Established from the Racial Justice Work Group, to help identify priorities for our school, the Staff Diversity Liaisons was created to increase support and programming for the professional advancement of underrepresented staff at the Heersink School of Medicine.
To assemble the group, we asked each department and campus to appoint one staff person for this role—though large departments had the option of appointing more than one representative.
Members of the group are expected to:
- Have an interest in enhancing the diversity of the SOM and building a more inclusive environment for all.
- Advise ODI and provide feedback and input on our priorities, initiatives, activities, and issues.
- Help us understand the various cultures within our departments—their needs, and how they may best be supported.
We are excited to have the advice and knowledge of the Staff Diversity Liaisons working alongside our ODI team. Below is a complete list of each department and its representative.
If you have questions about the Staff Diversity Liaisons, feel free to contact the liaison listed below for your department, or contact ODI Program Director, Dr. Leisha Hultgren at lhultgre@uab.edu.

Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine
Debbie Owen
dmowen@uabmc.edu

Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics
Dion Lewis
dlewis11@uab.edu

Biomedical Engineering
Tomeka Wilson
wilsont@uab.edu

Cell, Developmental, and Integrative Biology
Megan Rollins
meganr22@uab.edu

Dermatology
Jami Armbrester
jkarmbrester@uabmc.edu

Emergency Medicine
Whitney Covington
wcovington@uabmc.edu

Family and Community Medicine (1/2)
Adrienne Fowler-Payne
alfowler@uabmc.edu

Family and Community Medicine (2/2)
Shyla K. Fields
skcampbell@uabmc.edu

Genetics
Tanya Wiggins
twigg@uab.edu

Medical Education
Erica Brown
ebrown@uab.edu

Medicine (1/6)
Carolyn Walsh
carolynwalsh@uabmc.edu

Medicine (2/6)
Claire Auriemma
caur@uab.edu

Medicine (3/6)
Tatiana Torres Herman
ttherman@uabmc.edu

Medicine (4/6)
Samuel Boadu
sboadu@uabmc.edu

Medicine (5/6)
Mischell Massey, MBA
mischellmassey@uabmc.edu

Medicine (6/6)
Landon Wood
ldwood@uabmc.edu

Microbiology
Bruce McEntyre
bdmc@uab.edu

Neurobiology
Lara Ianov
lianov@uab.edu

Neurology
Shirley Gibbs
sgibbs@uabmc.edu

Neurosurgery
Jennifer Lancaster
jllancaster@uabmc.edu

Obstetrics & Gynecology
Kevin Freeman
kevinfreeman@uabmc.edu

Ophthalmology
Carlon Harris
caharris@uabmc.edu

Orthopaedic Surgery
Dominique Square
squared@uab.edu

Otolaryngology
Sharon Jacobs
scjacobs@uabmc.edu

Pathology
Monica Henderson
maraula3@uab.edu

Pediatrics
Jessica Ward, MBA
Clinical Program Coordinator II
jaward@uab.edu

Pharmacology/Toxicology
LaShun Lanier
llanier@uab.edu

Psychiatry
Nicole Guyton
nguyton@uabmc.edu

Radiology
Leema Lutfi
llutfi@uabmc.edu

Radiation Oncology
Selina Todd
stodd@uabmc.edu

Surgery
Jeffery Steele
jtsteele@uabmc.edu

Urology
Liranda Howard
lirandacoleman@uabmc.edu

Huntsville Regional Medical Campus
Kimberly Berger
kberger@uabmc.edu