Professor Mona Fouad, M.D., MPH, a nationally recognized leader in health disparities research and senior associate dean for Diversity and Inclusion in the UAB Marnix E. Heersink School of Medicine, will join UAB’s Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (ODEI) as associate vice president beginning July 1.

In her expanded role, Dr. Fouad will work with ODEI to broaden and strengthen the links between the university and UAB Medicine and advance the goals of Live HealthSmart Alabama, a comprehensive plan for advocating and implementing changes to policy, systems and the built environment that promote health and wellness throughout Alabama.

Fouad’s extensive work to reduce health disparities within diverse populations, her success with DEI initiatives in the School of Medicine and her leadership development skills will be invaluable, says Paulette Patterson Dilworth, UAB’s vice president for Diversity Equity and Inclusion. “We are eager to work with Dr. Fouad and elevate Live HealthSmart Alabama as part of our overall strategic effort,” she said. “This is the natural growth and evolution of a highly successful, interdisciplinary program into one that institutionalizes our shared values of diversity, equity and inclusion.”

“I am excited to expand our health disparities work and assist Dr. Dilworth and ODEI with the exceptional initiatives already underway,” said Fouad, senior associate dean of the School of Medicine Office for Diversity and Inclusion and CEO of Live HealthSmart Alabama, a bold initiative launched by UAB’s Grand Challenge in 2019.

Fouad, as director of the UAB Division of Preventive Medicine and founding director of the UAB Minority Health & Health Equity Research Center, has laid the foundation for research and public health interventions that make health care more accessible and equitable. Fouad also has played a prominent leadership role, regionally and nationally, in promoting diversity in medical education, and within the UAB School of Medicine, she has worked to attract and recruit faculty from underrepresented populations and support their development as independent scientists.

As a result of her "lifetime of exceptional work in health and medicine," Fouad was elected a member of the National Academy of Medicine in 2017. 

“Given her central role in UAB’s School of Medicine, Minority Health & Health Equity Research Center, and Live HealthSmart Alabama and her national role in disparities research, Dr. Fouad is the right person to bring this added dimension to the work of the Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion,” said Anupam Agarwal, M.D., executive vice dean, Heersink School of Medicine.