Portia L. Cole

Portia L. Cole is Professor and Director of the Social Work Program at Trinity Washington University, Washington, DC. A sociologist-trained social worker, she teaches across the BSW curriculum and leads program development while pursuing nationally recognized research on traumatic brain injury, health equity, and work-life policy.

Education

• Ph.D. in Sociology, American University
• M.S.W., Catholic University of America
• B.A. in Sociology, George Washington University

Research & Scholarship

Cole’s work sits at the intersection of social epidemiology and social-work practice. She examines how traumatic brain injury reverberates through intimate partnerships, workplaces, and public systems, shaping risks for intimate-partner violence, opioid misuse, and later-life dementia. Her qualitative projects probe Medicaid transformation and culturally tailored work-life interventions, always centering equity for racially and economically marginalized groups.

Across roughly a decade of publications she has linked disability-law frameworks (ADA) to employer and social-work obligations, advanced macro-social-work pedagogy through collective biography, and unpacked ethical challenges within forensic and interdisciplinary teams. A recurrent theme is translating legal and policy mandates into feasible, dignity-affirming supports for caregivers and survivors.

Awards & Leadership

• Editorial Board Member, Health & Social Work (2022-2025)
• H. Jack Geiger Congressional Health Policy Fellow (2009)
• W.K. Kellogg Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Health Disparities (2006)
• American Sociological Association Pre-Doctoral Fellow (1997)

Teaching & Academic Service

Cole’s learner-centered philosophy mobilizes CSWE competencies, critical reflection, and diverse assignment formats to close equity gaps in student outcomes. She routinely partners across disciplines to design student-success initiatives for under-represented populations and mentors graduates toward impactful post-graduate trajectories.