Denae W. King is a research associate professor in the Mickey Leland Center for Environment, Justice,
and Sustainability, at the Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs at Texas Southern
University. Prior to this position, she was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Occupational
Health Sciences at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler and an adjunct Assistant
Professor with the Dorothy I. Height, Center for Health Equity and Evaluation Research at The University
of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.
Dr. King developed an interest in community-based participatory research (CBPR) as it relates to
environmental health and cancer while completing a Kellogg Scholars in Health Disparities postdoctoral
fellowship at MD Anderson Cancer Center. She continues to work on environmental health assessment
projects designed to address community-identified environmental health concerns in Houston’s
underserved environmental justice communities. Dr. King’s new found interests also include the role of
neighborhood effects in the onset of disease in underserved populations. She has presented her research at
national conferences such as the American Public Health Association (2012), and published her findings
in various journals, including, the American Journal of Public Health, Cancer, Health and Place, and the
Journal of Cancer Education. Dr. King received her B.S. degree in chemistry (1992) from Texas Southern
University, as well as, a M.S. degree (1996) and Ph.D. degree (2001) in environmental science/toxicology
from the University of Texas Health Science Center - Houston, School of Public Health.