From EEGs to hair cortisol sampling, some of the most common methods in neuroscience and psychophysiological research can become surprisingly complicated when researchers encounter our tightly coiled hair, thick hair, or protective styles.

And that’s not just an inconvenience. When the technology doesn’t work for us, we can be left out of the research entirely. That means fewer Black women represented in the science shaping how we understand mental health, brain health, aging, and disease.

So, what should we be doing about this?

Today, I’m joined by Dr. Courtney Louis, a Harvard University clinical and research postdoctoral fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital’s Ammon-Pinizzotto Center for Women’s Mental Health. Dr. Louis is an emerging scholar whose research explores the connections between anxiety, ovarian hormones, cognition, and physiological processes—with a particular interest in advancing more equitable research for Black communities.

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Today, we’re talking about something that affects so many Black women, but is still far too often overlooked: stress, mental health, and innovative approaches to wellbeing.

Black women report higher levels of psychological distress than their White counterparts, and nearly 60% of Black women experience chronic stress. And increasingly, mental health researchers are exploring virtual reality and other digital health technologies as innovative tools for addressing stress and promoting wellbeing. But there’s a problem: these technologies are not yet being used widely or equitably to respond to the health concerns of Black women and other communities that have historically been underserved by mental health research and innovation.

Today we speak with Dr. Judite Blanc- a multi award winning Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Miami-about what happens when we bring psychology, technology, and culturally responsive research together—and, importantly, what it could mean for the health and wellbeing of Black women.

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Black women are one of the most educated and fastest-growing segments of the U.S. workforce—yet they continue to face some of the most persistent challenges on the job. Across industries, Black women report higher levels of workplace dissatisfaction driven by pay inequity, limited advancement opportunities, racial and gender bias, and a lack of psychological safety. They are more likely to be underpaid compared to peers, overlooked for leadership roles, and expected to shoulder invisible labor such as diversity work without recognition or compensation. Many describe workplaces where they are present but not supported, visible but not valued.

In this thought-provoking episode, we sit down with Dr. NiCole T. Buchanan to unpack the complex realities Black women face in today’s workplace. Dr. Buchanan is a Professor of Psychology at Michigan State University. A Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science and four divisions of the American Psychological Association, she researches the interplay of race, gender and victimization and how they impact the nature of sexual and racial harassment, their impact, and organizational best practices.

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