Todd Lucas, PhD

Lucas Todd profile photo

Professor C.S. Mott Endowed Professor of Public Health

Dr. Lucas is a social and health psychologist whose research considers psychosocial causes of racial health disparities. He is particularly focused on stress and preventive health behavior pathways, such as cancer screening. Dr. Lucas's research especially considers psychological justice - the causes and resulting health and social consequences of perceiving injustice for individuals and communities.

Dr. Lucas's research is both psychophysiological, in considering the ways in which psychosocial factors "get under the skin" to affect health, and also intervention focused, in attempting to develop strategies to reduce disparities. Dr. Lucas has received funding from sources such as the National Cancer Institute, The American Cancer Society, and the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute to support his program of research on topics that have ranged from understanding stress reactivity responses to injustice to promoting better uptake of colorectal cancer screening. Dr. Lucas also enjoys collaborating with colleagues and students on a wide range of research related to enhancing healthy equity and social justice.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Lucas is currently conducting research on promoting understanding and equitable uptake of SARS-CoV-2 antibody testing. This work is being conducted as part of the National Cancer Institute SeroNet Initiative and includes a broad range of academic and Flint community partners.

Dr. Lucas is a lifelong Michigander who grew up in Kalamazoo. His Michigan upbringing is a perpetual influence on his approach to conducting research and forging collaborations that can reduce health and social disparities.

Select Publications

Lucas, T., Thompson, H. S., Blessman, J., Dawadi, A., Drolet, C. E., Hirko, K. A., & Penner, L. A. (2021). Effects of culturally targeted message framing on colorectal cancer screening among African Americans. Health Psychology, 40(5), 305–315. View Publication

Lucas, T., Drolet, C.E., Strelan, P. et al. Fairness and forgiveness: Effects of priming justice depend on justice beliefs. Curr Psychol (2020). View Publication

Lucas, T., Thompson, H. S., Blessman, J., Dawadi, A., Drolet, C. E., Hirko, K. A., & Penner, L. A. (2021). Effects of culturally targeted message framing on colorectal cancer screening among African Americans. Health Psychology, 40(5), 305–315. View Publication

Lucas, T. (2020). Health Consequences and Correlates of Social Justice. In The Wiley Encyclopedia of Health Psychology (eds K. Sweeny, M.L. Robbins and L.M. Cohen). View Publication

Lucas, T., Manning, M., Hayman, L.W. et al. Targeting and tailoring message-framing: the moderating effect of racial identity on receptivity to colorectal cancer screening among African–Americans. J Behav Med 41, 747–756 (2018). View Publication

Todd Lucas, Peter Strelan, Johan C. Karremans, Robbie M. Sutton, Erfan Najmi & Zaki Malik (2018) When does priming justice promote forgiveness? On the importance of distributive and procedural justice for self and others, The Journal of Positive Psychology, 13:5, 471-484, DOI: View Publication

Lucas, T., Woerner, J., Pierce, J., Granger, D. A., Lin, J., Epel, E. S., ... & Lumley, M. A. (2018). Justice for all? Beliefs about justice for self and others and telomere length in African Americans. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 24, 498.

Lucas, T., Manning, M., Hayman, J. L., & Blessman, J. (2018). Targeting and tailoring message-framing: the moderating effect of racial identity on receptivity to colorectal cancer screening among African-Americans. Journal of Behavioral Medicine.

Lucas, T., Strelan, P., Karremans, J. C., Sutton, R. M., Najmi, E., & Malik, Z. (2018). When does priming justice promote forgiveness? On the importance of distributive and procedural justice for self and others. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 13, 471-484.

Lucas, T., Lumley, M. A., Flack, J. M., Wegner, R., Pierce, J., & Goetz, S. (2016). A preliminary experimental examination of worldview verification, perceived racism, and stress reactivity in African Americans. Health Psychology, 35, 366.

Research Projects

Select Media Coverage

Scholarly Interests

  • Colorectal cancer screening in African American communities
  • Psychosocial causes of stress and racial health disparities, especially including justice perceptions
  • Brief intervention methods
  • Noninvasive biological measurement, especially including salivary measurement
  • COVID-19 antibody testing and racial disparities
  • Health behavior decisions

Publications

Connect

  • Phone: (810) 600-5629
  • Email: lucastod@msu.edu
  • Address:
    Charles Stewart Mott Department of Public Health, College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University
    200 E 1st Street
    Flint, Michigan 48502 

Affiliate

  • University of California, IrvineUniversity of California, IrvineInstitute for Interdisciplinary Salivary Biosciences Research, Adjunct Faculty
  • Karmanos Cancer Institute, Population Studies and Disparities Research Program,Scientific Member

Education

  • Doctor of Philosophy, Psychology,
    Wayne State University, Detroit, MI
  • Master of Arts, Psychology,
    Wayne State University, Detroit, MI
  • Bachelor of Arts
    Hope College, Holland, MI