
Sherika Hill
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-8180
Area(s) of Work
Biographical Statement
Dr. Sherika Hill is a clinical epidemiologist with a biopsychosocial research program that focuses on social predictors, biological mechanisms, and outcomes related to pediatric mental health and well-being. From a developmental science perspective, Dr. Hill's research seeks to understand how mental health conditions or high risk-taking behaviors in adolescence develop during childhood and impact outcomes later in adulthood. Moreover, she attempts to make connections on how public policy can positively affect child development trajectories, especially for vulnerable populations defined by low socioeconomic status, rural geography, minority race/ethnicity, chronic childhood health conditions, and more recently child maltreatment. Increasingly, she is applying biomedical research methods to her studies to better understand how DNA methylation serves as an epigenetic marker of health risk, resilience, and disparities across the life course.