Moreover, she is well-published in high-impact, respected journals such as The Lancet, Health Affairs, and Health Services Research.
WASHINGTON, DC, February 01, 2024 /24-7PressRelease/ -- April Joy Damian, PhD, MSc, CHPM, PMP, has been included in Marquis Who's Who. As in all Marquis Who's Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.
Raised in the city of San Francisco by parents who both modeled and instilled the value of civic engagement, Dr. Damian witnessed firsthand how the social determinants of health played a crucial role in shaping the health outcomes and quality of life of her own family and the communities she lived in. As a result of her upbringing, her interest was sparked to pursue a career in health care and public health. She developed a strong inclination toward a holistic approach during her academic years and through her extensive travel and work in diverse communities across the globe, thereby further broadening her perspective and enabling her to view her role in health care and public health as an opportunity to uplift the strengths and voices of patients, families, and communities.
As the Vice President and Director of the Weitzman Institute, Dr. Damian promotes health equity and inspires primary care innovation, leading a team of mission-driven health care researchers, educators, and policy experts focused on serving vulnerable populations. In her role, she applies her expertise as a psychiatric epidemiologist, health services researcher, and classically trained public health professional with expertise in health equity, social determinants of health, and mixed methods. Concurrently, Dr. Damian serves as a Senior Scholar for Health Equity at AcademyHealth, where she moreover serves on their Board of Directors Standing Committee on Advocacy and Public Policy, and also holds a faculty appointment at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Leading up to her current positions, Dr. Damian worked with several reputable governing bodies, including the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, the International Organization for Migration, and local health departments on policy and programs relating to improving health care access and quality for medically underserved communities. As a result of her expertise, Dr. Damian is a sought-after speaker and thought leader in health equity who holds multiple leadership positions, including as an appointed Member of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Forum for Children's Well-Being, and Chair of the Forum's Healthy Parenting in Primary Care Collaborative, among others. Most recently, Dr. Damian served as the Inaugural Vice Chair of the Health Equity/Community Engagement/Patient Reported Outcomes Committee within the National Institutes of Health's Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery (RECOVER) Initiative. Previously, she served as the Director of Quality Innovation at the National Quality Forum (NQF), where she spearheaded the development of the first social determinants of health quality measures and co-led NQF's Measure Incubator®.
Leading up to her impressive career accomplishments, she earned a doctorate from the Department of Mental Health at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. In pursuit of her doctorate, Dr. Damian focused her dissertation on evaluating the trauma-informed care framework of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Her work served as the first formal evaluation of the Administration's trauma-informed care framework and training program, and ultimately paved the way for the Elijah Cummings Healing City Act, which mandates all Baltimore government workers be trained in trauma-informed care. Prior to earning her doctorate, Dr. Damian received a Master of Science in Medical Sciences at Harvard Medical School; graduated with Highest Honors, from the University of California, Berkeley, with a Bachelor of Arts in Ethics Studies; and previously completed coursework at Yale University School of Medicine, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, and Universidad Complutense de Madrid.
Dr. Damian is an inducted member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society and Sigma Xi Scientific Honor Society and has received numerous recognitions in honor of her role as a social change agent, including the Harry S. Truman Scholarship and the Community Well-Being Warrior Award, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Along with her degrees and accolades, she holds numerous certifications related to her field, including in project management, social epidemiology and population health, and in health and finance management, among others. Moreover, she is well-published in high-impact, respected journals such as The Lancet, Health Affairs, and Health Services Research.
Throughout her educational and professional pursuits, Dr. Damian has had the privilege of being mentored by individuals who inspired and helped her grasp the importance of "knowledge as praxis", the practical application of knowledge in addressing pressing issues. Likewise, she has found immense satisfaction in mentoring and training the next generation of diverse leaders in health care and public health. Just as she hopes to influence both the current and future health care and public health workforce, she is steadfast in her commitment to influencing policy and decision-makers through her scholarship and hopes her combined efforts will help create a more equitable, just health care system for all.
About Marquis Who's Who®:
Since 1899, when A. N. Marquis printed the First Edition of Who's Who in America®, Marquis Who's Who® has chronicled the lives of the most accomplished individuals and innovators from every significant field of endeavor, including politics, business, medicine, law, education, art, religion and entertainment. Marquis celebrates its 125th anniversary in 2023, and Who's Who in America® remains an essential biographical source for thousands of researchers, journalists, librarians and executive search firms around the world. Marquis® publications may be visited at the official Marquis Who's Who® website at www.marquiswhoswho.com.
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