Kineka J. Hull

Kineka Hull, PhD, is a public health scientist with expertise in studying youth and young adult risk behaviors, sexuality and contraceptive use among African American women, sexual abuse prevention, and working with diverse, historically marginalized, underserved, and rural populations. She has led studies focusing on comprehensive sexual and reproductive health, pregnancy prevention, healthy communication, and COVID-19. Dr. Hull has worked with community-based organizations, academia, and health departments on strategic planning, organizational capacity building, infrastructure/staffing needs, sustainability, and succession planning.

Since joining RTI in 2021, Dr. Hull has been a part of a team to evaluate healthcare disparities and health service deliveries among adolescents and young adults. She provides training and technical assistance to youth-serving professionals and coordinates site monitoring visits for federal grantees. She also oversees an implementation strategy using peer mentors to increase Black women’s awareness and uptake of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). Dr. Hull also helped develop and implement a youth-centered social media campaign that promotes goal setting, healthy relationships, and healthy decision-making and develops and provides educational activities and resources for youth-serving professionals.

Dr. Hull hosts the Elevate Youth Programming podcast, developed by RTI and funded by the Family & Youth Services Bureau. The podcast offers thought-provoking topics, tips, and strategies to enhance youth-centered programming. Discussions have included creating trauma-informed spaces that are supportive for all young people, integrating health equity into adolescent pregnancy prevention, and understanding the impact of community violence on youth.

Before joining RTI, Dr. Hull served as principal investigator for a North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative–funded project that organized 13 youth-serving stakeholders and provided county-wide sexual health education to 6th- to 9th-graders. This project reduced the county's teen pregnancy rate from 3rd to 10th in the state over 4 years. She was awarded the 2018 Lisa Clarke Bridge Builder Award for her work based on impact; establishing communication between multiple health-serving agencies; reducing health disparity; moving best practices from theory to action; and increasing advocacy for women, children, and families. Dr. Hull also led a Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) community-based intervention to increase the diversity of COVID-19 contact tracers. Her project trained and employed diverse, culturally competent, and responsive contact tracers and health coaches to assist with the North Carolina COVID-19 response.