The Health Disparities Podcast

In this episode of The Health Disparities Podcast, host Ber‑Henda Williams sits down with Dr. Caira Boggs, Director of the Michigan Public Health Institute’s Center for Health Innovation and Practice and Detroit Health Initiatives. A proud Detroit native and Detroit Public Schools graduate, Dr. Boggs leads 16 initiatives focused on health equity, recovery, food access, chronic disease prevention, and community‑led grantmaking — all grounded in the lived experiences of Detroit neighborhoods.

Dr. Boggs shares the early moments that shaped her understanding of inequity, from growing up in a deeply connected Detroit community to witnessing stark disparities when she...

In this episode of The Health Disparities Podcast, host Michael Randall talks with Danielle Lewinski, Chief Program Officer at the Center for Community Progress, about how vacant properties, neighborhood conditions, and public policy directly shape health outcomes.

Danielle breaks down why the U.S. has millions of vacant and substandard homes and how these conditions fuel chronic disease, mobility challenges, safety concerns, and long‑term disinvestment. She explains how public policy, code enforcement, tax foreclosure systems, and land banks can either reinforce inequity or create pathways to healthier, thriving communities.

You’ll learn about:

In this episode of The Health Disparities Podcast, host Ber‑Henda Williams sits down with Dexter Sullivan—global strategist, community builder, and CEO of the Black Legacy Advancement Coalition. Dexter opens up about his Detroit roots, the generational stories that shaped him, and the urgent work of preserving Black legacy as a pathway to better health and stronger communities.

He reflects on the influence of his grandparents, the educators who nurtured his identity, and the cultural traditions that continue to guide his leadership. Dexter also discusses the emotional realities Black men face, the importance of remembrance in comm...

In this episode of The Health Disparities Podcast, Dr. Mary O’Connor speaks with Stephanie A. Wynn—author, Crohn’s survivor, and founder of The Stephanie A. Wynn Foundation. Stephanie shares her powerful journey through years of misdiagnosis, medical dismissal, pregnancy loss, and a near‑death experience that ultimately shaped her mission to support underserved IBD patients.

She breaks down the barriers many patients face when navigating Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, and explains how her IBD Patient Navigator® Program helps individuals access specialists, understand their diagnosis, reduce ER visits, and overcome social determinants of health.

You’l...

In this rewind episode, we explore the concept of weathering — the cumulative, biological toll that chronic stress from living in an unjust society can have on people from marginalized communities. This framework helps explain why health disparities persist, and why they often deepen over time.

Our guest is Dr. Arline Geronimus, a member of the National Academy of Medicine and a professor at the University of Michigan’s School of Public Health and Institute for Social Research. She is also affiliated with the Center for Research on Ethnicity, Culture and Health, and is the author of Weathering: The...

In this episode of The Health Disparities Podcast, host Joyce Knestrick sits down with Mia L. Jones, Chief Executive Officer of Agape Family Health, a community‑rooted health system serving Jacksonville with comprehensive medical, pharmaceutical, and behavioral health services.

Agape’s mission is simple and powerful: “everyone deserves quality, affordable care delivered with compassion, regardless of insurance status or ability to pay.” Mia shares the experiences that shaped her path to leadership and the values that fuel her commitment to community‑centered care. She discusses the gaps she saw when stepping into her role and how Agape works ever...

In this episode of The Health Disparities Podcast, host Desiree Clemons talks with Maria Haugen, Founder and CEO of FoXX Health.

After experiencing months of dismissed symptoms, delayed testing, and uncertainty, Maria created FoXX—a daily health companion designed to help women track symptoms, prepare for appointments, and advocate for better care. Her story reflects a reality many women face in healthcare, and FoXX was built to ensure no woman has to wait months to be heard.

Maria shares how her personal health scare became the catalyst for a tool that turns lived experience into cl...

