Charity Watkins

Dr. Charity S. Watkins, a tenure-track assistant professor in the Department of Social Work at North Carolina Central University and Duke-NCCU BIRCWH Scholar, holds a BA in Sociology, an MSW, and a Ph.D. in Social Work from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Her research, deeply influenced by her personal experience with peripartum cardiomyopathy, focuses on how social work can both interrupt racial inequities in the evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment of cardiac-related severe maternal morbidity and create critical social supports for Black women after experiencing these life-threatening conditions.

Dr. Watkins seeks to ensure her research demonstrates the value of personal experience, community-rooted solutions, and interprofessional practice by serving as an expert consultant and advisor for multiple national grant-funded research projects, advocating for women's heart health policy as a WomenHeart Champion with the National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease, and contributing to communities as the Board of Directors Chair for Equity Before Birth, a Durham-based nonprofit organization that addresses gaps in access to supports and resources critical for healthy maternal and infant outcomes.