Jill B. Hamilton, PhD, MRPL, RN, FAAN is Professor (tenured) and Senior Faculty Fellow of SDOH & Health Disparities at the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Affiliate Professor at Candler School of Theology, and Affiliate Faculty in the Department of African American Studies at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.  Dr. Hamilton earned her BSN, MSN, and PhD in nursing from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a BS in Accounting from North Carolina Central University, postdoctoral training in the nursing care of older adults at the Oregon Health & Science University, and a Master’s in Religion and Public Life at the Candler School of Theology. She previously held faculty positions at Johns Hopkins University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she was a tenured Associate Professor.  Dr. Hamilton’s research interests include social determinants of health, health disparities, and the mental health promoting strategies used among older African American their families in response to life-threatening illness.  Dr. Hamilton is Leading Editor of a text with Springer Nature titled “Integrating s Social Determinants of Health Framework into Nursing Education” published in 2023. A second text on SDOH titled “Transforming Social Determinants to Promote Global Health: Achieving Health Equity through Lived Experiences” is scheduled for release November 2024. She is also published on topics related to culture, social support, religiosity, spirituality, and quality of life among African Americans with life-threatening illness. She has done original research on the effects of Storytelling that incorporates Black Sacred Music and scripture on psychological distress among older and younger African Americans. The findings from this research are published in Cancer Nursing, the Journal of Religion and Health, the Gerontologist, Qualitative Health Research, and Nursing Research. She was a Georgia Cancer Coalition Distinguished Cancer Scholar from 2003-2007 and a member of the 2014 Class of the UNC Thorp Faculty Engaged Scholars. Dr. Hamilton is currently a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing (FAAN), a Fellow Academy of Diversity Leaders in Nursing (FADLN) and a Faculty Scholar of the Center for Spirituality, Theology & Health at Duke University.  She was the recipient of the 2019 Distinguished Alumni Award from the School of Nursing at the University of North Carolina, the 2011 Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) Publishing’s Division Award for Excellence in Writing Qualitative Research and the ONS 2023 Award for Excellence in Cancer Education.  Dr. Hamilton’s work on religious songs was featured in the November 2012 Thanksgiving edition of Good Housekeeping magazine. 

Britt, K. C., Dong, F., Hamilton, J. B., Massimo, L., Hodgson, N., Stites, S. D., & Mechanic-Hamilton, D. (2025). The association of spirituality and memory in older Black and White U.S. Adults. Journal of Religion, Spirituality & Aging, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/15528030.2025.2590770

Cipta AM, Leon V, Liu C, Becker D, Yao J, Shi J, Ing B, Lum M, Ngan H, Hamilton JB, Koenig HG. (2025). Barriers to Physician and Patient Prayer in Clinical Practice: A Cross-Sectional Study of Physicians in the United States and Internationally. Journal of Religion & Health. 2025 Sep 17. doi: 10.1007/s10943-025-02446-9. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40963056.

Abujaradeh H, Mazanec SR, Bender CM, Connolly MC, Hamilton JB, Brazee RL, O'Brien JA, Rosenzweig M. Interpersonal Processes of Care Disparities, Symptom Distress, and Chemotherapy Dosing in Women With Early-Stage Breast Cancer. (2025). Nursing Research. 2025 Jul 11. doi: 10.1097/NNR.0000000000000847. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40680276.

Abiri, A., Kaligotla, L., Irish, J., Chance-Revels, R., Phan, Q., Chicas, R., Hamilton, J., Downes, E., and McDermott, C. (2025). Advancing pre-licensure nursing competency for social determinants of health." Journal of Professional Nursing 59: 15-19.

Chicas RC, Reene C, Abiri A, Bhat S, Chance-Revels R, Hamilton J, Hillman J, Irish J, Kaligotla L, Phan Q, Rider N, McDermott C. Assessing social determinants of health competencies among nurses. Nurs Outlook. 2025 Feb 18;73(2):102380. doi: 10.1016/j.outlook.2025.102380. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 39970699.

