Thomas A. LaVeist, Ph.D.

Thomas A. LaVeist, Ph.D.
William C. and Nancy F. Richardson
Professor in Health Policy
Department of Health Policy and Management
Director, Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Solutions
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health


Thomas LaVeist is the William C. and Nancy F. Richardson Professor in Health Policy and Director of the Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Solutions at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He has studied the major health care gaps in America, the trends causing them and the problems they create. His work is enabling health care organizations and individuals to prepare for a new America – a minority majority.

As a professor, author and public speaker, Dr. Thomas LaVeist has been featured in Newsweek, Newsday, Black Enterprise and the Baltimore Sun, as well as on CNN, National Public Radio and other national media outlets. He has written numerous articles published in scientific public health and medical journals. His latest book, Minority Populations and Health: An Introduction to Health Disparities in the United States, was released in 2005. His edited volume, Race, Ethnicity and Health: A Public Health Reader, was published Fall 2002.

During his residency at the RWJF Center for Health Policy at Meharry Medical College, Dr. LaVeist initiated his Health Disparities and Health Policy Workshops. These workshops provided faculty and students with the theoretical and practical background to understand the complex web of social, economic, and political determinants of health with special reference to health disparities in the United States. In Fall 2011 Dr. LaVeist taught a course entitled “Health Disparities & Health Policy.” He continues to mentor and consult with students and faculty on various projects.