External Advisory Board
The External Advisory Board provides advice and direction on the activities of the UHAND partnership and keeps the leadership abreast of new and innovative research and educational practices in our field. Members were selected for their expertise and leadership in cancer risk disparities; they were selected with input from the Internal Advisory Committee.
Dr. Christine Sheffer
Christine Sheffer, PhD, is Associate Professor of Oncology in the Department of Health Behavior at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute. She is also Executive Director for the Council for Tobacco Treatment Training Programs. Her research focuses on the examination of bio-behavioral mechanisms involved with health behaviors, particularly tobacco dependence and other addictive behaviors.
Dr. Melicia Whitt-Glover
Dr. Melicia Whitt-Glover is President and CEO of Gramercy Research Group in Winston Salem, NC. She is also Executive Director for the Center of Excellence for the Elimination of Health Disparities (CEEHD) at Winston-Salem State University. For over 20 years, Dr. Whitt-Glover has been engaged in research and evaluation projects designed to identify effective strategies to promote adherence to national recommendations for physical activity, diet, and healthy weight gain to address disparities in chronic disease morbidity and mortality and is a member of the 2018 Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory Committee.
Dr. Kenneth Resnicow
Ken Resnicow, PhD, is a Professor in the Department of Health Behavior and Health Education at the University of Michigan. Expertise is in design and evaluation of health promotion interventions and motivational interviewing (MI), and in conceptualizing and designing culturally sensitive community-based interventions for health promotion, particularly in the areas of nutrition, physical activity, and smoking prevention. His research interests include the design and evaluation of health promotion programs for special populations, particularly cardiovascular and cancer prevention interventions for African-Americans; understanding the relationship between ethnicity and health behaviors; school-based health promotion programs; substance use prevention and harm reduction; and motivational interviewing for chronic disease prevention.
Dr. Amelie Ramirez
Amelie Ramirez, PhD, is Interim Chair of the Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics at UT Health Science Center at San Antonio. She has more than 25 years experience directing research programs focusing on human and organizational communication to reduce chronic disease and cancer health disparities affecting Hispanics/Latinos and other populations.
Dr. Kolawole Okuyemi
Kolawole Okuyemi, MD, MPH, was recently appointed as Professor and Chair for the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine at the University of Utah School Of Medicine in Salt Lake City, Utah. He also holds the George D. Gross, M.D. & Esther M. Gross M.D. Presidential Endowed Chair in Family & Preventive Medicine. Prior to coming to Utah, he was at the University of Minnesota Medical School Twin Cities for 11 years where he was Professor and the inaugural Endowed Chair for Health Equity Research in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health.
Dr. Monica Baskin
Monica L. Baskin, PhD, is a Professor of Preventive Medicine and the inaugural Vice Chair for Culture and Diversity in the Department of Medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Medicine. For nearly 20 years, her research has focused on community-based participatory methods to better understand and address individual, family, and environmental factors associated with healthy eating, physical activity, obesity, and cancer prevention and control. Dr. Baskin is part of the inaugural cohort of Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Culture of Health Leaders Program (CoHL) and serves in multiple leadership roles focused on advancing health equity.