Alyasah Ali Sewell, Ph.D.

Alyasah Ali Sewell, Ph.D.

Dr. Alyasah Ali Sewell (they/them/their) is Associate Professor of Sociology at Emory University and Affiliated Faculty with the African American Studies, and Executive Director and Founder, of The Race and Policing Project. A widely-published medical sociologist, social psychologist, and research methodologist, they assess the local political economies of racism, medicine, and health disparities and data equity issues in methodological approaches quantifying police brutality, intersectionality, and systemic racism.

Their research has garnered support from the National Institutes of Health, the Ford Foundation, the National Science Foundation, and the Baden-Württemberg Foundation. They received postdoctoral training in Demography from the Population Studies Center at the University of Pennsylvania. Their Ph.D. and M.A. in Sociology from Indiana University, and their B.A. summa cum laude in Sociology from the University of Florida with a minor in Women’s Studies.

The Georgia Sociological Association named Sewell, an Atlanta native, the 2021 Georgia Sociologist of the Year. Planned Parenthood designated them “The Future: Innovator and Visionary Who Will Transform Black Communities”.

Sewell is a proud second-generation of Black Latinx through the Caribbean diaspora, they leverage data to bridge the evidence-based stories of the freedom fighters past to those who will transform our futures. It is their duty to generate equitable research that is accessible to everyday people.