Crystal Rubalcava graduated from the University of California, Berkeley (Cal), where she double majored in Molecular Cell Biology and Integrative Biology and minored in Global Poverty and Practice. She works as a Clinical Research Coordinator for the All of Us Research Program with the University of Southern California (USC). Her responsibilities mostly include data management, digital participant outreach, and community and clinic engagement. Her goal is to continue serving and improving the wellness of underserved populations in the greater Los Angeles area.

Rubin Baskir, Ph.D., is a member of the All of Us Research Program engagement team. He is passionate about improving human health and excited to be working with a team that helps maintain the essential relationship between the program, participants, and community partners. Prior to his current position, Baskir began working in the All of Us Research Program as part of an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) science and technology policy fellowship. Baskir has also worked on health policy issues at Concert Genetics, a health care technology company dedicated to simplifying genetic test selection. His interest in health policy began during his graduate work at Vanderbilt University, where, in addition to researching mechanisms of disease and signal transduction, he had the opportunity to take part in Vanderbilt’s Augmenting Scholar Preparation and Integration with Research-Related Endeavors internship with the biotechnology trade organization Life Science Tennessee. While researching and crafting policy documents during this internship, Baskir gained an appreciation for the effects of policy on human health. Baskir received his doctorate in clinical and cellular biology from Vanderbilt University and his Bachelor’s degree in biology from Washington University in St. Louis.

Dr. Courtney Wallin joined the NIH All of Us Research Program’s Division of Engagement as Outreach Lead in July 2020. In this role, she leads efforts to raise awareness about the value of the All of Us dataset and engage diverse researcher communities. Prior to joining the program, Dr. Wallin held a position at the National Institute on Aging, where she worked with a variety of stakeholders, such as Congress, health and research advocates, non-governmental organizations, and federal partners, with interest in aging-related research and public health policy issues, including Alzheimer’s disease. Dr. Wallin came to the NIH as a Presidential Management Fellow in 2016 after obtaining her Ph.D. in Cognitive Neuroscience from The George Washington University. She also holds degrees in Biology and Psychology from Providence College.

Kendall Bahl is an MPH Candidate at the University of Chicago and a graduate of Loyola University Chicago with a B.S. in Exercise Science and a Minor in Chinese Language and Culture. She has been working with the All of Us Research Program in the Illinois Precision Medicine Consortium since May 2019. Currently, she works as a Research Study Coordinator at the University of Chicago’s Institute of Population and Precision Health. Her research experience also includes Janssen Pharmaceutical’s Ensemble 1 and 2 COVID Vaccine Trials and Freenome’s PREEMPT CRC Study.

Yessenia Hernandez-Cruz, Clinical Research Coordinator, The All of Us Research Program at Keck School of Medicine of USC. She is an alumna from the University of California, Berkeley! She majored in Molecular and Cell Biology and minored in French Language and Literature. As a recent graduate, she is honored to be part of such a dedicated team in their efforts to provide research opportunities to underrepresented minority students. She attributes her success at Berkeley to mentors and programs that provided me with the tools to feel empowered. These mentors and programs provided guidance using a strength-based model, a model which is also being followed by the Southern Consortium in this effort. Ms. Hernandez-Cruz is happy to see that programs, such as The All of Us Underrepresented Minority Research Program, care about students like her! She is contributing to the project as an advisor and inspired by the passion that all committee members show at our weekly meetings. She hopes to bring the knowledge, wisdom, and innovation that is occurring at the Southern Consortium to the California Consortium and expand the reach of this program to underrepresented minority students nationally. She thanks the Southern Consortium for leading by example and allowing her to be part of such an inspiring program!

I am an alumna from the University of California, Berkeley! I majored in Molecular and Cell Biology and minored in French Language and Literature. As a recent graduate, I am honored to be part of such a dedicated team in their efforts to provide research opportunities to underrepresented minority students. I attribute my success at Berkeley to mentors and programs that provided me with the tools to feel empowered. These mentors and programs provided guidance using a strength-based model, a model which is also being followed by the Southern Consortium in this effort. I am happy to see that programs, such as The All of Us Underrepresented Minority Research Program, care about students like me! I am contributing to the project as an advisor and am inspired by the passion that all committee members show at our weekly meetings. I hope to bring the knowledge, wisdom, and innovation that is occurring at the Southern Consortium to the California Consortium and expand the reach of this program to underrepresented minority students nationally. Thank you to the Southern Consortium for leading by example and allowing me to be part of such an inspiring program!

