Monica Adams

Monica Adams is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Work at Binghamton University, part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system. She is affiliated with the College of Community and Public Affairs (CCPA) and holds the title of Emerging Poverty Scholar with the Institute for Research on Poverty. Her research focuses on health disparities, particularly food insecurity as a social determinant of health, and explores how socioenvironmental risks like limited resource access influence health behaviors among low-income populations.

Dr. Adams earned her PhD from the University of Louisville, an MSW from Virginia Commonwealth University, and a BSW from West Virginia University. Her work integrates over 25 years of direct social work practice with marginalized groups, emphasizing strength-based interventions and policy analysis to address systemic inequities.

Her research interests include poverty, socio-political determinants of health, social safety net programs, and food justice. She examines how public policies both hinder and promote health equity, with a focus on vulnerable populations such as women with children, racialized minorities, and low-income communities. Recent work highlights the pandemic’s disproportionate impact on food insecurity and the role of anti-Black racism in social work education.

Dr. Adams’ publications span qualitative studies on weight-related behaviors, racial battle fatigue, and policy-driven solutions for food access barriers. She advocates for ethical decision-making frameworks in obesogenic environments and emphasizes the need for culturally responsive interventions to promote resilience in marginalized groups.