+ The Path Forward with Marissa Chan and Lissah Johnson

It’s a myth that science and research have to be impersonal and devoid of humanity—and in the final part of the Finale Episode, the Beauty + Justice team dispels the myth! Dr. Tamarra James-Todd, Marissa Chan, and Lissah Johnson share what beauty and beauty justice means to them, and how their positionality (life experiences and how we show up in the world) has inspired their beauty justice work. There’s also a special treat at the end—a message on what beauty means to the next generation. 

Marissa Chan is a PhD candidate in Population Health Sciences within the Department of Environmental Health at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Her research interests and work experience surround environmental justice and beauty justice, specifically focusing on the intersection of place-based environmental hazards and product-based exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in personal care products. Through her work, she aims to highlight the presence of EDCs in personal care products to a variety of stakeholders, support community voices and knowledge in environmental and beauty justice efforts, and work towards developing community-driven interventions and solutions. Prior to entering the doctoral program, she received an MS from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

You can follow Marissa and her work here: Twitter- @marissawchan, Linkedin, RESTYLE Study

Lissah Johnson is a PhD candidate in the Biological Sciences in Public Health program at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Her research focuses on understanding how the mechanism to remove damaged or misfunctioning cells from the body becomes dysregulated in the formation and progression of ovarian cancer in order to uncover environmental drivers of gynecological cancers, and improve current prevention strategies and therapeutic options. Prior to starting graduate school, she received a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Redlands and then worked as a research scientist in an environmental health laboratory at the California Department of Public Health for four years. Through her research, she hopes to bring awareness to the unique environmental and reproductive health threats that people from marginalized communities and identities encounter and support advocacy efforts pushing for regulatory change.

You can follow Lissah and her work here: Twitter- @LissahJohnson, LinkedIn, Sarosiek Lab Website

What’s on the horizon for the beauty justice movement? As we bring this limited series podcast to a close, we thought it would only be fitting to hear from the folks behind the scenes who helped make it happen.  In Part 1 of the finale episode, Dr. Tamarra James-Todd is joined by Marissa Chan, the Beauty + Justice podcast producer, and Lissah Johnson, podcast narrator, to talk about their dissertation research and their perspectives on the future of the beauty justice movement. 

Marissa Chan is a PhD candidate in Population Health Sciences within the Department of Environmental Health at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Her research interests and work experience surround environmental justice and beauty justice, specifically focusing on the intersection of place-based environmental hazards and product-based exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in personal care products. Through her work, she aims to highlight the presence of EDCs in personal care products to a variety of stakeholders, support community voices and knowledge in environmental and beauty justice efforts, and work towards developing community-driven interventions and solutions. Prior to entering the doctoral program, she received an MS from Harvard Chan.

You can follow Marissa and her work here: Twitter- @marissawchan, LinkedIn, RESTYLE Study

Lissah Johnson is a PhD candidate in the Biological Sciences in Public Health program at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Her research focuses on understanding how the mechanism to remove damaged or misfunctioning cells from the body becomes dysregulated in the formation and progression of ovarian cancer in order to uncover environmental drivers of gynecological cancers, and improve current prevention strategies and therapeutic options. Prior to starting graduate school, she received a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Redlands and then worked as a research scientist in an environmental health laboratory at the California Department of Public Health for four years. Through her research, she hopes to bring awareness to the unique environmental and reproductive health threats that people from marginalized communities and identities encounter and support advocacy efforts pushing for regulatory change.

You can follow Lissah and her work here: Twitter- @LissahJohnson, LinkedIn, Sarosiek Lab Website

As we’re nearing the end of the podcast series maybe you’re wondering how can you contribute to the beauty justice movement. How can we go about effectively building partnerships to advance beauty justice? And what voices and perspectives should we strive to elevate and make space for? In this episode, Dr. Tamarra James-Todd is joined by Dr. Ami Zota to discuss her research on racism and beauty product use, holding space for historically neglected folks in beauty justice work, and how to build partnerships with folks across disciplines.