Ross Baiers (he/him) is a health communicator, project manager, facilitator, and systematic thinker. He currently serves as Research Study Coordinator for the All of Us Research Program at Northwestern University. Ross’s work at All of Us focuses on building equitable partnerships with community organizations and health providers in the Chicago area, with specific focus on improving diversity, equity, and inclusion in health research through community engagement. He also provides project management for internal and external projects in the areas of study recruitment, communications, engagement, and staff development. Ross brings to his position a diverse set of research experiences that formed his passion for equity. He has worked in various research positions across the globe, most notably in Brazil, Peru, and Thailand; this work has spanned topics such as HIV prevention, rural indigenous health, and equitable built environments. In his current work, Ross also utilizes experience in data management, staff development & training, and social justice facilitation. Ross received a Master of Public Health (MPH) in Health Behavior & Health Education from the University of Michigan School of Public Health, where he specialized in Health Communications and Global Health; he also received a B.A. in Environmental Science from the University of Michigan.

Stacy L. Jones, Ed. D. is currently the Interim Dean of Students at The University of Alabama. Dr. Jones has been a devoted Student Affairs practitioner at the University of Alabama for more than 27 years. At UA she serves as the Interim Dean of Students and an Adjunct Faculty member who has taught classes on Freshman Experience, Leadership & Social Justice, as well as the History of Black Greek Organizations at UA. With the March of Dimes she serves as the 2021 Chair of the Tuscaloosa March for Babies Virtual Event. Additionally, she serves the community both locally and nationally as a motivational speaker, an educational consultant, the former national secretary for the National Society of Collegiate Scholars (NSCS) Board of Directors, the current National Vice President of NPHC, NPHC Coordinator for National Institute of Health's All of Us Initiative, and is an active compassionate community servant. She has received numerous honors and awards for hard work and dedication. Last but certainly not least, Dr. Jones is a dedicated member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. for more than 33 years. As a member she serves the sorority on local, state, and regional levels.

Senior Associate Dean for Diversity and Inclusion
Professor and Director, Division of Preventive Medicine
Edward E. Partridge, M.D., Endowed Chair for Cancer Disparity Research
University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine

Mona Fouad, MD, MPH is Professor of Medicine, Director of the Division of Preventive Medicine, Edward E. Partridge, M.D., Endowed Chair for Cancer Disparity Research, and Senior Associate Dean for Diversity and Inclusion in the School of Medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Dr. Fouad is recognized nationally as a leader in health disparities research and served as a member of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Advisory Council on Minority Health and Health Disparities from 2008-2012. In 2017, Dr. Fouad was elected a member of the National Academy of Medicine. She was selected as the UAB 2018 Distinguished Faculty Lecturer for advancing the frontiers of science and outstanding contributions to education, research and public service. Dr. Fouad obtained her MD from Alexandria University School of Medicine in Alexandria, Egypt, and her MPH from the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health. Dr. Fouad’s career at UAB began in 1991 and has focused on the health of minority and underserved populations, including efforts to increase involvement of special and underrepresented populations in research.

She has played a prominent leadership role, both regionally and nationally, in promoting diversity in medical education. Dr. Mona Fouad has led in the efforts to promote minority students, researchers, and leaders through joint programs with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and other minority-serving academic institutions. She serves as PI of the NIDDK-funded UAB STEP-UP: Promoting Diversity through Mentored Research Experiences, whose goal is to enhance the diversity of the nation’s research workforce by providing mentored research training to promising undergraduate students from diverse backgrounds underrepresented in biomedical, clinical and behavioral research.