In this episode of The Health Disparities Podcast, host Dr. Mary O’Connor talks with Angela Strain, Executive Director of We Care Jax. For over 30 years, this organization has connected uninsured and under-resourced neighbors to lifesaving specialty care.   Angela shares powerful patient stories and draws on years of experience to show what it takes to remove barriers, build trust, and create a safety net that truly helps people. She explains real-world obstacles like transportation, language barriers, and the financial burden of illness, and highlights community-driven solutions that help people get the care they need.   Angela and Dr. O’Connor discuss We Car...

What does real community‑centered health equity look like, and what does it take to sustain it? In this episode of The Health Disparities Podcast, host Jerail Fennell sits down with two powerful leaders in community health: Dr. Atiya Abdelmalik and ReGina Newkirk Rucci.

Together, they unpack the lived experiences, grassroots strategies, and relationship‑building that fuel their work across the country. From disrupting harmful systems to investing in local leadership, Dr. A and ReGina share what it truly means to listen to communities, partner with them, and build solutions that last. Drawing from their work with the...

How do we protect and advance health equity in a rapidly changing political and legal landscape?

In this episode of The Health Disparities Podcast, host Christin Zollicoffer sits down with Dr. Giridhar Mallya — family physician, policy leader, and Senior Policy Officer at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation — to explore the future of health and racial equity work.

Dr. Mallya shares how his family’s immigrant story shaped his belief in the power of policy, and why funders must stay committed to equity even as restrictive laws and legal challenges grow across the country. He breaks down w...

What does it take to rise after life tells you “you can’t”? In this episode of The Health Disparities Podcast, we sit down with Grace Moore—Financial Empowerment Specialist, Founder, Speaker, and 2025 Movement Is Life Health Summit Speaker—whose journey is a powerful testament to resilience, faith, and the transformative force of mindset.

At just 17, Grace was told she would never walk again. After waking from a nap with her left leg paralyzed, she faced a defining crossroads: accept limitation or choose possibility. She chose movement—of the body, the mind, and the spirit. Today, Grace speaks from...

What does it really take for women to break free from burnout and reclaim their health, confidence, and power? In this episode of The Health Disparities Podcast, we sit down with fitness entrepreneur and wellness leader Tyneka Pack, Founder & CEO of IMPACKT Fitness, to explore how movement can transform not just bodies, but entire careers and communities.

Tyneka shares how her own journey through exhaustion and imbalance fueled her mission to help women lead with strength, clarity, and sustainability. From dismantling fitness myths to building workplace cultures that actually support well‑being, she breaks down what true we...

Mental health is an important part of our overall health, but many people confront barriers that keep them from accessing the mental health care they need.

A program in Boston aims to  address mental health disparities by disrupting traditional health care models. The Boston Emergency Services Team, or BEST, is led by Dr. David Henderson, chief of psychiatry at Boston Medical Center. 

BEST brings together mental health providers, community resources, law enforcement, and the judicial system to deliver care to people in need of mental health services.

Henderson says bringing mental health providers al...

When it comes to addressing health disparities, it’s critically important that healthcare providers and researchers take a proactive approach to building trust with the communities we aim to serve.

As founding director of the Center for Reducing Health Disparities at UC Davis, Dr. Sergio Aguilar-Gaxiola has decades of experience with this approach.

“It is possible to overcome the barriers of access to care if we can change our paradigm,” he says. “

In this episode of the Health Disparities podcast, Dr. Aguilar speaks with Movement Is Life’s Dr. Zachary Lum about his work, whic...

In the late-1980s, Father Gregory Boyle witnessed the devastating  impact of gang violence in his community during the so-called Decade of  Death that peaked at 1,000 gang-related  killings in 1992 in Los Angeles. 

In the face of criminal justice policies of  suppression and mass incarceration, Father Boyle and community members adopted what was a radical approach – at the time – to treat gang members as human  beings. In 1988, they started what would eventually become Homeboy  Industries, which employs and trains former gang members in a range of  social enterprises, as well as provides critical services to thousands of  men and women who...

