About the Center
In February 2009, Meharry Medical College received a grant to establish the Center for Health Policy. The Center exists to provide leadership in health policy education along with research and reform on national, state, and local levels, while continually supporting Meharry Medical College’s historic mission of improving the health and healthcare of minority and underserved communities.
Our Mission
The mission of the Center for Health Policy at Meharry Medical College is to increase the diversity of health policy leaders in the social, behavioral, and health sciences who will one day influence health policy at the national level. The Center offers a Certificate in Health Policy and integrates seminars, research activities, networking events and professional development workshops aimed at training the nation’s best and brightest health policy leaders.
The Center accomplishes its mission through four aims:
- Recruiting and matriculating diverse health and social scientists into the field of Health Policy.
- Developing a strong, collaborative environment that supports health policy education and scholarly development among faculty, fellows, scholars, and leadership that spans across Meharry Medical College and strategic partners.
- Creating a national reputation and image for the Center for Health Policy at Meharry Medical College, as a leading source for health policy, analysis, and research.
- Maintaining strong relationships with local and national community partners by collaborating on mutually beneficial projects that advance health equity.
Leadership
A. Dexter Samuels, Ph.D.
Senior Vice President for Student Affairs & Executive Director
Center for Health Policy Professor, School of Global Health
dsamuels@mmc.edu
Terrica Arnold, Ed.D.
Director of Operations, Innovations, & Community Initiatives
trarnold@mmc.edu
Our Staff
Kirsten Albritton
Director, C.A.P.E. Program
Center for Health Policy at Meharry Medical College
kalbritton@mmc.edu
National Advisory Board
The National Advisory Board of the Center for Health Policy at Meharry Medical College consists of experts and leaders in health and health policy from across the nation providing the center’s executive director with advice, guidance, and counsel in the development and implementation of the strategic plan, assistance in identifying opportunities for furthering the center’s development, and promotion of the center’s affiliated fellows and scholars.
James Blumstein, M.A., L.L.B.
University Professor of Law
Vanderbilt Law School
Director,
Vanderbilt Health Policy Center
Vanderbilt University
Chaka Burgess
CEO Nation Strategies
Susan Busch, Ph.D.
Associate Professor,
Public Health (Health Policy);
Faculty of Arts & Sciences
Chair, Health Policy & Management
Yale University
Ms. Rosalyn Carpenter
Vice President for Diversity & Inclusion
Catholic Health Initiatives
Englewood, Colorado
Lisa Dubay, Ph.D., Sc.M.
Senior Fellow
Urban Institute
Darrell J. Gaskin, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Health Economics
Department of Health Policy & Management
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Board Emeritus
William Frist, M.D.
Physician
Former U.S. Senator and Majority Leader
Nashville, Tennessee
Ad Hoc Members
A. Dexter Samuels, Ph.D.
Senior Vice President for Student Affairs & Executive Director
Center for Health Policy Professor, School of Global Health