Meet Dr. Destiny Ramjohn, who we interviewed for her research concerning community capacity for tobacco control. Through community based participatory research methods, Destiny Ramjohn was able to add meaningful dialogue to a conversation that has dominated the national health paradigm. According to the latest statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 19 percent of Americans over the age of 18 admit to smoking cigarettes.

With overwhelming medical evidence showcasing the detrimental effects of smoking, Destiny Ramjohn is proud to join the medical experts, researchers, and scientists fighting to lower the use of cigarettes nationwide. In 2002, Dr. Destiny Ramjohn was recognized for her dedication to social justice and incredibly hard work in public health. She was awarded with a fellowship grant from the American Legacy Foundation, which would allow her to examine tobacco use and control in Harlem for three years.

Aside from the opportunity to research, Destiny Ramjohn was able to contribute her findings to the American Journal of Community Psychology. Contributing to an article entitled Making the Connections: Community Capacity for Tobacco Control in an Urban African American Community, Destiny Ramjohn has been able to help develop a plan to improve public health.

When asked about her work in Harlem, Dr. Destiny Ramjohn responded, “I had the opportunity to be a part of a team that explored community capacity for tobacco control using an innovative and action oriented participatory approach to research. Furthermore, these findings went beyond the medical and sociomedical elements to understand and explain how the findings could be used to mobilize social change.”

Indeed, smoking remains one of the most damaging activities for anyone’s health, as it destroys the lungs and detrimentally affects the body’s ability to process oxygen and function normally. The studies and research D. Destiny Ramjohn completed will contribute to the greater efforts to reduce smoking in vulnerable communities. Though her focus was on Harlem, these findings have great implications for the greater United States and the effects of limiting tobacco products.

Throughout her career, Destiny Ramjohn has not only been dedicated to medical research and analysis, but to promoting positive change and justice as well. Destiny Ramjohn looks forward to other sociomedical research opportunities that are to come.