Iheoma Iruka

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

https://equity-coalition.fpg.unc.edu

Biographical Abstracts

Iheoma Iruka is an award-winning professor and the founding director of the Equity Research Action Coalition at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute at UNC-Chapel Hill. She is leading projects and initiatives focused on ensuring that minoritized children and children from low-income households thrive through the intersection of anti-bias, anti-racist, and culturally grounded research, programs, and policy.

Iruka has authored over 100 books and papers and has given over 300 talks addressing systemic inequities and advancing research and action on the well-being of children and families. She serves on numerous national and local boards and committees, including the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, the American Psychological Association’s Board of Educational Affairs, the National Science Foundation, and the Lancet Commission on Racism and Child Health. In addition to being on the National Advisory Committee for the U.S. Census Bureau and a Census Advisor for the National Urban League, Iruka received the 2022 American Psychological Association Mid-Career Award for Outstanding Contributions to Benefit Children, Youth, and Families and the 2023 Association of University Centers on Disabilities Leadership for All award. She is also a 2023 American Psychological Association (APA) Fellow.

Areas of Expertise

• Early childhood development
• Family engagement and support
• Racism
• Child health equity
• Poverty