LaShanta Rice, PhD, MPH
LaShanta Rice, PhD, MPH
Behavior Scientist
Johnson and Johnson
Dr. LaShanta Rice is in Health and Wellness Solutions at Johnson & Johnson (J&J) where she uses an equity lens to optimize behavioral solutions in underrepresented communities. Dr. Rice is helping shape programs and intervention strategies to improve health inequities for two leading health indicators, lung cancer and maternal health. Prior to joining J&J, she served as an adjunct professor at Trident Technical College and Assistant Professor at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). During her tenure, she co-directed a regional cancer health equity network and mentored underrepresented students desiring a career in healthcare. Her 15-year career as a public health and health equity researcher has involved addressing inequities in cancer, access to care, and substance use and abuse in communities of color.
As a social and behavioral scientist, Dr. Rice has led behavioral interventions designed to reduce substance use, unintended pregnancies, and sexually transmitted infections. She has experience developing behavioral programs for diverse population including service men and women and pregnant mothers as well as working with the community to combat environmental health inequities. Her work in public health has also guided the development of programs for non-profits with an interested in health equity and creating sustainable programs for underrepresented communities. Her research efforts to date have been nationally and internationally recognized by the American Association for Cancer Research, International Society for Environmental Epidemiology, and the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities. Dr. Rice received her PhD in Health Promotion, Education and Behavior at the University of South Carolina and completed post-doctoral training in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the MUSC.