Senior Associate Dean for Diversity and Inclusion, Heersink School of Medicine
Director, Minority Health and Health Disparities Research Center

Dr. Fouad is Senior Associate Dean for Diversity and Inclusion in the Heersink School of Medicine and Professor of Medicine and Director of the UAB Division of Preventive Medicine. She also is the Founding Director of the UAB Minority Health and Health Disparities Research Center. Fouad is recognized nationally as a leader in health disparities research and has served as a member of the NIH National Advisory Council on Minority Health and Health Disparities. She obtained her MD from Alexandria University School of Medicine in Alexandria, Egypt, and her MPH from the University of Alabama School of Public Health. She has been the PI on numerous federally funded projects. Most of this funding has been for projects with a common theme of improving health and preventing disease in minorities. Fouad is PI of the NIH/NIMHD P60 Comprehensive Minority Health and Health Disparities Research Center, funded since 2003, and the Mid-South Transdisciplinary Collaborative Center for Health Disparities Research to reduce the disparities in chronic disease burden experienced by African Americans in six Mid-South states and nationally. Her ground-breaking work as a PI on other federally funded endeavors has made, and continues to make, great strides in addressing health disparities in cervical, breast, lung, prostate, colorectal and ovarian cancer. She has played a prominent leadership role in the merging of efforts with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to train minority researchers and leaders in order to eliminate health disparities. She serves as co-PI for the NCI-funded Morehouse School of Medicine/Tuskegee University/UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center Partnership, in which she is responsible for the training and career development of minority students and faculty to enhance their research capabilities. Through these efforts, as well as by generously devoting time to trainees whom she personally and successfully mentors, Fouad is making an enormous contribution to the next generation of researchers and leaders in the fight against health disparities.

Mona Fouad's long-standing efforts have been recognized nationally by receiving the 2005 Excellence in Eliminating Health Disparities Award by the American Medical Association's Program on Health Disparities, and the 2004 Sullivan Best Practice Award in recognition of outstanding work to reduce health disparities in the U.S. by the Association of Academic Health Centers. On the local and state levels, she has been recognized with the 2014 B-Metro Fusion Award, presented by the City of Birmingham to recognize people in the city who represent excellence in their chosen fields and foster, cultivate, and exemplify a wide array of diversity in our community; the 2014 Women's Leadership Award, Woman of Impact Award; the 2008 UAB President's Diversity Faculty Award; the 2007 Woman of the Year, "Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things, Alabama Power Community Service Award"; and the 2004 Odessa Woolfolk Community Service Award. Fouad served as the Charter Chair for the Commission on the Status of Women at UAB from 2004-2008.

Associate Dean for Diversity and Inclusion at the Heersink School of Medicine
Medical Director at Cooper Green Mercy Health Services Authority

Raegan W. Durant, M.D., MPH is an accomplished physician, academic and the Associate Dean for Diversity and Inclusion at the Heersink School of Medicine. He received his medical degree from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in 2000 and completed his Internal Medicine residency at Duke in 2003. Following this, he completed a General Internal Medicine Fellowship at Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in 2006.  During his fellowship he also received his Master of Public Health degree from the Harvard School of Public Health. 

Dr. Durant's work focuses on health disparities related to chronic disease outcomes and participation of minoritized groups in clinical trials. He is a tenured Professor in the Division of Preventive Medicine at the Heersink School of Medicine and serves as the Medical Director at Cooper Green Mercy Health Services Authority. Durant has also been recognized for his outstanding contributions to diversity enhancement, receiving the Heersink School of Medicine 2017 Dean’s Excellence Award.  Dr. Durant is also an Associate Editor for JAMA Internal Medicine. 

As the Associate Dean for Diversity and Inclusion, Durant is responsible for leading efforts to achieve excellence through diversity, fostering an inclusive campus environment, and supporting the success of students, trainees, and faculty. He works closely with the Anupam Agarwal, M.D., dean of the Heersink School of Medicine, senior vice president of Medicine and chair of the Health Services Foundation Board, and the Senior Associate Dean of Diversity and Inclusion, Mona Fouad, M.D., MPH, on strategic and programmatic initiatives related to diversity and inclusion. Dr. Durant serves as an internal leader and advisor, coordinate school-wide diversity training initiatives, and develop policies and programs to attract and recruit a diverse workforce. 

Transplant Surgeon
Assistant Dean for Medical Student Diversity and Inclusion

Dr. Young was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He attended Villanova University where he ran track. In 1983, he was the NCAA 440 yard Indoor Champion. In addition to his athletic accomplishments, he was also a Rhodes Scholarship Finalist in 1983.

He attended Johns Hopkins School of Medicine before training in general surgery at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia. He then completed his transplant fellowship at the University of Wisconsin.

Young was named Assistant Dean in the Office of Diversity & Multicultural Affairs (ODMA) at the Heersink School of Medicine in 2013. As part of the ODMA, he is responsible for developing partnerships with undergraduate students and programs to help those students be more competetive in applying to medical school. He has been and continues to serve as a professor in the Department of Surgery since 1997, director of the pancreas transplant program and the director of pediatric renal transplantation. His research focuses on health disparities in transplantation, primarily in African Americans, an interest he says will dovetail well with his current responsibilities.

Assistant Professor, Division of Infectious Disease
Assistant Dean, Diversity and Inclusion for Medical Education

Dr. Latesha Elopre is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Infectious Disease at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). She is an Associate Scientist for the UAB Center for AIDS Research and serves as Assistant Dean for Diversity and Inclusion for Medical Education. Dr. Elopre completed her medical degree at University of Florida’s College of Medicine. She then completed Internal Medicine Residency and Infectious Diseases’ Fellowship training at UAB. During this time, she also received her Master of Science in Public Health in Applied Epidemiology. Her research has focused on how to improve HIV prevention among vulnerable populations facing high-levels of stigma. Dr. Elopre is enthusiastic and extremely passionate to decrease HIV health disparities in the South, understanding the importance in engaging community partners and stakeholders to improve HIV outcomes and uptake of prevention tools like PrEP.