Balls-Berry Lab
Joyce Balls-Berry, PhD
Joyce Balls-Berry is an associate professor of neurology at WashU Medicine and serves as the core leader for the newly established Health Disparities and Equity Core within the Knight Alzheimer Disease Research Center (ADRC), directed by John Morris.
Before joining WashU Medicine, Balls-Berry was an assistant professor of epidemiology and a senior associate consultant at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science. She earned her undergraduate degree from Xavier University of Louisiana and completed graduate training at both WashU Medicine and the University of Toledo. She later completed a postdoctoral research fellowship in health equity, epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of Florida.
Balls-Berry’s research focuses on increasing awareness of the importance of community and patient engagement in research, particularly to advance health equity in minority and under-resourced communities. She recently completed a PCORI-funded project to expand the Minority Women in Research Network, which she founded in 2011. The network supports community-patient engagement in research led by minority women scientists and promotes collaboration, scholarship, innovation and dissemination.
As an educator, Balls-Berry has been recognized with the Mayo Clinic Teacher of the Year award for the Graduate School and the Educator of the Year award for the Center for Clinical and Translational Science — both honors voted on by faculty and students.
She has also shared her personal journey of living with dyslexia and overcoming challenges in a TEDx Talk titled Handling Challenges.
Principal investigator
Our team
Recent publications
- Comparison of Semaglutide and Lifestyle Counselling for Weight Loss Using Multi-Site Electronic Health RecordsPowell, W. J. B., Mazzotti, D. R., Herrmann, S. D., Davis, A. M., Mittendorfer, B., Bruce, J., Song, X., Waitman, L. R., Chandaka, S., Anuforo, K., Patel, L., Budine, D., Hensel, N., Satyakam, S., Smith, S., Ridenour, D., Jernigan, C., Early, C., Stephens, K. & Jurius, K. & 95 others, Stephens, K., Jurius, K., Sidebottom, A., Rodgers, C., Zhong, H., Hare, A., Melamed, R., Anderson, C., Schouweile, T., Roering, C., Payne, P., Gupta, S., Newland, J., Balls-Berry, J., Parham, J., Fritschle, E., Cripps, S., Knowlton, K., Hansen, […]
- Measure Racism, Not Just Race: Recommendations for Scientific PracticeEnders, F. T., Alberti, P. M., Golembiewski, E. H., Orellana, M. A., Braveman, P., Brown, V. A., Chambwe, N., Ford, C. L. & Balls-Berry, J. E., Mar 1 2026, In: American journal of public health. 116, 3, p. 300-303 4 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Editorial
- Fibroids and health disparities: the COllaboration for EQuity in Uterine Leiomyomas specialized centerStewart, E. A., Venable, S., Borah, B. J., Webb, F. J., Laughlin-Tommaso, S. K., Bielinski, S. J., McGowan, M. L., Enders, F. T., Wallace, K., Bilello, L. A., Balls-Berry, J. E., Cohen Rassier, S. L., Kaunitz, A. M., Lewis, G. K., Louie, M. Y. & Allyse, M. A., 2026, (Accepted/In press) In: American journal of obstetrics and gynecology.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Community engagement studios to improve racial diversity and health equity in Parkinson’sKang, E., Woodhouse, D., Davis, K., Yap, J. Q., Myers, P. S., Campbell, M. C., Hughes, Y. D., Balls-Berry, J. E. & Foster, E. R., Sep 9 2025, In: Journal of Clinical and Translational Science. 9, 1, e217.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Walking Interventions and Cognitive Health in Older Adults: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled TrialsLee, J., West, D., Pellegrini, C., Wei, J., Wilcox, S., Neils-Strunjas, J., Rudisill, A. C., Friedman, D. B., Marquez, D. X., Dzwierzynski, J., Balls-Berry, J., Gajadhar, R. & Yang, C. H., Sep 2025, In: American Journal of Health Promotion. 39, 7, p. 1051-1067 17 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review