There’s no single fix to closing gaps in health care outcomes, says Dr. Maureen Bell, physician director of community impact at Vituity, where she leads efforts to identify and eliminate health disparities. 

“There are multiple things that we have to work on,” Bell says, including increasing diversity in the healthcare workforce and educating providers on strategies for providing equitable care and considering the “whole patient.”

Bell spoke with Movement Is Life’s Dr. Joyce Knestrick about how systemic bias, lack of representation, and community barriers shape the care patients receive. 

She said inequities per...

When orthopedic surgeon Dr. Lattisha Bilbrew looks at a knee X-ray, she’s not just checking for arthritis or bone alignment. She’s studying shades of muscle and fat — clues to a patient’s strength, resilience and untapped potential.

“Sometimes I’ll have a woman come in and say, ‘I’m overweight,’” Bilbrew says. “And I’ll look at her X-rays and say, ‘Yes, I see the fat — but you’ve got tons of muscle under there. You should try strength training.’”

It’s that mix of empathy and empowerment that defines Bilbrew’s approach to orthopedic care — and why she’s bee...

What would it take for health care providers to truly meet people where they are – and go beyond the 15-minute visit?

Dr. Razia Jayman-Aristide is a physician who blends deep clinical expertise with a powerful public health lens. She has spent the last 15 years building a career that bridges direct patient care, nonprofit leadership and systemic change.

In this episode, Dr. Jayman-Aristide shares her journey — and how she’s redefining what medicine, emphasizing the need for personalized care that addresses social determinants of health. 

“My family was a family that came here with minimal i...

Systemic racism continues to shape medical education, clinical practice and patient outcomes. It’s a topic near and dear to Dr. Uché Blackstock—physician, health equity advocate, and New York Times bestselling author of Legacy: A Black Physician Reckons with Racism in Medicine.

In this episode, Dr. Blackstock reflects on her own experiences as a Black woman in medicine, including a misdiagnosis during medical school that left her hospitalized. She also examines how historical policies, such as the Flexner Report and redlining, continue to impact today’s health inequities.

The episode also touches on bias in clin...

Health misinformation is a growing challenge, as social media has become a primary source of information for many people, and influential voices are casting doubt on established medical practices. 

Trusted health sources are becoming harder to find, especially in communities of color where access to care is already limited and systemic barriers persist. 

The fight to bring reliable health information and resources to vulnerable communities is not new.  For decades, organizations like the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health have been doing this  work — building trust, educating communities and empowering individuals to take charge of  their h...

There are numerous social and structural vectors for disease that are not often discussed in medical school. So, Dr. David Ansell says he had a lot to learn once he became a physician.

Ansell, author of “The Death Gap: How Inequality Kills,” writes about the stark disparities in access to treatment and outcomes for patients in the U.S. healthcare system.

“We always talk about inequities. We have frank inequities, but we have gross inequalities,” Ansell says. “The care isn't equal… And if we could get to equal, then we can take on the inequity.”

One of t...

Food insecurity is a systemic public health issue that needs to be addressed because reliable access to healthy food is critical to positive health outcomes.

Health care partnerships are forming to improve access to healthy foods in some states, including Massachusetts, which is at the forefront of addressing food insecurity with programs that allow Medicaid funding to be used to address social determinants of health.

“I would push back on the idea that things like food and housing are not actually medical,” says Jennifer Obadia, senior director of health care partnerships at Project Bread, a nonp...

Conversation is an important part of bringing an end to racism so that everyone thrives in our society. It’s something that the leaders of 904Ward care deeply about. 

The 904Ward organization evolved the Jacksonville 904 dialing area code into a nonprofit whose mission is to create racial healing and equity through deep conversations and learning, trusting relationships, and collective action. 

Dr. Kimberly Allen served as the inaugural CEO of 904WARD from 2020 to 2025. 