Dr. Lilanta Joy Bradley is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Community Medicine and Population Health at the University of Alabama (UA) where she also serves as the Practicum Director for the master’s program. This Atlanta, GA native completed her doctorate in Health Promotion and Behavior from the University of Georgia in 2017; Masters in Marriage and Family Therapy from the University of Louisiana at Monroe; and a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Albany State University. She represents UA’s All of Us Research Program team as the Community Engagement Lead to educate and promote awareness on the importance of participating in biomedical research, especially in historically underrepresented populations. Dr.Bradley also serves on Alabama’s Regional II Infant Mortality Review Board. She currently co-leads a maternal health study for Black women at the University Medical Center and she is developing a pilot study investigating older Black women’s sexual agency and HIV risk. Dr. Bradley has a Health Disparities Research Education Certificate from UAB as a 2019-2020 RCMAR Scientist. The overarching goal of her career is investigating and improving sexual and reproductive health for communities of color. She is also a proud member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated where she heads the Stork’s Nest Program in Tuscaloosa, a prenatal education program in partnership with the March of Dimes.

Yolanda Christophe is a second year PhD scholar and research assistant in the Earl G. Graves School of Business at Morgan State University. She holds a Bachelor’s in Finance and Master of Business Administration from Florida Memorial University. Currently, her doctoral research focuses on emotional intelligence, mental workload and performance in the workplace. Yolanda has previously presented research at the 57th Eastern Academy of Management Annual Meeting. As a research scholar, Yolanda is a member of the Academy of Management (AOM), Eastern Academy and Southern Management Association Doctoral Consortia.

Hailey Spillers is a Quality Control Chemist from Terry, MS who is currently studying to receive a Master of Science in Biology from Alcorn State University. She received her Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry with a minor in African American Studies from Mississippi State University in May of 2020. She is an initiate of the Nu Beta Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Her career goals include earning a Master of Public Health degree and working to reduce health disparities in rural communities.

Ambar Marrero Sierra is an undergraduate student aspiring to complete the Natural Sciences program at the University of Puerto Rico in Cayey with a concentration in Biology in the third year. The opportunities she has had to participate in research has given me the knowledge to understand, analyze, and learn within the field of research, and also has helped me develop leadership and empathy. Her greatest desire is to complete a career as a DMD, PhD and then help the population where she comes from for a better health system and work with diversity and inclusion for a better world.

Sheld'onia Evans is from Miami, FL. She is currently attending Howard University College of Dentistry. She has served 14 years in the United States Army. She is a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated! Upon completing dental school, your smile will become her expertise!

Atiya Shahid is currently in a Master's in Public Health and PhD in Epidemiology and Risk Analysis dual degree program at Tuskegee University. Her research topic interests are examining the effects of Black women in the Blackbelt region and their relationships with HIV, HPV, and Cervical Cancer.

Emmanuella Sawyerr is from Lagos State, Nigeria. She is a freshman majoring in Biology and Psychology at the University of Alabama on the pre-med track for MSTP. She loves reading, listening to music and TED talks. Most importantly she is a Christian and she loves Jesus.

Monir Hossain is an instructor at the Department of Sociology and Social Work, The People’s University of Bangladesh. He completed an MA in Sociology from Texas Tech University. He is a Ph.D. student in Medical Sociology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham where he is also a Blazer Graduate Research Fellow. His research focuses on social and environmental determinants of health, health disparity, mental health, stressors and stress process, and life course.

Courtney Thomas is pursuing a B.S. in Biology and plans to pursue a career in the medical field to either become a Research Oncologists or Pediatric Oncologist. Her main goal is to possibly create a product that strengthens the immune systems of cancer patients, so the body will be able to fight off bad cells.

Domonique Lemieux is a candidate for the Doctor of Philosophy in Counselor Education and Supervision degree, with a prospective graduation date of May 2021. For the past several years she has fulfilled her passion for providing empathic mental health services, individual and group therapy, direct crisis intervention and de-escalation services, as well as serving the chronically and persistently mentally ill in multiple settings. She is grateful for this opportunity to learn more, to serve more.

Emily Ryu is an undergraduate student at the University of Alabama studying Psychology and Anthropology. In the future, they hope to be an OBGYN, working to combat systemic racism and its effects on patients of color within the healthcare system. They also hope to work in research and healthcare for the LGBTQ+ community, particularly transgender and gender-nonconforming people.

