Jessica Isom, MD, MPH, is a board-certified community psychiatrist and faculty leader in the Yale Department of Psychiatry’s Social Justice and Health Equity Curriculum. She primarily works in Boston as an attending psychiatrist at Codman Square Health Center where she is leading a grant effort to infuse antiracism in OUD services. She is a nationally recognized expert on racial equity and justice in psychiatry with a focus on workforce development and organizational transformation. Her professional interests include working toward eradicating racial and ethnic mental health disparities, mitigating the impact of implicit racial bias on clinical care, and the use of a community-centered population health approach in psychiatric practice. She serves on multiple advisory boards and is a consultant, curriculum developer, and presenter to a variety of organizations including Fortune 500 companies and medical societies through her company, Vision for Equity LLC.

Amanda J. Calhoun, MD, MPH, is an Adult/Child Psychiatry Resident at Yale Child Study Center/Yale School of Medicine and is concurrently pursuing a PhD in Yale’s Graduate School of Arts & Sciences.  Dr. Calhoun graduated from Yale University with a BA in Spanish and received her MD/MPH from Saint Louis University School of Medicine, in St. Louis, Missouri, where she grew up.  Dr. Calhoun’s research, which focuses on the mental health effects of anti-Black racism on children, has been funded by multiple national awards.  Dr. Calhoun also specializes in the effects of medical racism and writes for both academic journals as well as general press and has published in New England Journal of Medicine, TIME magazine, HuffPost, STAT News, Washington Post, BET News, and many others. Dr. Calhoun is also a public speaker, and a consultant and has made multiple national news appearances, most recently on CBS News discussing the rising rates of Black youth suicide.

Twitter handle: @AmandaJoyMD

Professional Instagram: amandajoymd

Joia A. Crear-Perry, MD, FACOG, is a physician, policy expert, thought leader, and advocate for transformational justice. As the founder and president of the National Birth Equity Collaborative (NBEC), she identifies and challenges racism as a root cause of health inequities.

She is a highly sought-after trainer and speaker who has been featured in national and international publications including Essence and Ms. Magazine. In 2020, Dr. Crear-Perry was honored by USA Today in its “Women of the Century” series and featured on ABC Nightline’s “Hear Her Voice”.

Dr. Crear-Perry has twice addressed the United Nations’ Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to elevate the cause of gender diversity and urge a human rights framework toward addressing maternal mortality. A proud recipient of both the Congressional Black Caucus Healthcare Heroes award and the Maternal Health Task Force at Harvard University Global Visionary Award for Commitment to Advancing Women’s Health, Dr. Crear-Perry’s most notable efforts include the removal of race as a risk factor for illnesses including premature birth.

Previously, she served as the Executive Director of the Birthing Project, Director of Women?s and Children’s Services at Jefferson Community Healthcare Center, and as the Director of Clinical Services for the City of New Orleans Health Department. In that role, she was responsible for four facilities that provided health care for the homeless, pediatric, WIC, and gynecologic services within the New Orleans clinical service area. Dr. Crear-Perry has been celebrated for her work improving the availability and utilization of affordable health care for New Orleans citizens post the Hurricane Katrina disaster of 2005.

Dr. Crear-Perry testified before the House Energy and Commerce Committee as the Democratic witness in support of the only Maternal Health Bill signed into law under the Trump administration. She has received funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) to work with the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) and develop a Standard for Respectful Maternity Care. She also serves on the National Quality Forum Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Committee and the Joint Commission Perinatal Safety Project Technical Advisory Panel.

Dr. Crear-Perry currently serves as a Principal at Health Equity Cypher and on the Board of Trustees for Black Mamas Matter Alliance, Community Catalyst, National Clinical Training Center for Family Planning, and the UCSF PTBi.

After completing undergraduate studies at Princeton University and Xavier University, Dr. Crear-Perry received her MD from Louisiana State University and completed her residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Tulane University’s School of Medicine. She was also recognized as a Fellow of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

She is married to Dr. Andre Perry and has three children: Jade, Carlos, and Robeson. Her love is her family; health equity is her passion; maternal and child health are her callings.

Dr. Hazel Harper is a graduate of Howard University College of Dentistry and the Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health. She maintains a part-time private practice in general dentistry in Washington, DC. She is President and CEO of Hazel J. Harper & Associates, LLC, management consultants and President and Founder of Hear to HEAL, Inc., a non-profit to support interprofessional education, community groups, and student leadership.

