Daniel K. Abusuampeh is a PhD candidate at the University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work. His research asks why people divide into groups and what that division costs in terms of our mental health and community well-being. Born and raised in Ghana and educated at the University of Ghana, where he earned a BA in Social Work and Sociology, an MPA, and an MPhil in Social Work, he studies tribalism, the “us vs. them” thinking that turns difference into exclusion, as a public health problem rather than only a cultural or political one, here in the US as closely as in Ghana. Daniel has been a principal investigator on funded projects and has served as a research assistant on federally funded projects, including an NIH R01 and a PCORI study.
Before beginning doctoral study, Daniel spent more than a decade expanding access to education in Ghana. As Country Director and co-founder of an educational nonprofit, he led the construction of three schools serving over 5,000 students and managed programs in scholarship, vocational training, and teacher development. That work grounds his conviction that education is a practical instrument of social change rather than only an ideal.
In 2023, he adopted a structured cognitive-behavioral training approach to address tribalism. He founded the African Tribe Bridge Institute to deliver it, training communities, schools, and organizations in Pittsburgh and Accra in partnership with the Center for African Studies at the University of Pittsburgh. That work produced his current framework, the Tribal Consciousness and Bridge-Building System. He is also a documentary filmmaker, and his films Understanding Tribalism (Us vs. Them) and Decolonizing Our Thinking in Senegal carry his research to audiences beyond the academy.
Daniel teaches at the School of Social Work as an independent instructor, serving as instructor of record for undergraduate courses in social work research and in generalist practice with communities and organizations. He is an MSW practicum instructor and field supervisor at the Center on Race and Social Problems, where he is also a researcher. He serves as a junior editor and peer reviewer for Race and Social Problems, as the School of Social Work liaison to the University Council on Graduate Study. He is a member of Stand For All Pittsburgh, a coalition working to prevent and address hate and bias incidents in southwestern Pennsylvania.
Research Interests
- Tribalism, equity consciousness, and intergroup conflict
- Mental health disparities and the social determinants of health
- Community-engaged research and program evaluation
- Global and international social work
- African diaspora studies and history
- Documentary filmmaking as public scholarship
Selected Publications
VanHook, C., Abusuampeh, D. K., & Pollard, J. (2025). Leveraging AI for mental health care. Frontiers in Health Services, 5, Article 1654106.
Blair, S. C., Schaefer, K. E., Abusuampeh, D. K., & Idoko, R. O. (2025). Learning from the next generation: Exploring engagement and insights from the Racial Equity Consciousness Institute. The Urban Review, 1–24.
Conner, K. O., Abusuampeh, D. K., Kosyluk, K., Tran, J. T., Davis-Cotton, D., Hill, A. M., & Brown, A. P. (2024). Mitigating the stigma of mental illness: The impact of storytelling in the Black community. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 21(11), 1473.
