His current program of research focuses on addictions, health disparities that disproportionately affect the African-American community, psychoneuroimmunology, and cultural predictors of health behaviors. He is the director of the Hwemudua Addictions and Health Disparities Laboratory (HAHDL) and the director of the University of Houston's HEALTH Research Institute. He also has unique expertise in the study of African/African-American culture and mental health. This includes human laboratory studies, field data collections in the community, and large-scale longitudinal research designs.