She has served her profession in many leadership roles including: a member of President Bill Clinton’s Health Reform Task Force; National Spokesperson for the American Dental Association; Transition Teams of District of Columbia mayors Sharon Pratt Kelly and Marion Barry; and reviewer of the first ever Surgeon General’s Report on Oral Health in America, under the direction of US Surgeon General Dr. David Satcher (2000). She has served on the Board of Directors of Oral Health America, the American Association of Women Dentists, the Ed Shils Entrepreneurial Fund, and the planning committees of the ADEA International Women’s Leadership Summits. She was on the Clinical Advisory Boards of Dentsply International, GlaxoSmithKline, Adec and Discus Dental, and the Editorial Board of the Woman Dentist Journal as well as the Editorial Advisory Board of Heart and Soul Magazine.

Dr. Harper is a woman of many firsts – the first woman President of the National Dental Association (1997), Chairman of the NDA Board of Trustees, and President of the Howard University College of Dentistry Alumni Association. She was one of the founders of the Student National Dental Association, longtime editor of National Dental Association (NDA) Journal and created many NDA programs including: The Women’s’ Health Symposium, NDA-Corporate Roundtable, and the Eddie G. Smith Leadership Institute. She co-founded and directed the Deamonte Driver Dental Project (DDDP), a school-based, mobile dental project in Prince George’s County, MD, named in memory of the 12-year-old boy who died in 2007 from untreated tooth decay. She is currently the Founding Director of the award-winning NDA-HEALTH NOW® Project and architect of the Inter-Professional Student Leaders Colloquium and Summit. Since Deamonte’s death, Dr. Harper has devoted her energies and creative talents to developing, implementing, and supporting interprofessional health education programs and community outreach events in cities across America and the world.

Her reputation for innovation and success has merited awards from several foundations including the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Coca-Cola Foundation, Henry Schein Cares Foundation, Aetna Foundation, GE’s African American Forum, the Pew Charitable Trusts, the DentaQuest Foundation, and many others. She received an Honorary Doctorate from Medgar Evans College in Brooklyn, NY. Dr. Harper lectures and writes extensively on eliminating health disparities, and in 2019, she was lead author of book chapters in Oral Health in America: Removing the Stain of Disparities, published by the American Public Health Association. She is a contributing author for the 2020 Surgeon General’s Report on Oral Health.

She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority and the Links, Incorporated, and enjoys traveling with her husband, Robert S. Johns.

Sophie M. Balzora MD, FACG, is a Clinical Associate Professor at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine. Dr. Balzora has focused her academic efforts on improving physician engagement and enhancing the patient experience through objective structured clinical exams (OSCEs). She is Vice Chair of the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee; Co-founder of ACG’s #DiversityinGI Social Media Campaign; and former Chair of the ACG Public Relations Committee. Dr. Balzora also serves on the Patient Education Sub-Committee of the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation (CCF)’s National Scientific Advisory Committee, the social media team of CCF’s Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) Journal, Fight CRC’s Health Equity Committee, and the Gastroenterology Intersociety Group on Diversity (IGD), comprised of leadership representatives from the four major national gastroenterology societies. She has recently been accepted into the inaugural cohort of the Office of Diversity Affairs’ Faculty Leadership Development Program through the NYU Langone Academy, and is a 2020 recipient of the ACG Presidents Special Recognition Award for efforts in leadership, exemplary service, and guidance promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion. Dr. Balzora currently resides in New York City with her husband and daughter.

Miguel Regueiro earned his bachelor’s degree at the University of Pennsylvania, his medical degree at Drexel (Hahnemann) University and completed his internal medicine internship, residency, and clinical and research fellowship training in gastroenterology at Harvard Medical School’s Beth Israel Hospital.

Dr. Regueiro was Professor of Medicine and Clinical and Translational Science at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine from 2000 to 2018. There he served as the IBD Clinical Medical Director, Senior Medical Lead of Specialty Medical Homes, was Professor with Tenure, and honored as the UPMC Endowed Chair for Patient Centered Care in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases.

Dr. Regueiro is currently the Chair of the Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology and Chair of the Digestive Disease and Surgery Institute at Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. He serves as Medical Co- Chair of Digestive Disease and Surgical Institute Research Governance committee and is Professor of Medicine at the Lerner College of Medicine, Cleveland Clinic.

Dr. Regueiro’s main clinical and research interest is Inflammatory Bowel Diseases with a focus on the natural course of these diseases and postoperative prevention of Crohn’s disease. Recently, he has been involved in transformative medicine initiatives and developing new models of healthcare, including the first-of-its kind specialty medical home for IBD. Dr. Regueiro is investigating alternative models of care in population-based health that integrates patients, payers, providers, pharmaceutical industry, and other facets of healthcare delivery around these novel programs.

