MEET THE HEALTH CARE WORKERS
Noha Aboelata, MD
Family practice physician. Dr. Aboelata founded the Roots Community Health Center in Oakland, CA to uplift communities impacted by systemic inequity and poverty.
Florence Awosika, DNP, CRNP
Shaquita Bell, MD, FAAP
Pediatrician and Medical Director, Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic in Seattle, WA. Dr. Bell is also a Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at Seattle Children’s and the University of Washington in the division of General Pediatrics. She is the first Native American Chief resident at Seattle Children’s. Dr. Bell is of Cherokee descent on her mother’s side and African-American on her father’s.
Janice Blanchard, MD, PhD
Emergency medicine physician and professor at the George Washington University School of Medicine and School of Public Health. Dr. Blanchard is also Chief of the Health Policy Section in the Department of Emergency Medicine. Dr. Blanchard has written extensively on racial disparities and social determinants of health, and has been featured in academic medical journals as well as mainstream media outlets.
“I got my vaccine, and I’m telling my friends.” Op-ed in CNN, Dec. 21, 2020
Rhea Boyd, MD, MPH
Pediatrician at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation and UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland. Rhea is also Director of Equity and Justice at The California Children’s Trust, an initiative to advance mental health access for children and youth across California. Rhea co-developed THE CONVERSATION: Between Us, About Us in partnership with the Kaiser Family Foundation, Black Coalition Against COVID, and Unidos US.
“Black People Need Better Vaccines Access, Not Better Vaccine Attitudes,” Op-ed in the New York Times, Mar. 5, 2021
Joia Crear-Perry, MD, FACOG
Founder and former President of National Birth Equity Collaborative, an organization focused on Black maternal and infant health. Dr. Crear-Perry is a respected thought leader and advocate around racism as a root cause of health inequities.
Lisa Fitzpatrick, MD, MPH
A CDC-trained medical epidemiologist and infectious disease specialist, and founder of Grapevine Health – an organization committed to improving health literacy and patient engagement. Dr. Fitzpatrick is also a clinical professor and professorial lecturer for the George Washington University School of Medicine and Milken Institute School of Public Health.
Damon Francis, MD
Medical Director at Alameda Health System’s Homeless Health Center, Chief Clinical Officer with Health Leads and an Assistant Clinical Professor at the University of California San Francisco. Dr. Francis is a respected leader in whole person health care.
Gina Gregory-Burns, MD
Internal medicine physician and Director of the Center of Excellence in Linguistic and Cultural Services and Chair of the African American Health Initiative at Kaiser Permanente Northern California. Dr. Gregory-Burns also created and leads Salud en Español, Kaiser Permanente’s first Spanish bilingual clinic.
Orlando Harris, PhD, FNP, MPH
Family nurse practitioner and Assistant Professor at the University of California San Francisco’s School of Nursing. Dr. Harris is a leading public health researcher focused on improving care for sexual and gender minorities.
Sheryl Heron, MD, MPH, FACEP
Professor and Associate Dean – Community Engagement, Equity and Inclusion at Emory University’s School of Medicine. Dr. Heron’s extensive work focuses on equity, diversity and inclusion, wellness and wellbeing and injury prevention.
David Malebranche, MD, MPH
Internal medicine physician and sexual health/HIV clinical expert with clinical and research expertise in the prevention and treatment of HIV and other STIs in diverse Black communities.
Monica R. McLemore PhD, MPH, RN
Professor, Department of Child, Family and Population Health Nursing and Interim Director, Center for Anti-Racism in Nursing at the University of Washington. Prior to joining UW, Dr. Mclemore was the Thelma Shobe Endowed Chari and Associate Professor at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. McLemore is a preeminent scholar of antiracist birth equity research, community-informed methods, and policy translation. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Nursing from The College of New Jersey, a master’s in public health from San Francisco State University, and a Ph.D. in oncology genomics at the University of California, San Francisco.
Valerie Montgomery Rice, MD, FACOG
President and Dean of Morehouse School of Medicine, the first woman to lead the freestanding medical institution. Dr. Montgomery Rice is also a renowned infertility specialist and researcher.
Pamela Simms-Mackey, MD, FAAP
Chair of Pediatrics and Chief of Graduate Medical Education at Alameda Health Systems. Dr. Simms-Mackey has dedicated her career to reducing health disparities among underserved populations.
Stephaun Wallace, PhD, MS
Research epidemiologist and Clinical Assistant Professor, Global Health at the University of Washington. Dr. Wallace is expert in developing, implementing and evaluating major public health and human service programs in the prevention, care and treatment of HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases globally. He is the director of external relations of both the HIV Vaccine Trials Network and the COVID-19 Prevention Network.
“Meet an epidemiologist fighting to make vaccines work for communities of color,” Article in GatesNotes, Apr 6, 2021
Sara Whetstone, MD, MHS
Assistant Professor and Associate Residency Program Director in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences at UCSF. Additionally, Dr. Whetstone is one of the Associate Directors for the Black Women’s Health and Livelihood Initiative and was recently appointed as the Interim Vice Chair of Equity, Inclusion, and Structural Change for her department.