Brianna Patterson is currently a Ph.D. student in Medical Sociology at UAB, along with graduate certificates in Global Health, and Leadership & Professional Development. She served in the Marine Corps and 23 years in the Fire Department and is currently the Program Director of UAB’s new Gender Health Clinic. She hopes to use her education and experiences to work with marginalized gender-nonconforming communities to reduce health disparities, improve access to care, and advocate for equal rights. Her research interests are health disparities based on gender identity/expression, minority stress model effects on sexual minorities, and attitude and stigma related to the transgender and non-binary community.

Jennifer M. Jones is the Executive Director of Student Development at Southern Methodist University where she has been employed for the over 30 years, 16 of those years in various positions within Residence Life and Student Housing. She also served as the SMU NPHC advisor for eight years. She is presently the Immediate Past-President of the National Pan-Hellenic Council and has also served as the past National First Vice President of the National Pan-Hellenic Council and Regional Secretary for the Southwestern Region of NPHC.

In various capacities, Ms. Jones has given workshops and spoken on college campuses across the country from diversity and inclusion workshops to being the keynote speaker at national conventions and conferences. She has been a consultant for a number of universities and participates as an assessor with the Fraternity & Sorority Coalition Project. She has served as a Cluster Facilitator and Lead Facilitator for the LEADERSHAPE Institute for over 15 years and now serves on the LeaderShape Board of Directors. She was Chair of the Communications Committee of the NASPA Knowledge Community and served as the Co-Chair for the NASPA Fraternity and Sorority Knowledge community. She was one of the first to serve as a Board of Trustee on the Circle of Sisterhood Foundation whose mission is to leverage the collective influence of sorority women to raise financial resources for entities around the world that are removing educational barriers for girls and women facing poverty and oppression. She has served as an Interfraternal Institute (IFI) Fellow three times and has also been a workshop facilitator for the institute. She is a member of several professional organizations. She is a member of the Association of Fraternity and Sorority Advisors, and served on a number of committees, Regional Director, and the VP of Membership for the Association. She is the Program Lead for the Black Greek Letter Consortium in partnership with the All of UsResearch Program.

Ms. Jennifer M. Jones received her BA in Sociology and a Master of Liberal Arts from Southern Methodist University. She is an author, a wife, a mother, and a grandmother.

Dr. Bertha Hidalgo an Associate Professor with tenure in the Department of Epidemiology. She holds degrees from Stanford University, the University of Southern California and the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Her research focuses health disparities related to cardiometabolic diseases, with a special focus on Latino populations and genomics. She is in her sixth year on the faculty at UAB and has attained research funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, NIH, the American Heart Association, and internal funding from UAB. Dr. Hidalgo is the past chair of the Minority Affairs committee and currently on the Board of Directors for the American College of Epidemiology, as well as a member on the NHLBI Board of External Experts. Dr. Hidalgo is also recipient of the 2019 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Early Career Achievement Award. Most recently, Dr. Hidalgo was awarded funding for the American Heart Association Institute for Cardiovascular Precision Medicine grant opportunity to increase prevention of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease in millennial women within underrepresented ethnic and racial groups.

Stephen Olufemi Sodeke, professor of allied health and bioethics, is resident bioethicist at Tuskegee University Center for Biomedical Research. He served as associate director and interim director of the Tuskegee University National Center for Bioethics in Research and Health Care at various times during the last fifteen years. Sodeke responds to ethics consultation and to speaking engagements that promote the goals and purposes of bioethics in medical, biomedical, and behavioral research locally, nationally, and internationally. His education includes doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction in Allied Health Education, Supervision, and Administration, University of Florida; master’s degree in Clinical Laboratory Science Education and Guidance, Texas Christian University; and Master of Arts degree in Bioethics and Health Policy, Loyola University of Chicago. Certifications are in Bioethics, Kennedy Institute of Ethics, Georgetown University, and in Health Care Ethics at the University of Washington in Seattle. Research interest includes using experiential learning, literature, and art as narrative imaginations into ethical questions to teach bioethics; community bioethics; genomics ethics; neuro-ethics; health and human rights; ethical issues raised by health disparities research with vulnerable populations in the United States and the developing world. Sodeke has served as Special Government Expert, DHHS Secretary Advisory Committee for Human Research Protections; chairs the Tuskegee University Institutional Review Board; serves as bioethicist for the Alabama Genomic Health Initiative, and for the Southern All of Us Research Program. Appointed by Governor Kay Ivey, he serves on the Alabama Rare Diseases Advisory Council. He is Resource Expert for NGO Bioethics Beyond Borders.