Dr. Ami Zota is an Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and the Founder and Director of Agents of Change in Environmental Justice science communication fellowship. Her research focuses on understanding social and structural determinants of environmental exposures and their consequent impacts on health outcomes across the life course. Dr. Zota co-developed an intersectional framework called "the environmental injustice of beauty", which links systems of power and oppression, such as racism, sexism, and classism to Eurocentric beauty norms, racialized beauty practices, and adverse environmental health outcomes. Dr. Zota received an M.S. and Sc.D. each in Environmental Health from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. You can follow Dr. Zota and her work here: Twitter: @amizota; @AgentschangeEJ; agentsofchangeinej.org

For a full transcript, visit our website.

Cosmetology courses aim to teach participants everything they need to know to care for their future clients’ skin, nails, and hair. But are there racial equity concerns when the care and styling techniques taught in these courses are typically for clients with straight hair, leaving behind a predominantly Black audience with textured hair? In this episode, Susan L. Peterkin joins Dr. Tamarra James-Todd to discuss the role of cosmetologists in beauty justice. They also discuss Susan’s career in the natural hair field and why helping others learn how to nurture and embrace their own, or their clients’ natural hair is essential in beauty justice efforts. 

Susan L. Peterkin is an award-winning cosmetologist, hair loss expert, and pioneer in cosmetology. She opened the first full-service natural hair salon located inside of a Dermatologic Hair Salon and the first all-natural hair (no hair extensions) salon in the DMV area, JAHA Hair Studio from 1996-2021. She also created and implemented the first Texture Hair Care Program at a correctional facility and taught the Natural Hair Course at Montgomery College, Susan founded The Natural Hair Industry Convention, an education platform for the advancement of professionals. In addition, Susan advocated for passing the CROWN ACT in the state and local government of Maryland. With over 35 years of experience, Susan is a voice of influence for professionals in the natural hair industry. You can follow Susan and her work  here: Instagram 

For a full transcript, visit our website.

How does our relationship with beauty and hair influence how we feel about ourselves? And how is our relationship with beauty impacted by others? For folks with minoritized identities, like people of the African diaspora, how beauty ideals impact identity and sense of place in the world is even more critical because of the way racism influences the dominant standard of beauty. In the latest podcast episode, Dr. Teiahsha Bankhead joins Dr. Tamarra James-Todd to explore some of these themes and what it means for moving beauty justice forward. 

Dr. Teiahsha Bankhead, Ph.D., LCSW, is the Executive Director of Restorative Justice for Oakland Youth and Professor Emeritus in the Division of Social Work at California State University, Sacramento. She is a licensed psychotherapist with a Master’s in Social Work and a Ph.D. in social welfare from the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Bankhead uses a mixed methods approach, combining both quantitative data (numerical data) and qualitative data (data describing experiences and providing context) in her research. She holds sharing and listening circles on subjects including but not limited to school-based restorative justice, race and restorative justice, and truth-telling and racial healing. She was a National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), Minority Research Fellow, and a United States Psychiatric Congress fellow.

Read Dr. Bankhead and co-author Dr. Johnson’s article here: Hair It Is: Examining the Experiences of Black Women with Natural Hair

For a full transcript, visit our website

How can community engagement work with research and advocacy to achieve beauty justice? In this episode, Dr. Tamarra James-Todd is joined by Dr. Dede Teteh to discuss how her work is rooted in all three of these practices and what she has found in her research on the relationship between Black identity, breast cancer risk, and beauty product usage. They also discuss Dr. Teteh’s journey from being a “bench scientist” to becoming a community-engaged researcher and health educator, the joy she’s found in doing Community Based Participatory Research (known as CBPR), and the value in bringing your whole self to your research. 

