Health Equity Day

This annual department-wide event, hosted by the Department of Medicine's Office of Community and Engagement council, aims to raise awareness and encourage action around the systemic health disparities that exist across racial, ethnic, cultural, and social groups. The event also recognizes interventions and research across the department centered on health equity.

This event brings together stakeholders from all departments, divisions, and ranks, providing a platform to share compelling new findings, facilitate scientific exchange, and identify opportunities for collaboration. The conference includes poster presentations, compelling narratives, a keynote address, and an innovation award. All members of the Emory Department of Medicine and SOM community are welcome to attend.

2026 Health Equity Day

Thank you to all who joined us for the sixth annual Department of Medicine Health Equity Day, which was held on May 19, 2026, from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Health Equity Day (HED) is an annual department-wide event aimed at raising awareness and encouraging action around the systemic health disparities that exist across different populations. The event also recognizes interventions and research across the department centered on health equity.

We were honored to host Nadia Hansel, MD, MPH, as the keynote speaker for this event. Dr. Hansel is the William Osler Professor of Medicine and Chair of the Department of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

This year's Health Equity Day was once again a hybrid format, with in-person components taking place at Grady Memorial Hospital's Trauma Auditorium and virtual components via Zoom.

2025 Health Equity Day

The Department of Medicine, in partnership with the Office of Health Equity at Grady, hosted the 5th annual Health Equity Day on May 20, 2025. The theme was Community Partnerships, with a keynote speech delivered by Yolanda Wimberly, MD, MSc, Senior Vice President and Chief Health Equity Officer at Grady Health System. In addition, we had Jada Bussey-Jones, MD, MACP, Associate Dean, Professional Development, Emory at Grady, Chief of Grady General Internal Medicine, as a Special Guest Speaker.

This was the first time Health Equity Day was held as a hybrid event, engaging communities both virtually via Zoom and in person at the Trauma Auditorium at Grady Hospital.

2025 Poster Presentation & Award Winners

RYSE Outstanding Scientific Citation Award
Authors: Mary Ann Hall, MPH; Jason Cobb, MD; Yelena Burklin, MD
Title: Undiagnosed HIV in Patients on Immunosuppressive Medications Presenting with HIV-Associated Kidney Disease

Clinical Quality Poster Category:
Authors: Brian Chung, Sarah Koumtouzoua MD, Ryanne Lehenaff MD, Anna Feliciano MD
Title: Advanced Cervical Cancer in a Non-Sexually Active 28 Year Old, Complicated by Financial Barriers

Community, Advocacy, and Policy Poster Category
Presenters: AnnaMaria Maples, Peggy Goedken, Valentina Larrivey, Vega Walke, Nisha Verma
Title: A Qualitative Exploration of the Impact of Abortion Restrictions on People with High-Risk Pregnancies in Georgia (GA): EAR on GA

Education Poster Category
Presenters: Japaridze, M., Peña, I., Vaughan, C., Liu, J., Campbell, P., Thompson, T., Sultan, F.
Title: Patient perceptions of a vaccine information brochure

Research Poster Category
Presenters: Laneisha Maldonado, MD, Tarrant McPherson, PhD, MA, Yuan Liu, PhD, MS, Theresa W. Gillespie, PhD, MA, FAAN
Title: Determining Barriers to Access First-Line Treatment in High Volume Facilities in Adolescents and Young Adults (AYA) with Acute Leukemias

2024 Health Equity Day

The theme of the 2024 Health Equity Day was Empowering Emerging Voices. The keynote was presented by three emerging leaders in their fields, Lashyra Nolen, a 2024 MD/MPP candidate at Harvard Medical School and Harvard Kennedy School, Jennifer Tsai, MD, MEd, an emergency medicine resident at Yale School of Medicine, and Darshali Vyas, MD, a pulmonary and critical care medicine fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital. To learn more about these speakers and the event, view their short bios below which were current as of the spring of 2024.

Lashyra Nolen
is a MD/MPP candidate ‘24, at Harvard Medical School and Harvard Kennedy School. She was on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list, served as Harvard's Student Council President ’23, and is the founder of We Got Us.

Jennifer Tsai, MD, MEd
is an emergency medicine resident at Yale School of Medicine and is internationally known as a health equity advocate. She was named 40 Under 40 Leaders in Minority Health by the National Minority Quality Forum.

Darshali Vyas, MD
is a pulmonary and critical care medicine fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital, where she is also currently completing a chief resident year in internal medicine. Her research has focused on challenging the inappropriate use of race in clinical prediction models.