Jennifer M. Jones is the Executive Director of Student Development at Southern Methodist University where she has been employed for the over 30 years, 16 of those years in various positions within Residence Life and Student Housing. She also served as the SMU NPHC advisor for eight years. She is presently the Immediate Past-President of the National Pan-Hellenic Council and has also served as the past National First Vice President of the National Pan-Hellenic Council and Regional Secretary for the Southwestern Region of NPHC.

In various capacities, Ms. Jones has given workshops and spoken on college campuses across the country from diversity and inclusion workshops to being the keynote speaker at national conventions and conferences. She has been a consultant for a number of universities and participates as an assessor with the Fraternity & Sorority Coalition Project. She has served as a Cluster Facilitator and Lead Facilitator for the LEADERSHAPE Institute for over 15 years and now serves on the LeaderShape Board of Directors. She was Chair of the Communications Committee of the NASPA Knowledge Community and served as the Co-Chair for the NASPA Fraternity and Sorority Knowledge community. She was one of the first to serve as a Board of Trustee on the Circle of Sisterhood Foundation whose mission is to leverage the collective influence of sorority women to raise financial resources for entities around the world that are removing educational barriers for girls and women facing poverty and oppression. She has served as an Interfraternal Institute (IFI) Fellow three times and has also been a workshop facilitator for the institute. She is a member of several professional organizations. She is a member of the Association of Fraternity and Sorority Advisors, and served on a number of committees, Regional Director, and the VP of Membership for the Association. She is the Program Lead for the Black Greek Letter Consortium in partnership with the All of Us Research Program.

Ms. Jennifer M. Jones received her BA in Sociology and a Master of Liberal Arts from Southern Methodist University. She is an author, a wife, a mother, and a grandmother.

Leslie De Jesus is an undergraduate political science major from the University of the District of Columbia. She’s a service oriented human being who enjoys ethnographic studies as well as any scholarly and historical information pertaining to Caribbean. She was born and raised in The Bronx and speaks English, Spanish fluently. Leslie is an affluent tea sipper and loves home cooked meals.

Carrie Crook is a fourth year MD-MPH student at Tulane University School of Medicine from Mobile, AL, She received her BA in Health and Societies from the University of Pennsylvania, where she was a 4-year varsity athlete on the women’s soccer team. Carrie is passionate about pursuing epidemiological research to alleviate health disparities and influence equitable health policy. Upon her medical school graduation, Carrie is excited to purse a career in Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Shekwonya Evelyn Samuel is a first year PhD student at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where she is pursuing a degree in Health Education and Promotions (HEP). She has a background in microbiology and holds a Master of Public Health degree. Ms. Samuel’s main research interest is in STIs and Infectious diseases. She is also concerned about health disparities among underserved populations. She is currently a Graduate Research Assistant with the UAB Center for the Study of Community Health.

Rebecca Akua Kumi-Ansu is pursuing a Bachelor's degree in Nursing at the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing of Emory University. Prior to this, she earned a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology with relevant course work in Public Health from the University of Georgia in May of 2018. With a strong desire to restore health and healing to others, she then set her eyes on the field of healthcare with nursing as her profession of choice.

Prior experience as a home health aide and later a patient care technician has strengthened Rebecca's belief that health and wellness is a communal act, and the health of nations depends on the collective health of each individual. She also agrees in the power of preventive medicine and in the use of education and technology as tools to improve health literacy for individuals.

