She received a Ph.D. in Psychology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, a Master’s degree in Counselor Education at Wake Forest University, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology at the University of Virginia. She completed a psychology internship at The Ohio State University and completed postdoctoral training at Johns Hopkins University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Coker-Appiah has been a faculty member in the Department of Psychiatry since 2008.