The Health Disparities Podcast

In this episode of The Health Disparities Podcast, host Ber‑Henda Williams sits down with Dr. Caira Boggs, Director of the Michigan Public Health Institute’s Center for Health Innovation and Practice and Detroit Health Initiatives. A proud Detroit native and Detroit Public Schools graduate, Dr. Boggs leads 16 initiatives focused on health equity, recovery, food access, chronic disease prevention,...

In this episode of The Health Disparities Podcast, host Michael Randall talks with Danielle Lewinski, Chief Program Officer at the Center for Community Progress, about how vacant properties, neighborhood conditions, and public policy directly shape health outcomes. Danielle breaks down why the U.S. has millions of vacant and substandard homes and how these conditions fuel chronic disease, mobility...

In this episode of The Health Disparities Podcast, host Ber‑Henda Williams sits down with Dexter Sullivan—global strategist, community builder, and CEO of the Black Legacy Advancement Coalition. Dexter opens up about his Detroit roots, the generational stories that shaped him, and the urgent work of preserving Black legacy as a pathway to better health and stronger communities. He reflects on the...

In this episode of The Health Disparities Podcast, Dr. Mary O’Connor speaks with Stephanie A. Wynn—author, Crohn’s survivor, and founder of The Stephanie A. Wynn Foundation. Stephanie shares her powerful journey through years of misdiagnosis, medical dismissal, pregnancy loss, and a near‑death experience that ultimately shaped her mission to support underserved IBD patients. She breaks down the ba...

In this rewind episode, we explore the concept of weathering — the cumulative, biological toll that chronic stress from living in an unjust society can have on people from marginalized communities. This framework helps explain why health disparities persist, and why they often deepen over time. Our guest is Dr. Arline Geronimus, a member of the National Academy of Medicine and a professor at the U...

In this episode of The Health Disparities Podcast, host Joyce Knestrick sits down with Mia L. Jones, Chief Executive Officer of Agape Family Health, a community‑rooted health system serving Jacksonville with comprehensive medical, pharmaceutical, and behavioral health services. Agape’s mission is simple and powerful: “everyone deserves quality, affordable care delivered with compassion, regardless...

In this episode of The Health Disparities Podcast, host Desiree Clemons talks with Maria Haugen, Founder and CEO of FoXX Health. After experiencing months of dismissed symptoms, delayed testing, and uncertainty, Maria created FoXX—a daily health companion designed to help women track symptoms, prepare for appointments, and advocate for better care. Her story reflects a reality many women face in h...

In this episode of The Health Disparities Podcast, host Dr. Mary O’Connor talks with Angela Strain, Executive Director of We Care Jax. For over 30 years, this organization has connected uninsured and under-resourced neighbors to lifesaving specialty care.   Angela shares powerful patient stories and draws on years of experience to show what it takes to remove barriers, build trust, and create a sa...

What does real community‑centered health equity look like, and what does it take to sustain it? In this episode of The Health Disparities Podcast, host Jerail Fennell sits down with two powerful leaders in community health: Dr. Atiya Abdelmalik and ReGina Newkirk Rucci. Together, they unpack the lived experiences, grassroots strategies, and relationship‑building that fuel their work across the cou...

How do we protect and advance health equity in a rapidly changing political and legal landscape? In this episode of The Health Disparities Podcast, host Christin Zollicoffer sits down with Dr. Giridhar Mallya — family physician, policy leader, and Senior Policy Officer at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation — to explore the future of health and racial equity work. Dr. Mallya shares how his family’s...

What does it take to rise after life tells you “you can’t”? In this episode of The Health Disparities Podcast, we sit down with Grace Moore —Financial Empowerment Specialist, Founder, Speaker, and 2025 Movement Is Life Health Summit Speaker—whose journey is a powerful testament to resilience, faith, and the transformative force of mindset. At just 17, Grace was told she would never walk again. Aft...

What does it really take for women to break free from burnout and reclaim their health, confidence, and power? In this episode of The Health Disparities Podcast, we sit down with fitness entrepreneur and wellness leader Tyneka Pack , Founder & CEO of IMPACKT Fitness , to explore how movement can transform not just bodies, but entire careers and communities. Tyneka shares how her own journey th...

