Phone:

(317) 274-3830

Email:

tweather@iu.edu

Departments:

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Degrees:

MPH, Epidemiology, Indiana University

BS, Magna Cum Laude, Biology, East Tennessee State University

Resume/CV

Biography

Tess D. Weathers, MPH, is an epidemiologist and Research Associate in the Department of Social & Behavioral Sciences. Since 2003, she has collaborated with many faculty, community organizations, and government agencies to advance health equity through public scholarship and contribution to collaborative research. She has conducted two influential analyses of life expectancy in the Indianapolis metropolitan area, drawing attention to a gap of more than 14 years in lifespan by ZIP code. In her work, she focuses on the social drivers of health and illness, and she teaches an undergraduate course in Health Equity. Prior to joining the school, she served as director of the IU Cancer Center's Clinical Research Office for several years. She was inducted to the Delta Omega National Honorary Society in Public Health in 2006.

Research Interests

The health of populations is strongly influenced by their social ecology, and health equity is lacking for many populations who do not have a fair opportunity to achieve their best health due to vastly different conditions of daily life. Ms. Weathers' research has focused on advancing health equity through attention to the social & structural determinants of health.

• Health equity
• Social drivers of health
• Cumulative dis/advantage
• Place-based disparities in health

Courses Taught

• PBHL-S 337 Health Equity and the Social Determinants of Health

Current Projects

• Ms. Weathers is leading the evaluation of an 8-year, community-engaged, multi-sector partnership project aiming to reduce the disproportionately high rates of diabetes within three communities of Indianapolis, known as the Diabetes Impact Project - Indianapolis Neighborhoods (DIP-IN).
• Ms. Weathers is working with a team of scholars from several universities to learn about the experiences of precarious, older food workers during the COVID pandemic, within differing socio-political contexts.
• In partnership with a community center on the Near Southside of Indianapolis, Ms. Weathers is exploring the social context for this area's low life expectancy and helping to develop a community action plan to improve health and well-being in the area.

Selected Publications

• Weathers TD, Kiehl NT, Colbert J, Nowlin M, Comer K, Staten LK. Worlds Further Apart: The Widening Gap in Life Expectancy among Communities of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Area. August 2021. Available at: https://fsph.iupui.edu/research-centers/worlds-further-apart-report-web.pdf
  
• Bigatti SM, Weathers T, Hayes L, and Daggy J. (2023) Challenges Experienced by Black Women with Breast Cancer During Active Treatment: Relationship to Treatment Adherence. Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities. 2023-02-22. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-023-01537-1
• Latham-Mintus K, Weathers TD, Bigatti SM, Irby-Shasanmi A, Herbert B, Tanaka H, Robison L, and Storniolo A. (2022). Racial differences in cumulative disadvantage among women and its relation to health: Development and preliminary validation of the Cumulative Stress Inventory of Women’s Experiences. Health Equity 6(1), 427-434. https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/heq.2021.0038
  
• Leech TG, Adams EA, Weathers TD, Staten LK, & Fillipelli GM. (2016). Inequitable chronic lead exposure: A dual legacy of social and environmental injustice. Family and Community Health, 39(3), 151-159. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27214670
  
• Weathers TD, Leech TGJ, Staten LK, Adams EA, Colbert JT, and Comer KF. (2015, July). Worlds Apart: Gaps in Life Expectancy in the Indianapolis Metro Area. Available from the SAVI Community Information System at http://www.savi.org/worlds-apart/