Policy Center Notes November/December 2012
Scholar Spotlight
CENTER ANNOUNCES 2013 NATIONAL SCHOLAR’S SERIES
For the third straight year, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Center for Health
Policy at Meharry Medical College will host the 2013 National Scholars’ Current Issues
in Health Policy Seminar Series throughout the spring semester. As the signature course
for Health Policy Fellows and Scholars, the seminar series familiarizes students with
current and substantive key issues in health policy, health services research, and
health disparities research with an emphasis in the social science disciplines of
economics, sociology, and political science.
Audience members can expect to hear from the nation’s most prominent health policy
and social science experts, lecturing on provocative health and health policy issues
such as federal health care reform and child health policy.
National Scholars scheduled to lecture are: James Blumstein, MA, LLB, Vanderbilt University Professor of Law (January 9); Kavita Patel, MD, MS, Managing Director of the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform, Brookings Institution
(January 23); Gail C. Christopher, DN, Vice President of Program Strategy, W.K. Kellogg Foundation (February 6); Lisa Simpson, MB, BCh, MPH, FAAP, Chief Executive Officer of AcademyHealth (February 20); Anne C. Beal, MD, MPH, Chief Operation Officer of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (March
6); Julianne Malveaux, PhD, renowned economist, author, and columnist (March 20); Gordon H. DeFriese, PhD, Professor of Social Medicine and Epidemiology Emeritus at the University of North
Carolina, Chapel Hill (April 3); and Paula D. McClain, PhD, Dean and Vice Provost of Graduate Education at Duke University (April 17). This
year’s lineup is sure to be a crowd pleaser, as these National Scholars bring a broad
range of ideas from the academic, research, and health policy arenas.
Past National Scholars have included Former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist,
MD; David Williams, PhD, of Harvard University School of Public Health; and Dora Hughes,
MD, MPH, of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The lectures are held in the S.S. Kresge Learning Resource Center on Meharry’s campus
from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. with complimentary lunch preceding the lecture. These
lectures are free and open to the entire Meharry community and the general public.
For a detailed list of 2013 National Scholars, visit: http://bit.ly/WCktw2.
DIRECTOR’S DESK
from Daniel L. Howard Ph.D., Executive Director,
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Center for Health Policy at Meharry Medical College
The Center recently welcomed our National Advisory Board (NAB) for their second meeting
at Vanderbilt University. We shared news of the outstanding work our affiliated faculty,
students, and staff have accomplished during the Center’s third year. Highlights include
several new course selections for Health Policy Scholars and Fellows as well as our
first successful Summer Institute on Health Policy.
The NAB boasts some of the nation’s most prominent leaders in health policy and research,
offering unparalleled guidance and expertise. The Board provides advice and counsel
in the development and implementation of the Center’s strategic plan; assists in identifying
opportunities for furthering the development of the Center; and promotes the Center’s
affiliated Health Policy Fellows and Scholars. I invite you to visit our website to
learn more about NAB’s 12 esteemed national leaders: James F. Blumstein, MA, LLB, Timothy Carey, MD, MPH, Sheldon H. Danziger, PhD, Lisa
Dubay, PhD, ScM, the Honorable William H. Frist, MD, Darrell J. Gaskin, PhD, James
Jackson, PhD, Thomas A. LaVeist, PhD, Paula D. McClain, PhD, Melvin L. Oliver, PhD,
Frank Sloan, PhD, and Brian D. Smedley, PhD.
We’re thrilled to announce that NAB members James Blumstein and Paula McClain will
speak during the 2013 National Scholars’ Lecture Series. Blumstein and McClain will
be joined by noted policy experts Kavita Patel, MD, MS, Gail C. Christopher, DN, Lisa Simpson, MB, BCh, MPH, FAAP, Anne
C. Beal, MD, MPH, Julianne Malveaux, PhD and Gordon H. DeFriese, PhD. Last year’s lectures were engaging and insightful, and the 2013 lectures promise
to meet the same high standards.