Mental health is an important part of our overall health, but many people confront barriers that keep them from accessing the mental health care they need. A program in Boston aims to  address mental health disparities by disrupting traditional health care models. The Boston Emergency Services Team, or BEST , is led by Dr. David Henderson , chief of psychiatry at Boston Medical Center.  BEST bring...

When it comes to addressing health disparities, it’s critically important that healthcare providers and researchers take a proactive approach to building trust with the communities we aim to serve. As founding director of the Center for Reducing Health Disparities at UC Davis, Dr. Sergio Aguilar-Gaxiola has decades of experience with this approach. “It is possible to overcome the barriers of acces...

In the late-1980s, Father Gregory Boyle witnessed the devastating  impact of gang violence in his community during the so-called Decade of  Death that peaked at 1,000 gang-related  killings in 1992 in Los Angeles.  In the face of criminal justice policies of  suppression and mass incarceration, Father Boyle and community members adopted what was a radical approach – at the time – to treat gang mem...

There’s no single fix to closing gaps in health care outcomes, says Dr. Maureen Bell, physician director of community impact at Vituity, where she leads efforts to identify and eliminate health disparities.  “There are multiple things that we have to work on,” Bell says, including increasing diversity in the healthcare workforce and educating providers on strategies for providing equitable care an...

When orthopedic surgeon Dr. Lattisha Bilbrew looks at a knee X-ray, she’s not just checking for arthritis or bone alignment. She’s studying shades of muscle and fat — clues to a patient’s strength, resilience and untapped potential. “Sometimes I’ll have a woman come in and say, ‘I’m overweight,’” Bilbrew says. “And I’ll look at her X-rays and say, ‘Yes, I see the fat — but you’ve got tons of muscl...

What would it take for health care providers to truly meet people where they are – and go beyond the 15-minute visit? Dr. Razia Jayman-Aristide is a physician who blends deep clinical expertise with a powerful public health lens. She has spent the last 15 years building a career that bridges direct patient care, nonprofit leadership and systemic change. In this episode, Dr. Jayman-Aristide shares...

Systemic racism continues to shape medical education, clinical practice and patient outcomes. It’s a topic near and dear to Dr. Uché Blackstock —physician, health equity advocate, and New York Times bestselling author of Legacy: A Black Physician Reckons with Racism in Medicine. In this episode, Dr. Blackstock reflects on her own experiences as a Black woman in medicine, including a misdiagnosis d...

Health misinformation is a growing challenge, as social media has become a primary source of information for many people, and influential voices are casting doubt on established medical practices.  Trusted health sources are becoming harder to find, especially in communities of color where access to care is already limited and systemic barriers persist.  The fight to bring reliable health informat...

There are numerous social and structural vectors for disease that are not often discussed in medical school. So, Dr. David Ansell says he had a lot to learn once he became a physician. Ansell, author of “ The Death Gap: How Inequality Kills ,” writes about the stark disparities in access to treatment and outcomes for patients in the U.S. healthcare system. “We always talk about inequities. We have...

Food insecurity is a systemic public health issue that needs to be addressed because reliable access to healthy food is critical to positive health outcomes. Health care partnerships are forming to improve access to healthy foods in some states, including Massachusetts, which is at the forefront of addressing food insecurity with programs that allow Medicaid funding to be used to address social de...

Conversation is an important part of bringing an end to racism so that everyone thrives in our society. It’s something that the leaders of 904Ward care deeply about.  The 904Ward organization evolved the Jacksonville 904 dialing area code into a nonprofit whose mission is to create racial healing and equity through deep conversations and learning, trusting relationships, and collective action.  Dr...

The underlying causes of health disparities are many, and sometimes healthcare providers can exacerbate disparities with how they operate. Health equity researchers have conducted "secret shopper" studies , revealing how healthcare providers limit appointments — and even treatment recommendations — to people with certain types of insurance. “Patients with Medicaid were significantly less likely to...

What does it take to create healthy neighborhoods that include broad, deep, and permanent pathways to prosperity for low-income families?  That question is the focus of today’s episode with Carol Redmond Naughton, CEO of Purpose Built Communities based in Atlanta. “I really have become an  advocate for community development as a way to move the needle on  health outcomes. And I'm not talking about...