More than 30 staff, students, and faculty have been named to the recently announced Racial Equity Task Force, a key component of VUMC’s plan to address racial inequities. The Task Force is charged with soliciting input from across the medical center and identifying key steps to eliminating racism at VUMC.
Co-chaired by Mamie Williams, MPH, MSN, Peety Kaur, and Michael R. DeBaun, MD, MPH, the Task Force includes representatives from nursing, food and nutrition, campus police, human resources, medicine, pediatrics and surgery. Medical students, graduate students and resident trainees are also on the Task Force.
The Task Force will focus on racial equity and antiracism across a range of areas including hiring and retention, recruiting and supporting learners, racial bias in health science education and research, and interpersonal discrimination. The Task Force will present recommendations to the Office of the CEO and Dean before the end of calendar year 2020. The resulting report will be shared with the medical center community.
Racial Equity Task Force Membership
Co-Chairs
| Michael R. DeBaun, MD, MPH ~ VUMC Sickle Cell Disease Center | ||
| Karampreet (“Peety”) Kaur ~ Medical Student | ||
| Mamie Williams, MPH, MSN, FNP-BC ~ Patient Safety |
Members
| Xavier Bledsoe ~ Medical Student | ||
| David Chestnut, MD ~ Anesthesiology | ||
| James E. Crowe, Jr., MD ~ Pediatric Infectious Disease | ||
| Courtney Deal ~ VUH Nutrition Management | ||
| Major Charles DeFrance ~ VU Police | ||
| Judy Emeodi, BSN, RN ~ Pediatric Emergency | ||
| Lourdes Estrada, PhD ~ Biochemistry | ||
| Vivian Gama, PhD ~ Department of Cell and Developmental Biology | ||
| Helen Gambrah ~ Medical Student | ||
| Etoi A. Garrison, MD, PhD ~ Clinical Obstetrics and Gynecology | ||
| Whitney L. Hall, MBA ~ Hospital and Clinical Administration | ||
| Saif Hamdan ~ Medical Student | ||
| Sara Hanai, MS ~ Patient Experience | ||
| Katherine E. Hartmann, MD, PhD ~ VP, Research Integration | ||
| Jay Hinesley, MHA ~ President Wilson County Vanderbilt Hospital | ||
| Celestial Jones-Paris, PhD ~ VICTR | ||
| Nelly-ange Kontchou, MD ~ General Surgery Housestaff | ||
| Novonda Lilly, PHR, RACR ~ Human Resources | ||
| James Lozada, DO ~ Anesthesiology | ||
| Megan McCall, MS ~ Human Resources | ||
| John A. McPherson, MD ~ Department of Medicine | ||
| Kelvin Moses, MD, PhD ~ Department of Urology | ||
| Jameson Norton, MBA ~ Psychiatric Hospital and Outpatient Clinics | ||
| Carlos Ortega ~ Medical Student | ||
| Joshua Palmer, MA ~ Strategic Market Engagement | ||
| Tonise Robinson, BSN, RN ~ Obstetrics | ||
| Gabriel Sandoval, MD ~ Department of Medicine | ||
| C. Henrique Serezani, PhD ~ Infectious Disease | ||
| Marsha Sesay, RN, MSN ~ Surgical Stepdown | ||
| Raeshell Sweeting, MD ~ Vice Chair for Diversity & Inclusion | ||
| Taylor Thomas, MD ~ Pediatrics Housestaff | ||
| Angela Thompson, MBA ~ Radiation Oncology | ||
| Derek J. Williams, MD, MPH ~ Inpatient Pediatrics |
Ex-Officio Members
| Donald W. Brady, MD, Executive Vice President, Educational Affairs and Senior Associate Dean for Health Science Education |
| André L. Churchwell, MD, Chief Diversity Officer (VUMC); Vice Chancellor of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (VU) |
| Rolanda Johnson, PhD, MSN, RN, Assistant Dean, Diversity and Inclusion (VUSN), Assistant Dean for Academics, Associate Professor |
| Linda Sealy, PhD, Associate Dean, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion – Basic Sciences |
| Kyla Terhune, MD, MBA, FACS, Associate Dean for Graduate Medical Education |
| Consuelo H. Wilkins, MD, MSCI, Vice President for Health Equity, and Associate Dean for Health Equity |
Workgroups
Workgroups are comprised of Task Force members and others nominated by Task Force co-chairs and workgroup leaders in order to diversify the groups to include learners, staff, and faculty. To view a full list of the Task Force workgroups and their members, click here.
