be of service to underserved communities. I plan to continue this work because it is what makes me who I am.
Can you share a significant achievement or proud moment in your Duke career?
My experience at Duke has been full of proud moments. The proudest moments of all have been those times when people come back to me after an Alzheimer’s workshop or education session to let me know how I helped them as they were going through difficult times with a loved one.
What do you like to do when you’re not working?
When I’m not working, I enjoy cycling for my health and also to raise money for health causes that I care about. I enjoy riding for health issues that affect African Americans disproportionately. I have ridden from Philadelphia to Washington DC for Alzheimer’s, over 100 miles for diabetes, 200 miles for multiple sclerosis, and many more events over the years.
“Henry has been the foundation of our research group’s outreach program to the African American community. For many in the community, he is the trusted source that led them to participate in Alzheimer’s disease research. His commitment to our brain health mission is unwavering, making him a wonderful and highly valued member of our team.”
— Brenda Plassman, PhD, Professor in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences