
8th Annual Top Blacks in Healthcare
Awards Gala & Thought Leadership Symposium
Health Equity Realized
Awards Gala & Thought Leadership Symposium
Health Equity Realized
April 20, 2023, Washington, DC

Featuring legendary television & radio host
Donnie Simpson
Master of Ceremonies

VP, Sales and Marketing, Myovant Sciences, Inc.
Lewis J. Stuart
Closing Remarks
Thought Leadership Symposium
Thought Leadership Symposium
About Top Blacks In Healthcare

“Our program recognizes distinguished African American healthcare executives for their contributions to the industry and shines the spotlight on them as role models to other minority healthcare leaders and the Black community overall.”
-Reggie Ware, President & CEO of
BlackDoctor.org.
The list of noteworthy 2020 honorees was selected from over 250 of the most accomplished Black healthcare professionals in America by a panel that includes BlackDoctor.org editors and key individuals from partner organizations such as the National Medical Association and The George Washington University.
BlackDoctor.org (BDO) was launched in 2005 to address the reality that blacks have higher incidences of just about every major disease, shorter lifespans and no where to turn, at that time, for credible, culturally accurate health information. BDO quickly gained the respect and loyalty of African Americans by providing content designed to create a path to happiness and longevity, empowering our current audience of 19 million to live the life they deserve with a “you can do it – here’s how” authentic voice. We call this pathway “The BDO Roadmap to Living Your Best Life.”
By enlisting some of the nation’s top health experts to help create cutting-edge content, BDO is accomplishing one of its strategic goals to achieve health equity by eliminating health disparities and achieving optimal health for all Americans. To that end, notable achievements have been realized such as:
- Helped close the life expectancy gap from 6 years to 4 years between whites and blacks
- Played a significant role in the historical reduction in the number of premature deaths in blacks
- Reach more FB followers than any health website – including WebMD
BDO also celebrates and recognizes those individuals and institutions that contribute significantly to closing the health equity gap in the communities they serve with two signature events. Our Annual Top Blacks in Healthcare Gala and Thought Leadership event recognizes distinguished healthcare executives for their contributions to the industry and leads topical discussions to move the healthcare industry forward. Our Top Hospitals for Diversity and Inclusion Awards Ceremony and Thought Leadership event brings light to the amazing and vital healthcare institutions that consistently deliver quality and equitable care to all patients in the communities they serve while providing a platform for hospital executives to share best practices during our thought leadership panel discussions.

The GW Rodham Institute, which was established in 2013 in honor of the late Mrs. Dorothy Rodham who believed passionately in the capacity for education to achieve social change, will be co-hosting TBH with BlackDoctor.org for the first time in its 6-year history. The Institute seeks to apply the transformative power of education to achieve health equity in Washington, D.C. and was a natural fit for the event and its mission.
The Rodham Institute, housed within the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, believes that academic medical centers can and should be an active part of the solution to eliminate health disparities. To achieve health equity in our nation’s capital the institute will focus on the following three areas:
Training Current and Future Health Professionals in Applied Health Equity:
Educating the inter- professional medical community on identifying and addressing the social determinants of health to improve the overall wellbeing of all of our patients.
Youth Education Programming and Workforce Development:
Increasing the number of health professionals from communities in need by deepening and sustaining interest in science, health education, and establishing a pathway to a health professions career.
Community Collaborations: Creating opportunities and supporting initiatives led by communities with a shared commitment toward health equity in the greater Washington, D.C. area.
2020 Honorees

Dr. Jerome Adams
U.S. Surgeon General

Erica Taylor
Marketing Director
Genentech

Dr. Ted Love
President & CEO
Global Blood Therapeutics

Myrtle Potter
CEO
Sumitovant BioPharma

Dr. Alexis Thompson MPH
President
Amer. Society of Heamtology

Julie (Miller) Tyler
VP Global Marketing
Vascular Abott

Wendy Short Bartie
AVP
Global Lead Genitourinary Cancer Merck

Dr. John Carpten
Professor and Chair of Translational Genomics
Keck School of Medicine of USC

Dr. Nicole Lang
Founder, CEO
Washington Pediatrics Associates

Dr. Leon McDougle
President
National Medical Association

Dr. Jehan El-Bayoumi
Executive Director
GWU – Rodham Institute
Thought Leadership Symposium
September 17th
8:30am – 3:00pm
The Milikin Institute School of Public Health
950 New Hampshire Avenue NW #2
Washington, D.C. 20052
7th Annual Top Blacks in Healthcare Awards Gala
September 17th
Gala: 6:00pm -9:30pm
The Ritz Carlton, Washington D.C.
1150 22nd Street N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20037

Antoine Ezell
Executive Director
Eli Lilly and Company
Eli Lilly and Company

Antoine Ezell
Executive Director
Eli Lilly and Company
Eli Lilly and Company
Oliver Brooks MD
Medical Director
President Elect, National Medical Association
Watts Healthcare Corp.
President Elect, National Medical Association
Watts Healthcare Corp.
Ronald Copeland MD, FACS
Senior Vice President & Chief Equity, Inclusion and Diversity Officer
Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente

Esi Eggleston Bracey
EVP & COO NA Beauty and Personal Care
Unilever North America
Unilever North America
Henrietta Ukwu MD
Senior Vice President & Global Head, Global Quality & Global Regulatory Affairs
Otsuka Pharmaceuticals, New Jersey, USA
Otsuka Pharmaceuticals, New Jersey, USA
See All
Schedule of Events
8:30am-9:30am
Check-in & Breakfast
9:30am-10:00am
Welcome and Overview
10:00am-10:45am
Session 1
“I Don’t Believe You”: Black Women & The Pain of Medical Mistrust
Often Black women fall victim to misperceptions and unconscious bias in the healthcare arena. This mistrust has been seen in the delivery room as infant and maternal mortality rates climb amongst Black women. With celebrities such as, Serena Williams and Gabrielle Union vocalizing their pregnancy health journeys a new light has been shown on Black women’s maternal experiences. Additionally, sufferers of chronic maladies like Sickle Cell Disease whose symptoms, often approach extreme discomfort and affliction have in emergency situations, have been accused of seeking drugs to satisfy an addiction.
Research has shown that there is a significant gap between pain evaluation and treatment of Whites and Blacks. Our panel will explore unconscious bias, lack of awareness in the healthcare industry, and solutions to change the narrative of defining, evaluating, and treating pain.
11:00am-11:45am
Session 2
A Better Practice: Culture & Careers In Medicine
The medical industry is a big business. Whether you are an experienced professional or a student, learn how to cash in with opportunities in the rapidly expanding field of health care careers. This panel of top leaders will engage in an interactive medical career and leadership discussion to equip you with industry-leading tips, tools, and technology for a successful career in medicine.
12:00am-12:15am
Break
12:15pm-1:00pm
Session 3 (lunch)
“I’m Not Crazy, I Have Bipolar Disorder” – The Truth About Mental Health in the Black Community
Mental health is still a taboo discussion topic in the Black community, and one that is surrounded by a host of myths and false truths. It’s hard for us to see our family, and even ourselves, being tormented by the inner workings of our own minds—so we don’t. In this panel, we set the record straight and break down mental health in the Black community.
1:15pm-2:00pm
Session 4
What’s Killing Black Folks: Boosting Racial & Ethnic Diversity in Clinical Trials
While the life expectancy of Black people has increased over the past decade, a broad range of factors and sicknesses continue to plague our community. Often, in this age of personalized medicine, pharmaceutical companies are hard put to calibrate their research and development to address and produce effective therapies for us. One reason for this is the lack of participation from the Black community in clinical trials. By shifting the mindset of the Black community and partnering with the R&D of these pharmaceutical companies, more effective drugs for Blacks will be developed. Our expert panel addresses the dire need to recruit African Americans to participate in clinical trials and more.
2:15pm-2:45pm
Closing Remarks
OUR SPONSORS








HOTEL INFO
Top Blacks in Healthcare
Start date: 9/16/20
End date: 9/17/20
Deadline to book: 8/27/20
The Ritz-Carlton, Washington, DC for 379.00 USD per night
End date: 9/17/20
Deadline to book: 8/27/20