Rebecca has made a choice to channel her altruistic nature into caring for others by choosing a career in nursing and is currently taking all necessary steps to ensure that she has a fruitful career. In addition to her current coursework and responsibilities at school, she regularly takes part in procedural labs organized by the Georgia Trauma Commission, as well as other organizations in her community and in the state of Georgia in order for her to gain more exposure to the various facets that make up the field of clinical care. She also believes in a life of service and is a part of Citizens of Georgia Power, a service oriented organization created by Georgia Power Company. Very recently, she volunteered at the Clayton County Board of Health's COVID-19 hotline call center, a temporary department under the Emergency Response and Preparedness Center. Here, she provided life saving information to healthcare workers and emergency responders who feared they might have been exposed to the virus.

Rebecca intends to be an asset to her family, nation of origin (Ghana, West Africa) and nation of stay (variable). As a self-proclaimed global citizen, she intends to travel the world while caring, educating others on health and wellness, broadening her knowledge of different cultures and societies, as well as sharing her knowledge with future healthcare professionals.

Rebecca's primary goal in life can be summed up in three words: scholarship, service and legacy.

Dakota Turnage is from Washington, DC. She is currently a freshman majoring in Biochemistry with a minor in Biology at Xavier University of Louisiana. Dakota plans to attend medical school while also obtaining her MPH through an MD/MPH program. Dakota wants to have the power to help others on a larger scale both inside and outside of the operating room, working towards health equity for all.

Drug use and addiction represent major public health challenges in our nation. In 2014 alone, more than 47,000 Americans died as a result of an unintentional drug overdose*, and the past few years have seen rapid increases in babies born with neonatal abstinence syndrome, an unprecedented outbreak of HIV, an increasing prevalence of hepatitis C, and new synthetic drugs flooding the market. The combined consequences of drug use and addiction take an enormous toll, creating individual suffering, lost productivity, and stress and heartache for family and friends. The last few years have seen tremendous advances in technologies with applications in research, including gene sequencing and manipulation, increasingly sensitive imaging technologies, mobile health tools, and electronic health records. A shift in culture is promoting open access and data sharing to allow diverse data sets to be broadly accessible to researchers. Advances in information technologies and analytics capabilities are producing unprecedented capacity to integrate and analyze these data and enabling novel research into the complexity of a disorder that is driven by the dynamic interactions of diverse biological, social, environmental, and behavioral mediators. *NIDA

Chronic diseases are defined broadly as conditions that last 1 year or more and require ongoing medical attention or limit activities of daily living or both. Six in ten Americans live with at least one chronic disease, like heart disease and stroke, cancer, or diabetes. These and other chronic diseases are the leading causes of death and disability in America, and they are also a leading driver of health care costs. *CDC

Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make healthy choices.1 Mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood.

Although the terms are often used interchangeably, poor mental health and mental illness are not the same things. A person can experience poor mental health and not be diagnosed with a mental illness. Likewise, a person diagnosed with a mental illness can experience periods of physical, mental, and social well-being. *CDC

The key to achieving and maintaining a healthy weight isn’t about short-term dietary changes. It’s about a lifestyle that includes healthy eating, regular physical activity, and balancing the calories you consume with the calories your body uses. Managing your weight contributes to good health now and as you age.

Safe ways to help manage your weight include getting optimal sleep, reducing stress, and maintaining healthy eating habits and regular physical activity. This includes eating more fruits and vegetables and walking more in your daily routine.

According to the World Health Organization, disability has three dimensions:Impairment in a person’s body structure or function, or mental functioning; examples of impairments include loss of a limb, loss of vision or memory loss.Activity limitation, such as difficulty seeing, hearing, walking, or problem solving.Participation restrictions in normal daily activities, such as working, engaging in social and recreational activities, and obtaining health care and preventive services.Disability can be related to conditions that are present at birth and may affect functions later in life, including cognition (memory, learning, and understanding), mobility (moving around in the environment), vision, hearing, behavior, and other areas. *CDC

A growing body of research shows that centuries of racism in this country has had a profound and negative impact on communities of color. The impact is pervasive and deeply embedded in our society—affecting where one lives, learns, works, worships and plays and creating inequities in access to a range of social and economic benefits—such as housing, education, wealth, and employment. These conditions—often referred to as social determinants of health—are key drivers of health inequities within communities of color, placing those within these populations at greater risk for poor health outcomes. *CDC

