UAB Healthy Living Research Center Symposium 2026

Scott Harris, MD, MPH, was appointed Acting State Health Officer for the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) in September 2017 and formally designated as Alabama’s 12^th State Health Officer in February 2018.   A graduate of Harding University in Arkansas, Dr. Harris attended medical school at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Medicine and served an internal medicine internship and residency at Carraway Methodist Medical Center in Birmingham before returning to UAB to complete a fellowship in adult infectious diseases.  He earned his MPH from the UAB School of Public Health. 

In 1996, he began his practice in general infectious diseases and HIV medicine in Decatur, Alabama, and began serving as tuberculosis consultant with ADPH.  In 2004, he helped to establish the Decatur-Morgan Community Free Clinic, serving thirteen years as the medical director, as well as a board member and board chair.  The non-profit clinic offers health care and dental care at no charge to low income, medically uninsured residents, and relies heavily on community volunteers. 

His tenure as State Health Officer has included leading the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, overseeing the Alabama’s Children’s Health Insurance Program (All Kids), co-chairing the Governor’s Opioid Overdose & Addiction Council, and broadening the agency’s work in areas such as infant mortality and childhood immunization. 

Dr. Harris served as a volunteer physician in Central America, South America, and Africa.  In additional to his board certification in internal medicine and infectious disease, he has additional certificates of qualification in tropical medicine from the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, and in travel medicine from the International Society of Travel Medicine.  He currently serves as a board member of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO), the national nonpartisan association that represents state and territorial public health agencies in the US.  He also served as the organization’s 82^nd President from 2024-2025. 

He and his wife Sandy have four children and reside in Montgomery.

Dr. George Mensah is a clinician-scientist who currently serves as the Director of the Center for Translation Research and Implementation Science at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). In this role, Dr. Mensah leads an NHLBI-wide effort to advance late-stage translational research and implementation science to address gaps in the prevention, treatment, and control of heart, lung, and blood diseases and the elimination of related health disparities.  His goal is to maximize the population health impact of advances made in fundamental discovery science and pre-clinical or early-stage translational research. An important part of this effort is his support for meaningful community-engaged research and implementation science to advance equitable access and quality care, especially in underserved communities.

Dr. Mensah is an honors graduate of Harvard University.  He obtained his medical degree from Washington University and trained in Internal Medicine and Cardiology at Cornell.  His professional experience includes nearly 30 years of public health service between the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the NIH. In addition to his public service, Dr. Mensah had 15 years of experience in direct patient care, teaching, and research at Cornell, Vanderbilt, and the Medical College of Georgia (MCG).  He was a full professor with tenure at MCG and is currently a Visiting Full Professor at the University of Cape Town, South Africa.

Dr. Mensah has been admitted to fellowships in several national and international societies including the American Heart Association, American College of Cardiology, and the European Society of Cardiology.  He is an Honorary Fellow of the College of Physicians of South Africa. He maintains active collaboration with several international groups to advance research on the global burden of diseases and risk factors.

Apurva Patel serves as the US Social Impact Director at Novo Nordisk Inc. In this capacity, he oversees the company’s philanthropic partnerships and investments across the United States. His leadership extends to chronic disease prevention initiatives, particularly those aimed at improving food nutrition and reforming food systems for vulnerable populations.

Over the course of more than 25 years, Apurva Patel has worked with non-governmental organizations to design, implement, and evaluate community development projects worldwide. His experience spans Latin America, Africa, Asia, and the United States, focusing on areas such as infectious disease control, chronic disease prevention and management, building community resilience, disaster response, and climate change adaptation.

Prior to joining Novo Nordisk, Apurva Patel co-founded Mission Critical Development, a consulting firm that provided enterprise project and portfolio management solutions to community development organizations. Earlier in his career, he served as the Regional Director for Africa at the American Red Cross, where he managed long-term community development projects, led the Global Measles/Rubella Initiative, and directed emergency response operations.