Antonia Villarruel, the Margaret Bond Simon Dean of the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, will chair the second phase of the National Academy of Medicine’s (NAM) Culture of Health Program (CoHP) Advisory Committee, which engages a diverse group of experts/advisors to provide strategic guidance to ensure the CoHP meets its intended aims. Her term runs from 2021 through 2023.

The CoHP—funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation—was established in 2015 to identify strategies to create and sustain conditions that support equitable good health for everyone in America. The COVID-19 pandemic has most recently illuminated the long-existing health disparities experienced by people of color, and the nation is readier than ever before to acknowledge that one of the root causes of health inequity is structural racism. The pandemic has likewise amplified unequal allocation of power and resources as another underlying cause of health inequity.

Current events in the United States present an extraordinary opportunity to advance health equity. The CoHP intends to build on the work of the past five years to strengthen and expand efforts to eliminate health disparities and achieve health equity for everyone in America.

“The Culture of Health Program is well-positioned to build and strengthen the evidence base to address structural racism. This work will be accomplished together with communities and the multiple private- and public-sectors that intersect to promote health,” said Dean Villarruel. “I look forward to working with NAM and the new and returning committee members to advance this important initiative.”