Explore Research Centers & Institutes

Affective Biometrics Laboratory 

Director: Dr. Gloria Washington

The Affective Biometrics Lab (ABL) at Howard seeks to investigate human emotion and identity using heart rate, skin temperature, brain waves, and body language gathered from images, video, and biological sensors. Research projects include an analysis of ear biometrics from 2-D images using advancements in deep learning; an investigation of the use of codeswitching to hide sentiment of social media data; and an NSF, Amazon, and Salesforce-funded project exploring empathy and microaggressions in person-to-person speech. 

The Center for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics 

Director: Dr. William Southerland

The center provides the necessary human, software, and hardware resources to perform computational biomedical research on gene and protein sequence analysis, the design and development of new and improved therapeutic agents, biomolecules, and biomaterials, and the development of a better understanding of cellular processes. The laboratory supports bioinformatics and statistical genetics research, macromolecular analysis and simulation, virtual ligand screening, computational chemistry, and computational proteomics and methods development. 

Data Science and Cybersecurity Center 

Director: Dr. Danda B. Rawat

The Data Science and Cybersecurity Center (DSC2) at Howard brings together a group of multidisciplinary faculty and student researchers to solve critical contemporary problems related to cybersecurity and data science, contributing new research insights on cyber-actor behavior, threat modeling, and intelligence, modeling and analysis, cyber-event forecasting, cyber resilience and defense, and data science.  

DoD Center of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning  

Director: Dr. Danda B. Rawat

The DoD Center of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning (CoE-AIML) aims to explore the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) in mission-critical civilian applications and multi-domain operations. The CoE-AIML team is conducting strategic research to transform AI/ML through trustworthy, reliable, explainable, fair, robust, and secure ML algorithms and AI systems while expanding commercial, scientific, and DoD/government uses of AI/ML.  

Center for Sickle Cell Disease 

Patricia Oneal, M.D., Co-Director (Clinical) & Sergei Nekhai, Ph.D. , Co-Director

The Howard University Center for Sickle Cell Disease is committed to providing comprehensive medical care, research, testing, education, counseling, and community outreach for adults and children with sickle cell disease. The Center offers a weekly outpatient clinic for adults with sickle cell disease. It collaborates with the DC Greater Access to Pediatric Sickle Cell Services Project, which provides comprehensive care for children with sickle cell disease and other hemoglobinopathies. The Center for Sickle Cell Disease has participated in major clinical trials that have led to FDA-approved medications for sickle cell disease treatment. The Center is the Washington area’s leading provider of patient services for Sickle Cell Disease and has received a Center of Excellence grant from the District of Columbia which will fund both clinical care and a research focus on health-related outcomes.

Center for Wellness and Weight Loss Surgery

Terrence M. Fullum, Medical Director

The Howard University Center for Wellness and Weight Loss Surgery (HUCWWLS) specializes in a wide range of comprehensive medical and surgical solutions for obesity and the complications of obesity, including Laparoscopic and Robotic Surgery. HUCWWLS is one of a few programs in the Washington, D.C. area that provides revisional bariatric surgery, including treating high-risk patients with a high Body Mass Index (BMI). The Center has a high success rate in improving patient conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, and sleep apnea. 

Clive O. Callender Howard-Harvard Health Outcomes Research Center  

Director: Dr. Edward Cornwell III, M.D.

From its inception, the Clive O. Callender Howard-Harvard Health Sciences Outcomes Research Center at Howard University has fostered a culture of multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional collaboration in health disparities research aimed at the study of systems that could lead to more equitable healthcare delivery. The Center, a vital component of the HU RCMI Research Infrastructure Core, has been a critical tool for Howard investigators and an effective agent in developing insight and understanding regarding the disparate outcomes associated with minority populations.

Georgetown-Howard Center for Medical Humanities and Health Justice

Co-Executive Director: Dana A. Williams, Ph.D. (d_williams@howard.edu)
Chief of Staff: Alisa Byers, DHSc., MLAS (alisa.byers@howard.edu)

A historic partnership between Georgetown and Howard, The Center for Medical Humanities and Health Justice fosters learning, research, and public engagement at the intersection of humanities and healthcare in Washington, DC.