“I think we all make judgments all the time because that's just the nature of our brains and how it works, but wha...

The underlying causes of health disparities are many, and sometimes healthcare providers can exacerbate disparities with how they operate.

Health equity researchers have conducted "secret shopper" studies, revealing how healthcare providers limit appointments — and even treatment recommendations — to people with certain types of insurance.

“Patients with Medicaid were significantly less likely to be offered appointments compared to those with Medicare or private insurance, and in many cases, clinics told us they weren't accepting any new Medicaid patients or that they didn't take Medicaid at all,” says Dr. Daniel Wiznia, Associate Professor of Orthopaedics & Rehabilitation at Yale and...

What does it take to create healthy neighborhoods that include broad, deep, and permanent pathways to prosperity for low-income families? 

That question is the focus of today’s episode with Carol Redmond Naughton, CEO of Purpose Built Communities based in Atlanta.

“I really have become an  advocate for community development as a way to move the needle on  health outcomes. And I'm not talking about simply putting a kidney dialysis center in the bottom floor of a senior high rise,” Naughton says. “I don't mean to say that that's not a good thing to do, but we've g...

The case for diversity in healthcare professions is strong. Research shows that a diverse healthcare workforce improves health outcomes, particularly for patients of color, and also increases people’s access to care and their perception of the care they receive. 

Physicians of color are more likely to build careers in underserved communities, which can contribute even more toward the goal of reducing healthcare disparities.

So, what does it take to cultivate a strong and diverse health care workforce? On this week’s episode, we gain insights from two knowledgeable guests, who spoke with Dr. Hadiya Green...

Poverty is a key driver of health disparities. But numerous policies have been shown to help alleviate poverty and improve health equity, according to Dr. Rita Hamad, associate professor of social and behavioral sciences at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Hamad says policymakers need to look upstream and identify the root causes of health issues.

“And really recognizing that poverty is one of the major root causes of those issues, and that if we don't address that… those health issues are just going to keep arising and not getting any better,” she sa...

A diverse healthcare workforce is critical to improving outcomes for our diverse nation.

In order to achieve this, there needs to be both a pipeline and a pathway, says Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice, President and CEO of Morehouse School of Medicine.

“We need students to believe what’s possible in first grade and then chart a path,” she says.

Montgomery Rice says her own love and science and people led her to chart her career pathway that led her into academic medicine. “What if everybody was given that opportunity. What if everybody was told you...

Participating in religious activities appears to benefit cardiovascular health among Black Americans. It’s something we explored in an episode on this podcast a few years back.

Health systems, professional societies and researchers are increasingly recognizing that “faith-based organizations are trusted institutions within underserved communities and that people not only seek spiritual refuge and salvation in these places of worship, but they are also wonderful, trusted vessels to  distribute reliable health information,” says Dr. LaPrincess Brewer, a faculty member in the division of  Preventive Cardiology, department of Cardiovascular Medicine at Mayo Clinic.

“Participating in religious activities...

In today’s episode, we explore some big questions about community health — and how hospitals and health care workers can help promote equitable health outcomes in their communities.

The Community Health Needs Assessment, or CHNA, is a  powerful tool for promoting health equity, says Leslie Marshburn, Vice President of Strategy & Population Health at Grady Health System.

“We want to be hearing directly from the individuals that we serve — what they believe their community health needs are,” Marshburn says. The information is coupled with public data, “ideally at the most granular level, like the census track or zip code...

Across the globe and in the U.S., environmental crises loom large and threaten our most vulnerable populations. 

“There's a lot of dying that's happening now, and it's primarily among poor, Black and Brown people,” says Dr. Cheryl Holder, who’s on a personal mission to inspire clinicians to act on climate change. 

Holder explains that a person’s health and well-being is directly impacted by the environment they’re surrounded by.

“In celebrating and recognizing the environment, we recognize that this is how we define humanity, and how we create the environment for us to grow...