Dr. Richard Furie, Chief of the Division of Rheumatology at Northwell Health, is a rheumatologist whose activities for the last several decades have focused on patient care, physician education, and clinical research in the area of anti-rheumatic drug development. He directs The Program in Novel Therapeutics, the Health System’s clinical research program in musculoskeletal disease. He also directs the Hospital?s SLE and Autoimmune Disease Treatment Center, which has become internationally recognized for its role in the development of new therapies for SLE. Regarded as one of the senior rheumatologists in the New York metropolitan area, Dr. Furie has served as a volunteer for the local chapters of the Arthritis Foundation and the Lupus Alliance, the Lupus Foundation of America, the SLE Foundation, the Lupus Research Alliance, and Lupus Therapeutics. For 20 years he served on many committees of the American College of Rheumatology and was named a Master of the College in 2018. Although often featured as a speaker at national and international conferences, Dr. Furie’s favorite educational venue is at home with his colleagues and trainees.

Allan Gibofsky, MD, JD, MACR, FACP, FCLM, serves as Professor of Medicine in the Department of Healthcare Policy and Research at Weill Cornell Medicine. Dr Gibofsky is an attending physician and rheumatologist at the Hospital for Special Surgery, where he is Co- Director of the Clinic for Inflammatory Arthritis. He received his undergraduate degree from Brooklyn College of the City University of New York, his medical degree from Weill Medical College of Cornell University, and his law degree from Fordham University School of Law. He did his internship in pathology, followed by a residency in medicine at New York Hospital. He completed a fellowship in rheumatology/immunology jointly at Hospital for Special Surgery and at The Rockefeller University. Dr Gibofsky has authored or co-authored numerous papers and textbook chapters, primarily on rheumatic diseases and legal aspects of medical practice. He is known for his work on mechanisms of host-microbe interactions in rheumatology, and, in particular, for his basic and clinical studies on rheumatic fever.

Currently Secretary-Treasurer of The New York Rheumatism Association, Dr Gibofsky is past Chair of the Medical & Scientific Committee of the New York Chapter of The Arthritis Foundation and is a recipient of its Physicians’ Leadership Award. He also served as a member of the local and national Arthritis Foundation Board of Trustees and was Chair for Professional Education. Dr Gibofsky has participated in numerous professional and public education programs, nationally and internationally. He served as President of The American College of Rheumatology and was recently named a Master. Dr Gibofsky is a Jonas Salk Scholar of the City University and an Alumnus of the Year of Brooklyn College. He is past President of the American College of Legal Medicine and is past Chair of the American Board of Legal Medicine. Dr Gibofsky is past Chair of the Arthritis Advisory Committee of the Food and Drug Administration and continues as a special consultant to that committee.

Sandra M. Quezada, MD, MS, received her medical degree from the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, where she also completed her post-graduate Residency training in Internal Medicine and Fellowship training in Gastroenterology and Hepatology. She is passionate about Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity, and brings this lens to her work in academic medicine. She is Associate Dean for Medical School Admissions and Associate Dean for Faculty Diversity and Inclusion at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (SOM) and has worked locally, regionally, and nationally to amplify physician workforce diversity and to impact the climate in which future and current physicians train and practice.

Dr. Quezada is a practicing Gastroenterologist who subspecializes in inflammatory bowel disease and is recent past-Chair of the Diversity Committee and current co-Chair of the Equity Task Force for the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA). She is also a member of the Diversity and Inclusion Task Force for the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation’s National Scientific Advisory, member of the Association of American Medical Colleges Intersectionality Women of Color Workgroup, and Chair of the Intersociety Group on Diversity in Gastroenterology. She is a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA) National Honor Medical Society, recipient of the Leonard Tow Gold Humanism Award for Humanism in Medicine, and recipient of the AGA Distinguished Award for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

Miguel Regueiro earned his bachelor’s degree at the University of Pennsylvania, his medical degree at Drexel (Hahnemann) University and completed his internal medicine internship, residency, and clinical and research fellowship training in gastroenterology at Harvard Medical School’s Beth Israel Hospital.

Dr. Regueiro was Professor of Medicine and Clinical and Translational Science at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine from 2000 to 2018. There he served as the IBD Clinical Medical Director, Senior Medical Lead of Specialty Medical Homes, was Professor with Tenure, and honored as the UPMC Endowed Chair for Patient Centered Care in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases.

Dr. Regueiro is currently the Chair of the Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology and Chair of the Digestive Disease and Surgery Institute at Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. He serves as Medical Co- Chair of Digestive Disease and Surgical Institute Research Governance committee and is Professor of Medicine at the Lerner College of Medicine, Cleveland Clinic.

Dr. Regueiro’s main clinical and research interest is Inflammatory Bowel Diseases with a focus on the natural course of these diseases and postoperative prevention of Crohn’s disease. Recently, he has been involved in transformative medicine initiatives and developing new models of healthcare, including the first-of-its kind specialty medical home for IBD. Dr. Regueiro is investigating alternative models of care in population-based health that integrates patients, payers, providers, pharmaceutical industry, and other facets of healthcare delivery around these novel programs.