Georgetown-Howard Universities Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences 

Research Collaboration 

The Georgetown-Howard Universities Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences (GHUCCTS) is a multi-institutional consortium of medical research institutions, including Georgetown University, Howard University, MedStar Health Research Institute, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and the Washington Veteran’s Affairs Medical Center, forged from a desire to promote clinical research and translational science. GHUCCTS implements research that will have a high impact on underserved communities.

Howard University Cancer Center

Interim Director: Dr. Carla Williams

The Howard University Cancer Center provides research, education, and service for cancers primarily affecting African American populations. The Center excels in translational bench-to-bedside research that improves the lives of minorities and underserved populations. A partnership between Howard University Cancer Center and the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center is dedicated to building a robust national cancer program to address the significant disparity in cancer rates and survival in minority populations. 

Howard University Simulation & Clinical Skills Center

Director: Dr. Tamara L. Owens

The Howard University Simulation & Clinical Skills Center is a state-of-the-art premier facility that promotes patient safety through an innovative and diverse range of simulation-based educational programs designed to train future compassionate global healthcare leaders. Students are presented with mock healthcare professional-patient encounters that simulate actual patient care experiences and clinical scenarios, allowing them to experience a realistic healthcare event. The simulated patient encounter is assessed by faculty and the simulated patients. 

NOAA Cooperative Science Center for Atmospheric Sciences & Meteorology (NCAS-M) 

Director: Dr. Sen Chiao

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Cooperative Science Center for Atmospheric Sciences & Meteorology (NCAS-M) is a cooperative partnership between lead institution Howard University and Jackson State University, the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez, the University of Texas at El Paso, UMD-College Park, and SUNY Albany. NCAS performs research and applications in climate, weather, and air quality prediction and analyses and aims to diversify the atmospheric and environmental sciences workforce.  

 
World Food Law Institute 

The World Food Law Institute fosters international agricultural and food law, regulations, and policy analysis and understanding. The Institute uses a multidisciplinary approach to promote food security and social development in the farming and agribusiness sectors, especially for millions living and working in rural areas worldwide. The Institute conducts three principal activities: The World Food Law Symposium and Round Tables, the World Food Law Distinguished Lecture, and the World Food Law Fellowship. 

Center for Energy Systems and Control 

Director: Dr. James Momoh

The Center for Energy Systems and Control (CESaC) is an interdisciplinary research and education center that conducts pioneering research in electric energy systems and control, power, environment, economics, and energy markets for terrestrial, space, and offshore energy systems. The mission of the Center is to engage in research associated with the totality of energy systems and control and develop 21st Century leadership in developing efficient and reliable infrastructure.  

NSF Engineering Research Center for Power Optimization for Electro-Thermal Systems 

Director: Dr. Sonya T. Smith, PI
Co-Directors: Dr. James Hammonds and Dr. Charles Kim 

Many engineered systems develop the electrical systems first, then use these to set thermal system requirements. The Power Optimization for Electro-Thermal Systems (POETS) center's vision is one of co-design, driving synergistic thermal and electrical power for tightly constrained mobile environments to achieve increased power density across a broad array of industrial and consumer uses. The research results will enable the manufacture of lighter, more efficient power electronic systems.  

 

Howard University Transportation Research Center 

The Howard University Transportation Research Center (HUTRC) was established in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department to lead interdisciplinary urban transportation research in Washington, D.C. The HUTRC participates in various studies that impact neighborhoods, the environment, and economic development in the District. The HUTRC team uses tools for statistical analysis, mapping and spatial analysis, transportation-network modeling, and transportation data management. 

Center for Integrated Quantum Materials (CIQM)

Research Collaboration 

The Center for Integrated Quantum Materials (CIQM) is NSF Science and Technology Center initiative housed at Harvard, which includes a team of scientists and educators from MIT, Howard University, Harvard University, and the Museum of Science, Boston, as well as a network of colleges throughout the greater Boston and Washington, D.C. areas. The Center explores how atomically thin two-dimensional quantum materials, topological insulators, and NV centers in diamonds can be integrated to make new devices for communications and computing in the 21st century.

Center of Excellence in Housing and Urban Research

The Howard University Center of Excellence in Housing and Urban Research and Policy (CHURP) seeks to achieve an equitable and inclusionary society where inequities in housing, health, education, economic well-being, and community development are overcome through policy development and implementation. Blocking this goal are the mutually reinforcing historical and current processes that lead to disparate outcomes for underserved populations. 

