About the Diversity & Health Equity Committee
Kathie-Ann Joseph, MD, MPH, is vice chair of diversity and health equity in the Department of Surgery and the NYU Langone Transplant Institute. In addition, she is the clinical systems lead for the Institute for Excellence in Health Equity.
Within our Diversity and Health Equity Committee are the following subcommittees:
- Clinical Care, Access, and Health Equity
- Diversity and Health Equity in Surgical Research
- Education and Assessment
- Recruitment, Promotion, and Retention
- Communications
- Community Engagement and Activism
Clinical Care, Access, and Health Equity
The mission and vision of the Committee on Clinical Care, Access, and Health Equity is two-fold:
- ensure that every patient, regardless of race, ethnicity, age, gender, sexual orientation, religion, income, or other physical or social characteristic, receives equal access to high-quality, professional, and patient-centered care
- eliminate disparities within hospital operational efficiency, quality of care, and patient satisfaction
We work to achieve these goals by analyzing internal data and monitoring the results of health equity quality improvement projects within each division of the Department of Surgery.
Our committee’s goals are aligned with those of the Clinical Care Pillar in the Institute for Excellence in Health Equity under the leadership of Dr. Kathie-Ann Joseph.
About Dr. Berry
Cherisse D. Berry, MD
Cherisse D. Berry, MD, is associate professor in the Department of Surgery and chief of the Division of Acute Care Surgery. She has done extensive research in racial and ethnic disparities and leads the Clinical Care, Access, and Health Equity Subcommittee.
Diversity and Health Equity in Surgical Research
The committee on Diversity and Health Equity in Surgical Research, chaired by Macey L Levan, JD, PhD, has worked to improve documentation and awareness of diversity, equity, and inclusion–related research, provided training opportunities for underrepresented students to participate in health equity research, and has invited national experts in health equity research to present to the NYU Langone community. This committee also supports new scientific endeavors and collaborative projects through the Center for Surgical and Transplant Applied Research (C-STAR).
About Dr. Levan
Macey L Levan, JD, PhD
An associate professor in the Departments of Surgery and Population Health, Dr. Levan has worked in the field of public health and surgical research for 10 years and is currently director of the C-STAR Qualitative Research Core. She hopes to deepen awareness and understanding of health equity research in the surgical sciences and transplantation.
Education and Assessment
The Committee on Education and Assessment, chaired by Mary Ann Hopkins, MD, MPhil, and Megan Jenkins, MD, has created a comprehensive resident curriculum, integrated cultural complications in morbidity and mortality conferences, and invited leading experts in the diversity, equity, and inclusion education and research realm to present at grand rounds. The committee’s growing library of publications from NYU Langone Health faculty, landmark articles in the field of health equity, and interesting items from various media and podcasts are available for all members of the Department of Surgery.
About Dr. Hopkins
Mary Ann Hopkins, MD, MPhil
Dr. Hopkins has worked in the field of medical education and global surgery for more than 25 years. She is currently the co-chair of the Department of Surgery’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Education and Assessment committee. She hopes to deepen awareness and understanding of the implications of implicit bias to gender, race, sexual orientation in health care and medical education.
Recruitment, Promotion, and Retention
The Recruitment, Promotion, and Retention Committee, Chaired by Dr. Kathie-Ann Joseph, works with the Department of Surgery to promote diverse faculty, trainee, and staff, and creating avenues for career development.
About Dr. Joseph
Kathie-Ann Joseph, MD, MPH
Dr. Joseph leads our Diversity and Health Equity Committee, which focuses on operationalizing and implementing health equity goals in research, clinical care, and medical education, as well as in facilitating recruitment, retention, and career advancement of faculty and trainees who are underrepresented in medicine.
Communications
The Communications Committee, chaired by Jessica Gelber, develops materials to inform our community of the various achievements and work performed by the Department of Surgery Diversity and Health Equity Committee. We publish a biannual newsletter, create event announcements, and assist with overall graphic design requests.
About Jessica
Jessica Gelber
Jessica has worked in the healthcare field for more than 10 years and came to her role as chair of the Communication Committee through her past work with the NYU Langone Transplant Institute. Jessica is pursuing a masters in health administration at NYU’s Wagner Graduate School of Public Service and is committed to eliminating systemic barriers to healthcare for underrepresented communities.
Community Engagement and Activism
The Community Engagement and Activism Committee, chaired by Dr. Beth Hochman, works to increase the number of underrepresented minority students by mentoring and inspiring young people to pursue medicine. The committee seeks to work with medical students and faculty who wish to pursue community-engagement research to help address the real-world challenges of our patient population. The committee has launched the NYU chapter of the Health Career Collaborative (HCC) in partnership with the High School for Health Professions and Human Services. HCC is a non-profit domestic outreach program sponsored by the American College of Surgeons which aims to provide mentorship and engender interest in health among high school students from low-income under-represented minority communities. The program invites medical students, residents, and faculty to consider participating in any of our twice monthly interactive learning sessions. We are incredibly proud to be the first active chapter in New York City.