What motivates Joel Bervell, a.k.a. the Medical Mythbuster, to create social media content addressing racial disparities, the hidden history of medicine, and biases in healthcare? 

He’s seen how it can literally save lives.

A year after Bervell posted a video about disparities in pulse oximeters for Black patients, a man reached out to share that during the pandemic, he had reported to the hospital with shortness of breath, a fever and COVID symptoms. The pulse oximeter reported 100% oxygen saturation, so he was told to go home.

“But he felt horrible, and h...

Weight bias is pervasive and is one of the most common forms of bias in the U.S. 

When it comes to obesity medicine, patients can be their worst critics, says Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford, an obesity medicine physician scientist, educator, and policy maker at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

“They’re their worst critics because what they’ve heard from their doctors, their family members, their peers is that they have failed,” Dr. Stanford says. “My goal is to help them realize that they’re not, indeed, a failure. There are options. We can treat ...

It takes a village to find and implement strategies that promote positive health outcomes in communities across the U.S. — and the nation’s public health agency is working to promote these innovations.

“The best innovations that we've had for humankind have come from these types of collective strategies,” says Dr. Karen Hacker, director of the CDC National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion.

This week on the Health Disparities Podcast, we're joined by Dr. Hacker, who shares her insights on healthcare collaboration and bridging community-clinical services to help address social determinants of health...

Collaboration is the cure: Dr. Vivian Pinn calls for renewed efforts to bring about health equity

Speaking at the university where she was the only female and only African American student in her class, and in the auditorium named for her, “Healing Hate” conference keynote speaker Dr. Vivian Pinn reflects on progressing her career during eras of segregation, discrimination, and civil rights. 

Pinn says it’s important to address the erroneous historical racial stereotypes that have informed contemporary unconscious bias. In working toward health equity, she says interdisciplinary collaboration is critical.

“You’ve got to work...

Chronic stress from life in an unjust society can have measurable negative impacts on the health of people from marginalized backgrounds. 

The concept is known as weathering, and it’s the focus of the aptly named book by Arline Geronimus, a member of the National Academy of Medicine and a professor in the school of public health at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research.

Weathering is exacerbated by racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination, and can contribute to health disparities, leading to earlier onset of diseases like cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. 

...

Professor Augustus “Gus” White III didn’t just pioneer the understanding of unconscious bias through research methodology during his illustrious career as an orthopedic surgeon. The Harvard Medical School professor and author of “Overcoming” & “Seeing Patients” has also spent a lifetime fostering a culture of diversity and inclusion wherever he has worked, often by emphasizing our common humanity; his use of the term “fellow humans” to start speeches has become legendary.

“I think diversity and inclusion is a very important reality ideal to address,” White says. “It has numerous values for institutions, for people who are involved and for making progress...

Respectful, patient-centered communication can play a huge role in improving health outcomes and helping eliminate health disparities. 

In today’s episode hosted by Movement Is Life’s Conchita Burpee, we explore the critical elements of effective, patient-centered communication. Our guests:

When it comes to self-care, many people think of taking a break due to exhaustion or burnout. But the acts of self-care that make a real difference go beyond self-soothing, says Ariel Belgrave, an award-winning health and fitness expert, wellness consultant, and the founder of Gym Hooky. 

Belgrave challenges people to consider self-care as an investment in their future selves.

“The mindset shift I challenge folks to have is: thinking about the future version of you,” Belgrave says. “...The reality is: Taking care of yourself now could be the difference between your independence and being in a nu...

Over the past two decades, nearly 200 rural hospitals have closed, resulting in millions of Americans losing access to an emergency room, inpatient care, and other hospital services. And today, more than 700 rural hospitals in the U.S. – or approximately 1 in 3 – are at risk of closing due to financial problems, according to a report from the nonprofit Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform. 

All this comes at a time when rural health disparities are rampant. In the final episode of our rural health series, we consider solutions: What does it take to prevent rural hospital closures? What evide...