About

Iheoma U. Iruka, PhD, is a tenured Professor in the Department of Maternal Child Health at the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health and an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Public Policy. She is also the Founding Director of the Equity Research Action Coalition at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute (FPG) at UNC. Dr. Iruka is an applied developmental psychologist focused on ensuring that racially minoritized children and children from low-income households thrive through anti-bias, anti-racist, and culturally grounded mixed-methods approaches. Her research and practice emphasize early childhood research and evaluation, equitable policies that promote health, wealth, and early educational equity, mentoring emerging scholars from minoritized communities, and translating science to counter deficit-oriented research, practice, and policy regarding minoritized communities.

Research topics

• Sociology
• Political Science
• Psychology
• Computer Science
• Gerontology
• Epistemology
• Engineering
• Gender studies
• Medical emergency
• Engineering ethics
• Medical education
• Nursing
• Criminology
• Medicine

Selected publications

• A pilot Roll-Out Implementation Optimization trial of an adjunctive intervention to improve teacher and caregiver uptake and adherence to a behavioral intervention for externalizing problems in preschool: a study protocol of Parent-Educator Action Response (PEAR)

  Implementation Science Communications · 2026-04-22

  articleOpen access

  BACKGROUND: Behavioral interventions are well-established treatments for emerging externalizing problems in preschool. However, caregivers and teachers face barriers to implementing behavioral interventions across home and school. The current study aims to improve joint teacher and caregiver uptake and adherence to a behavioral intervention by testing a new adjunctive intervention co-developed with early childhood constituents, Parent-Educator Action Response (PEAR). PEAR consists of group-based motivational interviewing, psychoeducation, and action planning sessions for preschool teachers and caregivers of a preschooler with elevated externalizing problems, followed by a meeting with each caregiver-teacher dyad to agree upon a plan for supporting improvements in the child's externalizing problems. METHODS: We will use a pilot Roll-Out Implementation Optimization (ROIO) design, with three clusters over 18 months to implement and evaluate PEAR. Participants will be approximately 24 preschool teachers and 24 caregivers of a preschool child. All participants will receive PEAR, delivered by a licensed clinical psychologist and supported by a bilingual community health worker. Throughout the study period, participants will be asked to implement the Daily Report Card (DRC), an evidence-based behavioral intervention for externalizing problems. Implementation of the DRC at home and preschool, the primary outcome, will be measured weekly for eight weeks. Additional outcomes will be measured at baseline, post-PEAR, and follow-up (4 weeks post-PEAR). DISCUSSION: This is one of the first pilot ROIO trials and trials in the preschool setting to study a new adjunctive intervention to improve both teacher and caregiver uptake and adherence to behavioral interventions for preschool externalizing problems. Findings are likely to generalize to other public health adjunctive interventions in community settings. TRIAL REGISTRATION: clinicaltrials.gov NCT07203014 on 10-02-2025.

  PublisherDOI

• Examining the Invariance of a Common Household Food Insecurity Measure Across Various Adult and Child Characteristics

  Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior · 2026-03-01

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Examining the Links Between Child–Teacher Relationships, Classroom Quality, and Child Outcomes Across Racial Groups

  Psychology in the Schools · 2025-04-27

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  ABSTRACT This study examined the unique and interactive effects of teacher‐child relationships and classroom quality on PreK to Grade 1 children's reading and math achievement, social skills, and problem behaviors, as well as whether these relationships differed by children's race and ethnicity. Based on data from 192 children (18.23% Black, 8.33% Latine English‐speaking, 21.88% Latine Spanish‐speaking, 51.56% White) from PreK to Grade 1 and their teachers, analyses were conducted to examine whether (1) the quality of teacher‐child relationships and classroom quality experienced by children differed by race and ethnicity, (2) race/ethnicity moderated the association of teacher‐child relationships and classroom quality on children's achievement and social skills, and (3) race/ethnicity moderated the association between the interactive effects of classroom quality and teacher‐child relationship on children's achievement and social skills. Findings from multi‐level mixed models indicated teacher‐child relationships were significantly associated with growth in child achievement and social skills and classroom quality was associated with problem behaviors. While race/ethnicity did not moderate the association between teacher‐child relationship and classroom quality, there was evidence of racialized differences in the buffering role of classroom quality on children's achievement and behavior in the face of conflictual teacher‐child relationships. The implications of the findings for promoting equitable learning opportunities for racially minoritized children are discussed.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Lead teacher, assistant teacher, and peer racial/ethnic match and child outcomes for Black children enrolled in enhanced high-quality early care and education programs