Center on Race and Wealth 

The Howard University Center on Race and Wealth (CRW), housed in the Department of Economics, aims to enrich research, dialogue, and policy formation related to asset building, wealth accumulation, racial wealth disparities, racial disparities in law enforcement, poverty, and inequality. The Center engages researchers and state and regional asset-building coalition leaders in research that will inform policymakers about the causes, consequences, and solutions to the problem of racial wealth disparities. 

Center for Urban Progress 

The Center for Urban Progress is an interdisciplinary center that mobilizes the Howard University community to address critical local, national, and global urban issues through applied and community-based research, academic programs, technical assistance to public and private agencies, program evaluation, and demonstration projects.  Since its founding in 1995, it has employed over 90 graduate students in research, development, and service-learning activities and has partnered with over 100 community- and faith-based organizations. 

Ronald W. Walters Leadership and Public Policy Center  

The Ronald W. Walters Leadership and Public Policy Center was established to serve as a focal point for research, service, and policy discussions in areas involving the engagement of African Americans in the U.S. political process and U.S. national and foreign policy. The Center preserves the legacy of Dr. Ronald Walters, a scholar-activist, political commentator, and prolific writer who conducted research, served as a mentor to students and political leaders, and provided strategic direction and thinking in the political and civic arenas.

NSF Broadening Participation Research Center 

The Center aims to conduct research that enhances our understanding of the educational contexts, teaching practices, and barriers that hinder (and factors that enhance) the motivation and achievement of HBCU undergraduates in STEM and African American students in STEM nationwide. Project partners include Howard University, Winston-Salem State University, and Morehouse College. Research conducted by the Center will set the foundation for developing the theoretical models that pertain to the research on the identity and motivation of African American students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields. The project is uniquely poised to transform current psychology theories on STEM learning while engaging participants from a minimum of 30 HBCUs, thereby giving voice to the diverse contexts that may enhance our understanding of STEM learning and STEM pedagogy.

Education Rights Center 

The Education Rights Center seeks to collaborate with individual and organizational public and private stakeholders globally to develop the theory and practice of education as a tool for creating peace, preserving the planet, and empowering historically disadvantaged communities. Center initiatives include early childhood education, primary and secondary education, and adult education.  

Social Justice Consortium 

The Howard University Social Justice Consortium (SJC) is a cross-organizational, interdisciplinary partnership concerned with educating society and developing the critical consciousness people need to analyze injustice in their communities and develop innovative and collaborative action-oriented remedies. The SJC has three pathways to increase community knowledge, including supporting social justice research, art, and activism. The SJC is expanding notions of who can produce, have access to, and teach social justice.  

Thurgood Marshall Civil Rights Center 

Howard University School of Law has been at the forefront of civil rights progress since its founding in 1867. The Thurgood Marshall Civil Rights Center’s mission is to serve as the University’s flagship institutional setting for the study and practice of civil rights, human rights, and racial justice law and advocacy. The Center seeks to apply a human rights framework and a social movement-centered approach to fighting for social change. The Center fuels social change by fostering collaboration between law, policy, scholarship, and grassroots organizing. 

Center for African Studies  

The Center for African Studies (CfAS) at Howard University is a comprehensive National Resource Center that supports and enhances Africa-related teaching and research across Howard University. The Center works to consolidate and expand the legacy of Howard as a leader for America and the global community concerning the study of Africa and supports the teaching of African languages in the Department of World Languages and Cultures, as well as research, instruction, and training in other fields to provide a fuller understanding of Africa. 

 

Ralph J. Bunche International Affairs Center 

Howard University's Ralph J. Bunche International Affairs Center is a hub and catalyst for the University's extensive international engagement and activities. Named after esteemed diplomat and founding head of Howard's Political Science Department, Ralph J. Bunche, the Center integrates global perspectives into the Howard University experience, promotes education abroad, facilitates more profound scholarship on global issues, supports cross-cultural dialogue, and prepares leaders who can find solutions to global problems. 

Center for Women, Gender and Global Leadership 

The Center for Women, Gender, and Global Leadership (CWGGL) is an interdisciplinary program that prepares future leaders to be gender-conscious and aware of the intellectual contributions of Black women. The Center's vision is to be a center of excellence for Black women and Black feminist consciousness, activism, and global leadership. The Center aims to meet this vision through programming that promotes transformational leadership, global engagement, research, service learning, and building impactful partnerships.