April Carson facts for kids

April Perry Carson is an American scientist who studies diseases. She is an expert in epidemiology, which is the study of how diseases spread and affect groups of people. Dr. Carson works as a professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). She also helps make sure everyone feels welcome and included at the UAB School of Public Health.

Dr. Carson is the director of an important research project called the Jackson Heart Study.

Learning and School

April Carson went to the University of Georgia and earned a degree in microbiology. This means she studied tiny living things like bacteria and viruses.

Later, she went to the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. There, she earned two more degrees, including a Ph.D. in epidemiology. Her Ph.D. research focused on how a person's life experiences and where they live might affect their heart health.

After finishing her studies, Dr. Carson continued to research cardiovascular disease (heart and blood vessel problems) at UNC.

Her Work and Research

Dr. April Carson is an associate professor of epidemiology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Public Health. She also serves as an associate dean, working to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion within the school. This means she helps make sure people from all backgrounds are treated fairly and have equal opportunities.

On September 20, 2021, Dr. Carson became the director of the Jackson Heart Study (JHS). This is a very important and long-running research project in the United States. It focuses on understanding heart health in African Americans. The study helps scientists learn how to prevent and treat heart problems in this group.

Dr. Carson has spent her career studying how diseases affect different groups of people, especially African Americans. At UAB, she works to find out why certain diseases, like diabetes and heart disease, affect some communities more than others. She then tries to find ways to fix these differences.

She is also part of another study called Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA). This study looks at what causes heart disease to develop as people grow from young adults into older adults. It includes both African Americans and non-Hispanic white Americans. Dr. Carson has played a big role in guiding this study and helping new scientists get involved in the research.