Leslie A. Anderson

Leslie A. Anderson is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family & Consumer Sciences at Morgan State University (MSU), as well as a couple and family therapist and clinical supervisor. She is also a faculty affiliate at MSU’s National Center for the Elimination of Educational Disparities (NCEED), where she supports the Social and Emotional Learning and Psychological Well-Being Research and Intervention Pillar. Anderson earned her Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Science, with an emphasis in Marriage and Family Therapy, from the University of Georgia. As a scholar-practitioner, she focuses on the intersection of Black familial processes, race, and mental health. Her scholarship has been published in outlets such as the Journal of Family Theory and Review, the Journal of Black Psychology, Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, and the Journal of Research on Adolescence. Anderson is currently Principal Investigator (PI) of an NIMHD RCMI (Research Centers in Minority Institutions) pilot project focused on culturally adapting a trauma-focused, school intervention for Black middle school students in Baltimore, MD. She is also the site PI for an NIMH R01 study measuring experiences like low self-worth and hopelessness in young children to determine whether risk for suicide can be captured during early childhood, and whether factors like racial socialization and healthy racial identity protect Black youth from developing suicidal thoughts. The cornerstone of her scholarship involves intentionally amplifying the voices of underserved and historically excluded communities while centering their lived experiences.