In the meantime, visit the Foundation’s Human Capital Blog to read about my experience
at the 140th American Public Health Association (APHA) annual meeting. I had the honor
of being chosen to conduct a presentation on mental health in African American faith-based
communities. Historically, research has shown that African Americans are less likely
to seek mental health treatment than their Caucasian counterparts. Including this
as a topic of significance in APHA’s annual meeting is a great step in the right direction.
NOTEWORTHY
The Center for Health Policy’s Fellows, Scholars, and Associates are a dynamic group
of students and faculty from Meharry and Vanderbilt who explore health policy as it
relates to their research interests.
Italo Brown, MPH, 2012-13 recipient of the Gabriel F. and Harriett B. Lefebvre Endowed Memorial Scholarship,
is a second-year student in Meharry’s School of Medicine, and previously completed
a Meharry post-baccalaureate program. A Sacramento, California native and Morehouse
College graduate (B.S. in biology), he received a Master of Public Health with dual
concentrations in epidemiology and social and behavioral sciences from the Boston
University School of Public Health where he worked with the Massachusetts Comprehensive
Cancer Control Coalition (MCCCC) to launch the first-ever Massachusetts Cancer Survivorship
Summit. 
Maria C. Mejia de Grubb, MD, MPH, a Medellin, Colombia native and second-year preventive medicine resident at Meharry,
received a $4,000 nine-month mini-grant from the CDC-sponsored American Psychological
Association Socioeconomic Status Related Cancer Disparities Program (SESRCD). Her
project, “Training Resident Physicians to Address Cancer-Related Health Disparities,”
develops an educational module targeting primary care and preventive medicine physicians,
introducing evidence-based practical strategies in minority-population cancer care
and providing basic knowledge in addressing cancer-related health disparities. 
Nadia Winston was awarded the Albert W. Dent Graduate Student Scholarship ($5,000) from the Foundation
of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE). The annual scholarship is
for minorities enrolled in their final year of a healthcare management graduate program.
Ms. Winston, a second-year student in Meharry’s Master of Science in Public Health
program, earned a B.S. in biochemistry and molecular biology from Rhodes College.
She hopes to become a nurse practitioner.
EVENTS & OPPORTUNITIES
HEALTH POLICY FELLOWS: CALL FOR APPLICATION
The Health Policy Fellows Program is a prestigious doctoral fellowship program for
students with educational and research interests that include health and health policy
analysis and research. The RWJF Health Policy Fellows Program seeks to increase the
participation of underrepresented groups throughout the nation in the development,
implementation, and analysis of health policy.
Eligibility
Vanderbilt University, in collaboration with Meharry Medical College, accepts qualified
applicants to one of their PhD programs in economics, political science, and sociology.
Accepted PhD candidates will earn a doctorate degree from Vanderbilt University while
participating in additional coursework, seminars and research activities at Meharry
Medical College.
Accepted PhD candidates will receive a generous five-year funding package which includes:
paid tuition; department-based stipend of $17,500 per academic year; supplemental
participation stipend of $10,000 per academic year; summer funding of $4,500 per summer
period; and health insurance.
Application Deadline
- The application deadline for fall semester 2013 admission is January 15, 2013.
- All application materials should be submitted online at: http://www.vanderbilt.edu/gradschool/applications_and_information/index.php.
- Please mention in the application “statement of interest” that you wish to be considered for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Fellows Program at Meharry Medical College.
Please visit www.mmc.edu and www.vanderbilt.edu to learn more about these institutions.
SPRING 2013 HEALTH POLICY COURSES
Social Dynamics of Mental Health—Instructor: C. André Christie-Mizell, Ph.D., associate professor of sociology at
Vanderbilt University
Society and Medicine—Instructor: Tyson Brown, Ph.D., assistant professor of sociology at Vanderbilt University.