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Office of Minority Health welcomes three new members to the Advisory Committee on Minority Health

The Office of Minority Health, at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is pleased to announce three new appointments to the Advisory Committee on Minority Health (ACMH or Committee).

The ACMH advises the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Minority Health on improving the health of racial and ethnic minority populations, and on the development of goals and program activities of OMH. The next meeting of the Committee will be on March 27-28, topics to be discussed during this meeting will include strategies to improve the health of racial and ethnic minority populations through the development of health policies and programs that will help eliminate health disparities, as well as other related issues. The Committee will meet at the Doubletree Hotel, 8120 Wisconsin Avenue, Bethesda, Maryland 20814 on March 27 from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. and on March 28 from 9:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m.

The new ACMH members are:

Beverly A. (Ashleigh) Guadagnolo, MD, MPH – Assistant Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology; University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center; Houston, TX. An enrolled member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, Dr. Gaudagnolo is committed to improving the health care of underserved populations, in particular, American Indians. Her expertise is extensive in the areas of academia and research that focus on development, analysis, and reporting of community-based participatory research to eliminate cancer-related health disparities among American Indians. Dr. Guadagnolo is a member of the Walking Forward program, which utilizes research methods to reduce cancer-related health disparities and improve cancer treatment/outcomes for American Indians in western South Dakota. She is board certified in radiation oncology.

Beverly L. Malone, PhD, RN, FAAN – Chief Executive Officer, National League for Nursing; New York, NY. Dr. Malone has committed her professional career to minority health issues in her work towards eliminating racial and ethnic health disparities throughout the United States and in the United Kingdom. An accomplished nurse leader, Dr. Malone serves on a variety of diversity task forces directed at targeting racial and ethnic minorities, particularly African Americans. Previously, she assumed leadership positions both nationally, and abroad as President of the American Nurses Association and as General Secretary to the Royal College of Nursing in the United Kingdom. In addition, Dr. Malone served two separate terms on the World Health Assembly, appointed by both President Clinton and Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Sela Panapasa, PhD – Assistant Research Scientist, Program for Research on Black Americans, Research Center for Group Dynamics; Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI. - Dr. Panapasa is a sociologist trained in demography. She has advised and evaluated censuses and national surveys for several island nations in the Pacific, including Fiji and Tonga. Her research focuses on minority health issues with special emphasis on the elderly in underserved populations. Additionally, Dr. Panapasa has interests in health disparities between Pacific Islanders in the United States as compared to the Pacific territories of American Samoa and Guam. Other research areas include the relationship between disability, family support networks, and health outcomes.

Created in 1986, the Office of Minority Health is dedicated to improving the health status of racial and ethnic minority populations - including African Americans, Hispanic Americans, American Indians and Alaska Natives, Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders - through the development of policies and programs that will eliminate health disparities.

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