About
Dr. Kia Skrine Jeffers is an Assistant Professor in the UCLA School of Nursing and former Associate Director for the Arts in the Center for the Study of Racism, Social Justice & Health in the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. Her research addresses mental health promotion and cardiometabolic disease prevention among Black women across their life courses through participatory, arts-based, and mixed methods approaches. Dr. Skrine Jeffers’ innovative use of theatre for data collection and research dissemination informed the development of We See You Sis, a therapy-informed virtual mental health intervention. She and her community partners have advanced this work from community engagement through feasibility testing, and they are currently evaluating implementation and therapeutic outcomes. Dr. Skrine is also a practicing community health nurse in a safety net health system in Los Angeles and leads the Public Health Nursing didactic and clinical course in the BS program.
Faculty Research and Clinical Expertise
Middle- and older adulthood mental health promotion; maternal mental health; research-based arts interventions; cardiometabolic disease prevention; community-partnered research; community-based participatory research
Education and Degree(s)
BA, Broadcast Journalism, North Carolina A&T State University, Greensboro, NC
MSN, Nursing, University of California, Los Angeles
PhD, Nursing, University of California, Los Angeles
Postdoctoral Fellowship, National Clinician Scholars Program, UCLA
Publications
Full bibliography and publication highlights:
Skrine Jeffers, K., Jones, F., & Duru, O.K. (2025). Feasibility and acceptability of the We See You, Sis sister circle for Black women with depression symptoms. Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic & Neonatal Nursing, 54(1), 32-37.
Skrine Jeffers, K. & Ford, C.L. (2024). Critical Race Theory's anti-racism approaches: Moving from the ivory tower to the frontlines of public health (2nd Edition). In C.L. Ford and D.M. Griffith (Eds.) Racism: Science and Tools for the Public Health Professional. Washington, DC: American Public Health Association Press.
James, K.F., Bravo, L., Jeffers, K.S., Nguyen, M.H., Elliott, T., Ojukwu, K., Ndagire, C., Jennings, K., Arnault, Denise Saint, Canty, L. (2024). A qualitative exploration of Black women's strategies to achieve emotional well-being from symptoms of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders, Perspectives in Psychiatric Care, 1-14.
Gichane, M. W., Asiodu, I. V., Chambers, B. D., Clary, C., Cooper, N. M., Erhahon, H., Negrete, G., Skrine Jeffers, K., Young, J., & McLemore, M. R. (2024). Virtual Research Prioritization: Innovations for Research Agenda Development with Impacted Communities. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 23.
Walton, Q. L., Coats, J. V., Skrine Jeffers, K., Blakey, J. M., Hood, A. N., & Washington, T. (2023). Mind, body, and spirit: a constructivist grounded theory study of wellness among middle-class Black women. International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-being, 18(1), 2278288.
Wells, K. B., Skrine Jeffers, K., & Mango, J. (2023). Integration of Arts and Health Sciences in Developing an Opera on Veteran Resilience and Recovery. Health Promotion Practice, 24(2), 207-213.
Skrine Jeffers, K., Walton, Q., Robinson, M., & Thomas Tobin, C. (2021). Lifetime major discrimination experiences moderate the impact of depressive symptoms on chronic conditions among Black Americans. Healthcare, 9(11).
Skrine Jeffers, K., Mango, J., Saks, E., Wells, K. & Chung, B. (2021). Impact of opera on mental health stigma: Pilot of a provider/community workshop. Community Mental Health Journal.
Skrine Jeffers, K., Castellon Lopez, Y., Grotts, J., Mangione, C.M., Moin, T., Tseng, C., Turk, N., Frosch, D., Castellon-Lopez, Y., Norris, K.C., Duke, C., Moreno, G., & Duru, O.K. (2019). Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) attendance is associated with improved patient activation: Results from the Prediabetes Informed Decisions and Education (PRIDE) Study. Preventive Medicine Reports, 16.
Skrine Jeffers, K., Cadogan, M., Heilemann, M., & Phillips, L.R. (2019). Assessing informal and formal diabetes knowledge in the care of older African Americans with uncontrolled diabetes. Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 45(2), 35-41.
Honors and Awards
2023 Recipient, Feleta Wilson Award, American Public Health Association, Public Health Nursing Section
2023 Honorable Mention, Aetna Award for Excellence in Research on Older Women and Public Health
2021-2022 Recipient, UCLA/CDU Resource Centers for Minority Aging Research (RCMAR/CHIME) pilot award
2017-2019 Recipient, California Arts Council Research in the Arts award (1 of 4 inaugural awardees in CA)