Chuka Nestor Emezue 

Ph.D., MPH, MPA, CHES®

/RESEARCHER, EDUCATOR, AUTHOR/

Chuka Nestor Emezue (Choo-Kah • A-May-Zu-Way) is an Assistant Professor of Women, Children, and Family Nursing and the John L. and Helen Kellogg Endowed Faculty Scholar at Rush University, College of Nursing. 

He holds a Ph.D. in Nursing Science, master’s degrees in Public Health (MPH) and Public Affairs (MPA), and a B.Sc. in Biochemistry. 

His work examines how early life adversities, such as trauma, poverty, mental health challenges, and interpersonal violence, become biologically embedded and reinforced through social environments, shaping the health and help-seeking of at-risk youth and families. By combining behavioral science, digital health, stress-biology, and youth-driven design, Dr. Emezue develops trauma-informed interventions that disrupt cycles of violence and promote resilience. With support from private foundation awards and NIH-funded P50 pilot studies, his research connects biology, behavior, and lived experience to design scalable interventions that promote health equity in communities most affected by violence. 

He directs the EMERGE Innovations Lab, where he partners with youth, families, schools, and community health systems to co-create digital and community-based programs. He developed BrotherlyACT, a digital therapeutic delivered via app and web platforms to reduce firearm injury risk and improve access to pre-crisis mental health resources for Black boys and men, and co-developed FatherlyACT, a dyadic father–child program designed to disrupt intergenerational cycles of family violence. 

Dr. Emezue’s research is supported by the NIMHD-funded Chicago Chronic Condition Equity Network (P50MD017349-02), ITM/CTSA awards (UL1TR002389, KL2TR002387, TL1TR00238), and private foundations including the Rita and Alex Hillman Foundation, the John L. and Helen Kellogg Foundation, the Cohn Family Foundation, and the Rush-BMO Health Equity Institute. He has collaborated with global organizations such as UNICEF, Campbell Collaboration, the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Initiative, and the Brady and Anne Deaton Institute for University Leadership in International Development. 

Since 2023, his lab has engaged more than 300 Chicago youth through advisory boards, community-based research internships, and boot camps. A 2023 Public Voices Fellow, his writing and interviews on neo-masculinities and men’s mental health have appeared in the Chicago Tribune, NPR, Ms. Magazine, NewThinking, The Trace, The Messenger, and other outlets.