The Commonwealth Fund Fellows pose with Joseph Betancourt for a photo.

The 2023 Minority Health Policy Meeting, held this year at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine, featured presentations from the Commonwealth Fund fellows, the Joseph L. Henry Oral Health fellow, and HMS faculty fellows. Health professionals, students, residents, staff, and individuals from community agencies and organizations had the chance to learn more about health care disparity issues impacting this country’s most vulnerable populations.

The Commonwealth Fund Fellowship in Minority Health Policy at Harvard University is a year-long program for physicians offering intensive study in health policy, public health, and management. These fellows are dedicated to transforming health care delivery systems for historically marginalized populations. This program culminates in the fellows presenting their practicum projects at the end of the academic year. Since 1996, over 150 leaders in medicine and in other health professions have participated in the fellowship programs. They’ve gone on to assume leadership positions in government, academia and private sectors to address public health, health policy and minority health issues . 100% of them are engaged in policy, research, and health service delivery to vulnerable populations.

Joseph Betancourt, president of the Commonwealth Fund, delivered the keynote speech for the event. He covered his 25-year journey from being one of the first Commonwealth Fund fellows to becoming president of the organization this year. The grandson of Puerto Rican immigrants credited his family’s support during his education in the New York/New Jersey area. While in medical school, Betancourt witnessed the impact of health care on communities of color. Once he became a Commonwealth Fund fellow after residency, he knew he wanted to continue building equitable and affordable health care for all. “It’s not about pedigree, it’s about potential,” he said in reference to the Commonwealth Fund investing in people who advance health equity, no matter their background.

Betancourt also touched on the disparities within the current health system - what has been done, what is in process, and what can be worked on to address them. Social drivers like government policies, access, as well as race and ethnicity still play a heavy role in quality of care. He packaged the history of health equity momentum into several “chapters,” covering early publications highlighting health disparities to two recent seminal events: the murder of George Floyd and the COVID-19 pandemic that called for meaningful change with urgency. Betancourt ended his address with several calls-to-action, stating, “We have a lot of work to do, and it is our work to do.”

Presentations

Commonwealth Fund Fellows in Minority Health Policy at Harvard University and Joseph L. Henry Oral Health Fellow

  • Kevin M. Simon, “Navigating Youth Behavioral Health in Boston as Chief Behavioral Health Officer”
    • Simon became the Boston’s first Chief Behavioral Health Officer and has been leading the charge on improving behavioral health disparities among communities most affected by racism and structural violence.
  • Nora Abo-Sido, “A Community-Centered City of Boston Chronic Disease and Cancer Early Detection Plan”
    • Abo-Sido studied the disparities of colorectal cancer mortality rates of minoritized communities in the Boston area and helped develop a public campaign to educate and provide resources for colorectal cancer screenings.
  • Eftitan Akam, “Communicating a Framework for Improving Health Equity Data Collection in MassHealth”
    • Akam reviewed MassHealth’s data collection processes to establish a framework for healthy equity data collection standards, specifically regarding race and ethnicity data.
  • Zerita Buchanan, “Examining Commercial Dental Insurance Reimbursement Patterns by Geographic Area”
    • Buchanan studied licensed dental providers in Georgia counties to measure how commercial dental insurance plans play into the wealth disparity between white and minoritized dentists.
  • Nasrien Ibrahim, “The Role of Hospital Policies in Reducing Inequities in Organ Transplantation”
    • Ibrahim recommended changes in institutional organ transplant policies after researching and highlighting the inequities in the medical, financial, and social prerequisites for transplant eligibility.
  • Brittany Watson, “Advancing Person-Centered Care for People Living with Multiple Chronic Conditions to Improve Quality and Outcomes of Care”
    • Watson surveyed people involved in person-centered care planning to gain clarity on best practices to improve outcomes for people living with multiple chronic conditions (MCCs).

HMS Faculty Fellows

  • Marcella Luercio, “How Language Used in Pediatric Residents’ Performance Evaluations Differ by Gender and Underrepresented in Medicine Status”
    • Luercio worked on a study showing that non-underrepresented minorities in medicine pediatric patients were more often described by competency attributes than underrepresented patients in performance evaluations.
  • Carmen Monthé-Drezè, “The Placental Transcriptome and Newborn Adiposity: Characterizing the Role of Novel Lipid Bioactives in Human Pregnancies”
    • Monthé-Drezè showed that placental specialized pro-resolving lipid mediators (SPMs) are decreased in pregnancies complicated by obesity, and that their relative concentrations are associated with neonatal adiposity.
  • Dennis Spencer, “Modification of Gut Microbiome Antibiotic Resistance through Dietary Glycans”
    • Spencer worked on determining which dietary sugars impact Bacteroides antibiotic susceptibility and understand the mechanisms of this phenomenon to help prevent severe infections by gastrointestinal pathogens.