Dr. Hudson’s program of research centers on the social epidemiology of depression among African Americans. Social epidemiology focuses on the social distribution and social determinants of health. One major perspective of social epidemiology is the idea that diseases come and go but the social inequities that produce diseases, and disparities in disease distribution, remain the same. As such, his research agenda focuses on two critical determinants of health and health disparities: race/ethnicity and socioeconomic position.
Another core tenet of social epidemiology is concerned with stress and coping as well as the social context of behavior. Dr. Hudson’s research examines how stress is socially patterned, as well as the coping strategies and resources that individuals develop and can access to cope with stress.
Additionally, social epidemiology, due to advances in neuroscience, blurs the lines between physical and mental health. Dr. Hudson has examined the association between depression and diabetes outcomes as well as how health behaviors could protect mental health at the expense of physical health.
Dr. Hudson is also one of the co-directors of the Collaboration, Race, Inequality, and Social Mobility in America initiative, part of the Center for Social Development at the Brown School.