  UNC Libraries · 2025-03-25

  articleOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• Dismantling the Black–White Achievement Gap Paradigm: Why and How We Need to Focus Instead on Systemic Change

  UNC Libraries · 2025-06-07

  articleOpen access

  More than half a century of educational efforts have focused on eliminating the Black–White achievement gap. Yet, racial disparities persist. In this article, we describe the issues with educational discourse focused on the achievement gap and the ways structural racism drives the educational experiences and outcomes of Black students. We include a discussion of Black children’s developmental competencies and the ways educators may use culturally relevant pedagogy to capitalize upon these competencies and support higher achievement among Black students. We conclude with suggestions for specific actions to foster systemic change for Black students.

  PublisherDOI

• A culturally grounded autism parent training program with Black parents

  UNC Libraries · 2025-05-03

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Parent training (i.e. group-based supports and psychoeducation aimed at parent as primary agent of change) in Autism Spectrum Disorders (autism) is well-documented as an Evidence-Based Intervention designed to increase advocacy, knowledge, and empowerment. While research on Parent Training acknowledges the cultural limitations, the field lacks culturally grounded models. Furthermore, barriers in diagnosis, service acquisition, and inclusion of under-represented populations including Black families have been established; however, research programs have traditionally failed to include these families. This study aims to provide a first toward addressing the lack of inclusion. We describe the practice-based implementation of a culturally concordant Parent Training program (Spectrum of Care) developed by a community organization (the Color of Autism) as well as feedback from parents after the implementation process. The findings indicate that culturally grounded strategies could promote engagement and empowerment of Black families. There, however, is still a need for research that attends to parental mistrust and examines culturally grounded strategies more closely.

  PublisherDOI

• Early Childhood Education Interventions for Racially Minoritized Children: A Systematic Review

  Journal of Education · 2025-03-20

  reviewOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Racially and ethnically minoritized (REM) children continue to face inequitable access and experiences to high-quality early care and education (ECE). However, there is a need to systematically examine whether REM children benefit from ECE, to what extent, and for what outcomes. A rigorous review process was used to systematically identify and review research studies aimed at improving outcomes for Black or other REM children. The screening process resulted in 89 articles deemed relevant for review. Results suggest significant outcomes with some differences in outcomes based on the primary racial/ethnic group. The implications for practice and policy are further discussed.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• DEC at the Intersection: Leveraging IDEA to Advance Equity Through the Black Child National Agenda

  Young Exceptional Children · 2025-03-01

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Dismantling Systemic Racism and Advancing Health Equity throughout Research.

  UNC Libraries · 2025-05-06

  articleOpen access

  The Biden Administration—with its Executive Order on Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government, which was released on January 20, 2021—created a timely opportunity to dismantle racism throughout and across a variety of government-funded research infrastructures, including health, biomedical, social, and behavioral research, as well as research focused on the social determinants of health (The White House, 2021). In keeping with the intent of the executive order, all structures and institutions that define who, what, where, why, and how research is conceptualized, funded, and conducted must decenter whiteness and ensure that all scholars and communities have access to funding to conduct research that advances health equity. Only then will research in the U.S. achieve its full future potential in discovery, application, and education. To advance progress toward this goal, the authors of this commentary propose three broad areas for urgent action.

  PublisherDOI

• Book Babies Home Visiting Intervention: Evidence of Effect on Literacy-Promoting Practices and Children’s Early Language

  Child & Youth Care Forum · 2025-10-30

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Stephanie M. Curenton

  23 shared

• Kristin L. Whyte

  14 shared

• Andrew J. Stremmel

  14 shared

• Nancy File

  14 shared

• Jennifer J. Mueller

  14 shared

• Jacqueline Sims

  10 shared

• Nicole Gardner‐Neblett

  University of Michigan–Ann Arbor

  10 shared

• Nneka Ibekwe‐Okafor

  9 shared

Education

• Postdoctoral Fellow, Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute

  University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

  2008

• Ph.D., Applied Developmental Psychology

  University of Miamia

  2005

• M.A., Psychology

  Boston University

  2000

• B.A., Psychology

  Temple University

  1999

Awards & honors

• Best Article Award 2024, Theory into Practice
• APA Fellow 2023, American Psychological Association
• Leadership for All Award 2023, Association of University Cen…
• Paper of the Year Winner 2023, Black Caucus, Society for Res…
• Mid-Career Award for Outstanding Contributions to Benefit Ch…