Gyan, K., Khanal, P., Yackel, HD., Hamilton, J.B. (2024) “We just brush it off, like God’s got us, He ain’t gone let us go through”: African American adolescent girls’ expressions of spirituality in response to stressful life experiences. Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, 35(4):1039-1052. doi: 10.1353/hpu.2024.a943976. PMID: 39584199.

You, K. L., Sereika, S. M., Bender, C. M., Hamilton, J. B., Mazanec, S. R., Brufsky, A., & Rosenzweig, M. Q. (2024). Health-related quality of life over chemotherapy course among individuals with early-stage breast cancer: the association of social determinants of health and neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage. Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer, 32(4), 224. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-024-08429-y

Uveges, M. K., Hamilton, J. B., Pados, B. F., Thayer, W. M., Hinds, P. S., & Nolan, M. T. (2024). Being a "Good Parent" to a NICU Infant With a Major Congenital Anomaly. Advances in neonatal care : official journal of the National Association of Neonatal Nurses, 24(1), 14–26. https://doi.org/10.1097/ANC.0000000000001127.

Hamilton, J. B., Abiri, A., Nicolas, C. A., Grant, E. J., & Best, N. C. (2024). Black Appalachia's Oldest Old: Untold Stories of experienced racism and coping with religious practices/beliefs.  The Gerontologist, 64(5), gnad143. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnad143

 Clayton-Jones, D.L, Hamilton, J. B., Haglund, K., Ong, L. Z., Kennedy, K. C., Pena, S., Stamper, L. & Jenerette, C. (2023). Sickle cell disease and adolescents’ perspectives on self-care management resources. Health Care Transitions 1.

Britt, K.C., Richards, K. C., Acton, G., Hamilton, J., & Radhakrishnan, K. (2023). Impact of religious and spiritual activity on risk of dementia and cognitive impairment with differences across race/ethnicity and sex. Journal of Articles in Support of the Null Hypothesis.

Abiri, A., Kinuthia, W., Downes, E., & Hamilton, J. B. (2024). Integrating Social Determinants of Health in Nursing Programs With Curriculum Mapping. Nurse educator,  49(2), 114–115. https://doi.org/10.1097/NNE.0000000000001532.

Hamilton J.B., Abiri A.N., Nicolas C.A., Gyan K., Chandler R.D., Worthy V.C., Grant E.J. African American Women Breast Cancer Survivors: Coping with the COVID-19 Pandemic. (2023). Journal of Cancer Education. Apr 4:1–9. doi: 10.1007/s13187-023-02296-7. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 37014616; PMCID: PMC10071457.

 Britt, K. C., Kwak, J., Acton, G., Richards, K. C., Hamilton, J., & Radhakrishnan, K (2022). Measures of religion and spirituality in dementia: An integrative review. Alzheimers Dementia (N Y) 8(1): e12352.

Abiri, A., Dowling Evans, D., Hamilton, J.B. (2022). Strategies to integrate the practice of Social Emergency Medicine into routine patient care.  Advanced Emergency Nursing Journal, 44(2), 78-83. doi: 10.1097/TME.0000000000000409.PMID: 35476683 

 Hamilton, J.B. (2021). Social Determinants of Health: Using a Holistic Approach to Cancer Care. Journal of Cancer Education. Oct 18. doi: 10.1007/s13187-021-02104-0. Online ahead of print.PMID: 34657992 

Hamilton, J. B. and Fluker, W. E. (2021). An exploration of suffering and spirituality among older African American cancer patients as guided by Howard Thurman’s theological perspective on spirituality. Journal of Religion & Health. Mar 8. doi: 10.1007/s10943-021-01215-8. Online ahead of print.

Hamilton, J. B., Best, N.C., Barney, T.A., Worthy, V. C., Phillips, N. R. (2021). Using spirituality to cope with COVID-19: the experiences of African American breast cancer survivors. Journal of Cancer Education. doi:10.1007/s13187-021-01974-8  

Hamilton, J. B. (2021). Storytelling: A Cultural Determinant of Health among African American Cancer Patients. Journal of Cancer Education. doi: 10.1007/s13187-021-01978-4.