Dede K. Teteh, Dr.P.H. is a certified health education professional with a wide breadth of experience across academia, research, policy development, and strategic communications. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Public Health in the Department of Health Sciences at Chapman University and an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Division of Health Equities at City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center (Duarte, CA). Her area of research includes 1) endocrine-disrupting chemical exposures in hair and other personal care products and breast cancer risk with a particular focus on Black women (the Bench to Community Initiative); and 2) the impact of social determinants of health on lung cancer surgery family caregivers and patients. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology and minor in Theology from St. John’s University in Queens, New York; a Master of Public Health in Health Education & Promotion from Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA; and a Doctor of Public Health in Health Education from Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, California. You can follow Dede and her work here-Twitter: @DrTeteh; @bench2community

In this latest episode, we continue exploring the role of business in making beauty justice a reality. Dr. Tamarra James-Todd is joined by Heather McKenney, MPH from the clean beauty and baby brand, The Honest Company. They discuss what the Honest Company has done to prioritize safety in their product formulations, how beauty companies can manage uncertainty regarding the effects of chemicals on consumer health, and what it will take to have a clean chemical standard for all beauty product manufacturers.

Heather McKenney, MPH is the head of Toxicology & Product Safety at The Honest Company, where she oversees ingredient and product safety of personal care products, cosmetics, diapers, cleaning products, and more. Through her efforts with March of Dimes' Mom and Baby Action Network (M-BAN), she helps provide transparent, effective risk communication to clinicians, regulators, and consumers regarding ingredients and products of concern for vulnerable subpopulations. She is passionate about developing science-based systems which empower companies to develop safer, more inclusive products.

Is it possible to move the needle towards beauty justice by going to the source? In this episode, Dr. Tamarra James-Todd is joined by Boma Brown-West, previously at Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), to discuss how partnering with beauty product manufacturers, distributors, and retailers is an effective way to drive systemic change. Included in their conversation is how clean beauty has historically left women of color out of the picture and some of the strategies and frameworks EDF has utilized to get businesses to commit to producing and selling cleaner products that are marketed to all of their clientele.

Boma Brown-West has spent 20 years championing product sustainability and safer chemistry. She is currently the Chief Growth Officer at Healthy Building Network (HBN), a national nonprofit with a vision that all people and the planet thrive when the environment is free of toxic chemicals. Previously, Boma led EDF's safer consumer products program—specifically EDF+Business—which works to forge partnerships with companies and supply chains to activate smart and ambitious safer chemicals policies and sustainability programs covering products, food, and packaging. She has an M.S. in Technology & Policy from MIT and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Yale University.

Check out this Non-toxic Black Beauty Product Database for safe products made by Black-owned businesses: https://www.safecosmetics.org/black-beauty/

How do beauty justice issues impact Asian immigrant communities? In this episode, Dr. Lucy Chie joins Dr. Tamarra James-Todd to discuss their research regarding beauty product chemical exposures among the Chinese immigrant community in Boston. They also discuss how clinicians can best serve their patients who are a part of immigrant communities and what we can learn from folks from other cultures about living more healthfully.

Lucy Chie, MD, MPH is the Director of OB/GYN at South Cove Community Health Center, Director of the OBGYN Community Health Initiative at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and Assistant Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology at Harvard Medical School. She is committed to being a community-engaged physician and volunteers as a board member of Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts and Mass PPD (Postpartum Depression) Fund, as well as a member of the Brookline Commission for Women. 

How does dermatology, the study of skin, hair, and nail health, intersect with the beauty justice movement? In this episode, Dr. Tamarra James Todd is joined by Dr. Chesahna Kindred to discuss some of the dermatological conditions that predominately affect Black people as well as how lack of representation in the medical field and clinical trials is hindering our knowledge of and our ability to treat conditions that disproportionately affect people of color. They also discuss how dermatology and dermatologists have a role to play in reaching beauty justice.

Dr. Chesahna Kindred is a board-certified dermatologist, researcher, published author, and national speaker. She received a dual MD/MBA degree from the University of Cincinnati and then took up her residency and fellowship at Howard University, an institution that pioneered Ethnic Dermatology. It was there that Dr. Kindred gained her passion and focus on hair loss and ethnic skin. She founded the Kindred Hair & Skin Center in Columbia, Maryland where she treats people of all ages and ethnicities and continues to remain on the cutting-edge of hair loss treatment. Currently, Kindred Hair & Skin is the only dermatology office with a full-service salon that specializes in hair loss. You can follow her and her work here Twitter: @KindredHairSkin; Instagram: @kindrederm; website: kindredhairandskin.com