Meharry Pres Named To Minority Health Council
NASHVILLE – President and CEO of Meharry Medical College, Wayne J. Riley, M.D., MPH, MBA, MACP, has been named Chair of the National Advisory Council on Minority Health and Health Disparities of the National Institutes of Health, effective February 2011.
As the Chair, Dr. Riley will serve as a liaison and national spokesperson on issues of minority health and health disparities, will assist John Ruffin, Ph.D., Director of the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD), in facilitating meetings of the advisory council and will serve as a conduit between Ruffin and the council when there are pressing matters. The National Advisory Council on Minority Health and Health Disparities is an advisory body appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services which advises the Director of the NIMHD, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director and the Secretary on the nation's minority health and health disparity research funding, priorities and programs.
Dr. Riley is the 10th President of Meharry Medical College. He is a member of the Society of Medical Administrators and a Master of the American College of Physicians where he is also on the Board of Regents. He served as an adviser to President Obama’s health care transition team and has spent most of his career treating the poor and underserved and teaching medical students and residents to do the same. He is also a recognized expert in healthcare management and health policy, currently serving as the Chair of the Association of Minority Health Professions Schools. Dr. Riley holds the academic rank of Professor of Internal Medicine at Meharry and Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.
About Meharry Medical College Meharry Medical Collegefounded in 1876, is the nation’s largest private, independent historically black academic health center dedicated solely to educating minority and other health professionals. True to its heritage, it is a United Methodist Church affiliated institution. The College is particularly well known for its uniquely nurturing, highly effective educational programs; emerging preeminence in health disparities research; culturally sensitive, evidence-based health services and significant contribution to the diversity of the nation’s health professions workforce. Diverse Issues in Higher Education’s ranking of institutions annually lists Meharry as a leading national educator of African Americans with M.D. and D.D.S. degrees and Ph.D. degrees in the biomedical sciences.
