Massachusetts' top psychology professor works to reduce racial, ethnic health disparities

MILFORD — Knowledge.

According to William James College Professor Natalie Cort, knowledge is the primary way to reduce disparities in health care. Her research in that area has led to Cort, a Milford resident, receiving the 2023 Teacher of the Year award from the Massachusetts Psychological Association.

Through her career in psychology, Cort examines racial and ethnic disparities in diagnostic practice and health.

"One of the things I highlight to my students is that disparities exist, in large part, because many of us who have opportunities to actually reduce them don’t know that they exist," she said. "When we become aware of them, we have a different understanding and interpretation of why they exist. That way of thinking leads us to not either care about those disparities and how they’re affecting the lives of many, or we can be dismissive about it."

The primary way to reduce those disparities is through knowledge, Cort said.

Students engaged in learning more on the topic

"What I found in my students was a profound hunger to be told the truth," she said. Cort has taught a diversity class for 10 years at William James, a private college in Newton that specializes in psychology studies. "They also hunger for an understanding in the areas of incredible pain and destruction that have impacted the lives of many, including in their clients' lives."

Cort said studies have shown that for Black children experiencing symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), they are almost 69% less likely to be properly diagnosed when they have it, when compared to white children. For children of Latino and Asian heritage, an accurate diagnosis is almost 50% less likely.

"What we see in research is that these long-held stereotypes and perspectives about people of color show up in how we understand and how we interpret symptoms," Cort said. "Any place that you can expect disparity, it happens."

Cort said discussions around diversity, and the disparities in psychological care, are difficult for students.

"I'm so proud of my students," she said. "Every single time they come out of this more courageous, more committed to utilizing their ears of privilege, including white privilege, to ensure that where they can, they make changes."

Cort's passion for psychology is 'innate'

Cort grew up in Guyana, a small (pop., 805,000) South American country that borders Venezuela to the east. Cort said she thinks she would be a psychologist even if it wasn't a profession.

"Psychology is about being interested and curious about humanity and why people behave the way they do and why we talk and think the way we do," she said. "I’ve just always been infinitely curious since I was a child in that why. I don’t think that that was something in my upbringing or if it was something that’s inherent, that level of interest in human behavior."

According to Cort, her deep respect for the necessity of diversity and honoring everyone's cultural prospectives were shaped by her upbringing.

After completing her undergraduate degree at Binghamton University and her master's and Ph.D. at the University of Rochester in upstate New York, the first area of she was interested in studying was intimate partner violence. This came from an early recognition of misogyny in the world.

"I think that a more feminist perspective shaped my desire to become a clinical research expert in intimate partner violence," she said.

In 2013, Cort came to William James College (then called the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology) after acting as an independent researcher at the University of Rochester. She decided she wanted to train new diagnosticians so that they could reduce the level of diagnostic malpractice, impacting the lives of many people of color.

Colleagues praise Cort's work

Catherine Vuky, an assistant professor of psychology at William James, said Cort's recognition is well deserved.

"I'm so happy for her, I can't think of a better person to receive the award," said Vuky, who is also a practicing clinical psychologist in Boston and Quincy. "I go to her for guidance — she's a brilliant woman I can look up to."

Vuky is a team member with William James' Center for Multicultural and Global Mental Health, for which Cort is co-director.

"Students feel like she challenges them, and can feel how passionate she is when she teaches," Vuky said.

Gemima St. Louis, William James' vice president of workforce initiatives and specialty training, wrote a letter nominating Cort for the Teacher of the Year award.

"I have known and collaborated with Dr. Cort for close to 10 years," wrote St. Louis in the letter, which she provided to the Daily News. "During that time, I have come to know her as a distinguished educator, an innovative and influential leader, a dedicated mentor, an accomplished researcher, and a remarkable colleague whose vision and passion for serving the underserved have been a constant source of inspiration for many in the field of psychology both locally and nationally."

Outside the classroom

Cort, who has lived in Milford since 2019, enjoys spending time with friends.

"I have wonderful, amazing sister friends here in Massachusetts who are delightful," she said, adding that she's also an avid reader, a fan of British television shows and enjoys traveling.

In Milford, her favorite activity is to walk on a trail near her home to be with nature.

"Milford has been a lovely place to live, in large part because I've felt quite welcome here that I haven't quite felt in other spaces I've lived in as a Black person," she said. "It's been such a balm and a joy... Milford has been good to me."

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: MA's top teacher exposes health care biases in her work