Iheoma U. Iruka, Ph.D., is an award-winning tenured professor in the Department of Maternal and Child Health at the Gillings School of Global Public Health and the Founding Director of the Equity Research Action Coalition at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Dr. Iruka is leading projects and initiatives focused on ensuring that minoritized children and families, especially Black children and families, and those from low-income households thrive by attending to their sociocultural contexts and assets. Dr. 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 a Census Advisor for the National Urban League, Dr. Iruka is the recipient of 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-winner. She is a 2023 American Psychological Association (APA) Fellow.

Iheoma Iruka is pronounced EE-OMAH EE-ROO-KAH