Dr. Johni Le’Ray Cruse Craig builds partnerships and community with educators, community stakeholders and other agencies to assist in the design and implementation of innovative professional learning experiences and educational symposiums; inclusive of teacher training, leadership, and advocacy through a diversity, equity & inclusion lens. More specifically, Dr. Cruse Craig is the Engagement Counselor for the Black Greek Letter Consortium (BGLC), working with the National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) Divine Nine organizations to ensure quality education and awareness activities about the All of Us Research Program. Dr. Craig is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

Larissa Gilmer has a heart for people and creates meaningful, long lasting relationships. She meets no strangers and loves being a safe haven and listening ear to all. Being a former high school teacher (for eight years) has contributed to her love to reach people and make an impact.Larissa had the opportunity to be a volunteer for the All of Us Journey tour and fell in love with the idea of improving medical research tailored to each unique individual. Joining the All of Us team has created another avenue to educate, impact, and form relationships with various people from many backgrounds.On her down time, you will find her spending time and making memories with her loved ones. . Larissa is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

Regina Locust has served as Program Manager for the DREF Research Matters for All of Us initiative since 2017. She holds an undergraduate degree in Speech and Theatre (speech concentration) with a minor in Social Work from Fayetteville State University and a Master’s Degree in Nonprofit and Association Management from the University of Maryland University College. Possessing an employment background in higher education and nonprofit organizations, she is a motivated, proven performer in the areas of program and event planning, management and organizational development.

For six years she worked in the Executive Office at the National Headquarters of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. serving in the capacities of Centennial Celebration Assistant (2011-2013) and Special Assistant to the National President (2013-2017). In both roles, Regina was responsible for providing support and assistance with ongoing institutional programs, conducting background research on proposed projects and initiatives, coordinating logistics for Presidential and special events while ensuring that projects are on track, changes in priorities are framed, and goals are achieved. From development to execution and evaluation of initiatives, programs, projects, events and companion communication strategies for the members and partners of the organization, Regina served an integral role.

Prior to her time at Delta, Regina worked at her alma mater, Fayetteville State University for seven years. Her positions as Special Events Coordinator and Program Director intensified her passion to mentor and motivate others while ensuring satisfaction and success of programs and events.

Regina is a team player possessing the ability to delegate as well as participate in order to accomplish the desired goal. Regina is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

Shanterra McBride is an author, coach, educator and speaker. She is founder of MARVELOUS UNIVERSITY, a social enterprise that offers life coaching and success planning for young people, specializing in leadership development for girls and young women. Shanterra serves as the Program Assistant for the Black Greek Letter Consortium (BGLC) and is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.

Shanterra was awarded the Profiles in Leadership Award from Southern Methodist University (SMU), for having made a significant impact on the city of Dallas and on the quality of life for girls and women all over the country.

In addition to the US, Shanterra’s voice has reached others globally. She has traveled to Morocco and Peru, where she delivered workshops to girls on the permission of valuing themselves and expecting the same from others. She has also spoken in four cities in South Africa on girls’ empowerment issues including creating safe spaces, combating gender-based violence, and anti-bullying.

Clarke Tulloch currently serves as the Project Manager for the Minority Students Research Symposium. Ms. Tulloch is a graduate student at the University of Alabama at Birmingham pursuing a Master of Science in Health Administration and Master of Science in Health Informatics. Ms. Tulloch grew up in Stone Mountain, Georgia and a proud Blazer and alumna of the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Ms. Tulloch aspires to become an executive health administrator within a healthcare organization.

Hank Yuan is an Engagement Manager at Montage Marketing Group. Highly accomplished is his youth, Hank’s personal and professional achievements extend into adulthood. He currently serves as a protégé with American Marketing Association Marketing Mentors Network. He has also followed on his collegiate swimming career, waking up for an early morning freestyle with the Lane 4 swim team.

Hank is adaptable, disciplined, and eager. While it might be hard to believe, he does enjoy a few guilty pleasures. When he’s not working or working out, you’ll likely find Hank savoring a slice of cheesecake or unwinding to country music.