The Structural Racism Programming Committee and ABPsi are pleased to welcome Ijeoma Nnodim Opara, M.D. (assistant professor of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics) and Latonya Riddle-Jones, M.D., M.P.H. (assistant professor of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics). Drs. Opara and Riddle Jones are the co-founders of The Wayne State University School of Medicine’s End Race-Based Medicine Taskforce. The task force is working “to dispel and extinguish the misguided belief that individual races are biologically distinct groups determined by genes, and terminate medical practices and research that adhere to that concept” (WSU, 2024). We’re eager to learn and discuss the potential interprofessional work of medicine and psychology in caring for patients/clients holistically and further understanding the systemic issues in healthcare and its impact on their patient’s mental health.
This event is taking place on Wednesday, April 2 at 12:30 PM in Room 2 and on Zoom. The event is PEAA-eligible. Please RSVP Below.
About Dr. Opara
Dr. Ijeoma Nnodim Opara is a double-board certified physician scientist activist and Associate Professor of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at Wayne State University School of Medicine and Wayne Health. Her mission in life is to dismantle white supremacist delusion by eliminating antiBlack racism in medicine, healthcare, and public health while centering and celebrating Black brilliance, abundance, and joy. She is an NIH-funded health equity community engagement implementation researcher and the founding director of the “Health Equity and Justice in Medicine” (HEJiM) initiative, co-founding director of Wayne State University Global Health Alliance, and co-created the Global Urban Health & Equity curriculum. She is an internationally renowned award winning educator, scholar, and thought leader in antiracism and antioppression, decolonization, and Black liberation and focuses on the joy, abundance, and brilliance of Blackness. She is a member of the White House Office of Public Engagement Healthcare Leaders in Minority Health where she advises on antiracism, health justice, and health equity, Racism and Health section editor for Global Public Health PLOS One journal, and member of the National Health Equity Collective. She is a leader in the Michigan State Medical Society Taskforce on Health Equity, the Governor’s Roundtable on Reproductive Justice, the state of Michigan Pharmacy & Therapeutics committee, and a community health influencer for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
As CEO and founder of OparaSpeaks, she inspires and equips individuals and organizations with the tools to transform their systems into antiracist, just, equitable, and nurturing environments where Black brilliance thrives. She founded and directs the Opara Equity, Justice, & Joy lab and mentors hundreds of trainees, youth, and community members in community-based and -led implementation action research. She is also co-chair of the Detroit End Race Based Medicine Taskforce, Canada-US coalition to End Race Correction in Healthcare, and The North American Conference to End Race Based Medicine. She is a renowned speaker, consultant, coach, & facilitator and hosts an online think tank: Antiracism in Action Roundtable #AIART, a interdisciplinary community of Black leadership to eliminate antiBlackness from medicine & healthcare, and public health. She is daughter to Dr. Ogbonna & Ms. Ngozi Nnodim; mom to Ugochinyere, Oruebubechi, and Chimamanda, and 2 cats, Midnight and Good Night; and a loving partner to Mr. Nkemjika Opara.
About Dr. Riddle-Jones
Dr. Riddle-Jones serves as the Associate Center Director for DEI at Karmanos Cancer Institute, an NCI designated comprehensive cancer center. In this role she provides strategic leadership, coordination, and implementation of DEI-related programs, initiatives, policies, and evaluative activities at KCI to enhance the diversity of its faculty, trainees, and leadership. She is currently an associate professor at Wayne State University School of Medicine, Director of Population, Patient, Physician and Professionalism curriculum, and course director for Community Engagement electives at Wayne State University School of Medicine (WSUSOM).
Dr. Riddle-Jones is a graduate of Michigan State University College of Engineering, Wayne State University School of Medicine and Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. She is an Associate Professor in Med-Peds in the Department of Internal Medicine, Vice-Chair of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) for the Department of Internal Medicine, Associate Medical Director for the Tri-County Breast and Cervical Cancer Control Program. She was the inaugural Medical Director for the Corktown Health Center (a medical home for Michigan’s LGBTQ communities) for more than six years ending in 2023. Her research and academic interests include health care policy, cancer prevention in historically marginalized people, and innovations in medical education related to social and behavioral health in health systems. She currently serves as PI for a project from the Office of Cancer Health Equity and Community Engagement (OCHECE) supported by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) titled Enhancing Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) Data Collection and is a co-author of “Cancer in People who Identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Gender-nonconforming” in CANCER – May 2024.
Her goal is to improve the health and wellbeing of our communities by contributing to the education of future physicians and actively addressing and correcting systemic injustices in healthcare.
