Health Equity
Duke-Margolis aims to ensure that its health policy research and leadership contributes significantly to dismantling health inequities. The mission of the Duke-Margolis health equity agenda is to achieve measurable and equitable health outcomes among populations experiencing systemic exclusion by bridging health equity and health policy solutions. Our goals are to reduce inequities by applying a health equity lens to policy solutions and research that address systemic barriers to achieving full health and well-being and by preparing future leaders to apply health equity principles in their careers. We aim to increase evidence on policies that systematically reduce racism and disparities in health and implement policies and health system reforms that achieve measurable improvements in equity.
Learn more about our health equity policy agenda by program below.
Projects Relating to Health Equity
Health Equity and Responding to COVID-19
Across the Nation
Duke-Margolis is collaborating with local, state, and national leaders to identify and share best practices for the equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, testing, and therapeutics.
Around the World
Duke-Margolis Core Faculty members and researchers are focused on mitigating disruptions in primary care and other essential services, and increasing access to COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics in low- and middle-income countries. Read more about the global efforts led by Duke-Margolis, Center for Policy Impact in Global Health, Global Health Innovation Center, and Duke Global Health Institute here.
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Community Engagement in COVID-19 Policy Responses
COVID-19 GAP: The Global Accountability Platform
COVID-19 Health Equity Learning Network
Supporting Equitable COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution, Access, and Uptake
Health Equity in Healthcare Transformation
Duke-Margolis is developing evidence for equitable care delivery and payment strategies. Key health equity topic areas include: alternative payment models to improve health equity, centering equity in Medicaid transformation, data systems and measurement to allow for equity analysis, social drivers of health to be responsive to population health needs, and public health modernization.
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Health Care Transformation to Advance Health Equity
Timely Guidance on Payment and Coverage Reform
Health Equity in Biomedical Innovation
Duke-Margolis is supporting equitable development, use, and access of medical products for patients that need them. Key health equity topics include: clinical trial participation and representation, population health payment models for medical products, representation in development of AI algorithms, and RWE generation on long-term product safety and efficacy in multiple populations.
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Advancing Clinical Trials at the Point of Care (ACT@POC)
Health Equity in Global Health
Duke-Margolis is focused on aligning global health financing, care delivery, and access to services and medical products globally through policy reform. Key health equity topics include: global equitable pandemic preparedness and response, global health financing for value, and responding to syndemics (e.g., non-communicable diseases, climate change).
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COVID-19 GAP: The Global Accountability Platform
Women-Inspired Strategies for Healthcare
Addressing Health Equity through Scholarship
Duke-Margolis is equipping future health leaders with the tools and knowledge to assess and address systemic, root causes of health inequity; apply health equity principles to research, program and policy design; and develop policies that advance health equity. Key topics include: foundational knowledge of health equity, applying health equity principles to research design, policy development, and advocacy to advance evidence-based health equity policy, and building interpersonal and technical skills to address systemic root causes of health inequities.
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Duke-Margolis Bass Connections Projects
Duke-Margolis Bass Connections COVID-19 Pop-Up Theme
Anti-Racism and Health Equity Committee
Duke-Margolis established the Anti-Racism and Equity Committee (AREC) following George Floyd’s 2020 death from police brutality, We recognize as a Center the systemic racism and racial and ethnic health inequities present both nationally and locally. We are taking steps to be a workplace, and a research and education institution that embeds the values of anti-racism and equity in our research and academic programming. The Committee identified four high-level aims for the Center and its work:
- Research Practices and Priorities
- Academic Programming and Education
- Staffing, Recruitment, and Retention
- Communications and Operations
Read more about the ARE Committee here.
Duke-Margolis Faculty & Research Team
David Anderson
Research Associate, Health Policy Evidence Hub
Gary Bennett, PhD
Bishop-McDermott Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience
Margolis Core Faculty
William K. Bleser, PhD, MSPH
Assistant Research Director, Health Care Transformation for Population Health, Social Needs, and Health Equity
Senior Team Member
Anti-Racism and Equity Committee Member
Hayden Bosworth, PhD
Professor in Population Health Sciences
Margolis Affiliated Faculty
Nathan Boucher, DrPH
Faculty Director, Health Policy Undergraduate Certificate
Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Sanford School of Public Policy
Associate Research Professor in the Sanford School of Public Policy
Margolis Core Faculty
Rushina Cholera, MD
Medical Instructor in the Department of Pediatrics
2020 Intern Mentor
Anti-Racism and Equity Committee Member
Lesley Curtis, PhD
Chair and Professor, Department of Population Health Sciences
Margolis Executive Core Faculty
Michelle Franklin, PhD
Core Faculty Member
Anti-Racism and Equity Committee Member
Mira Gill
Policy Analyst
Katie Huber, MPH
Senior Policy Analyst
Greeshma James, MPH
Policy Analyst
Kamaria Kaalund
Policy Analyst
Anti-Racism and Equity Committee Member
Monica Lemmon, MD
Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Population Health Sciences
Margolis Core Faculty
Herbert Kim Lyerly, MD
George Barth Geller Distinguished Professor of Surgery
Margolis Core Faculty
Jasmine Masand, (MPP '21)
Anti-Racism and Equity Committee Member
Mark McClellan, MD, PhD
Director of Margolis Center
Robert J. Margolis, MD, Professor of Business, Medicine and Policy
Margolis Executive Core Faculty
Jacqueline Nikpour, (PhD '21)
Anti-Racism and Equity Committee Member
Valerie Parker
Senior Policy Analyst
Steven Patierno, PhD
Professor of Medicine, Community & Family Medicine, Pharmacology and Cancer Biology
Margolis Core Faculty
Sarah Dunn Phillips, MA
Associate Director of Education, Margolis Center
Bass Connections COVID-19 Theme Administrator
2020 Intern Mentor
Anti-Racism and Equity Committee Member
Yolande Pokam Tchuisseu, MSc
Senior Policy Analyst
Janet Prvu Bettger, ScD, FAHA
Margolis Core Faculty
Associate Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery
2020 Intern Mentor
Anti-Racism and Equity Committee Member
Nimmi Ramanujam, PhD
Robert W. Carr, Jr., Distinguished Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Margolis Core Faculty
Barak Richman, PhD
Edgar P. and Elizabeth C. Bartlett Professor of Law
Margolis Executive Core Faculty
2020 Intern Mentor
Barak Richman, PhD
Edgar P. and Elizabeth C. Bartlett Professor of Law
Margolis Executive Core Faculty
2020 Intern Mentor
Neil Rowen
Policy Research Assistant
Gillian Sanders Schmidler, PhD
Deputy Director, Margolis Center
Professor of Population Health Sciences, School of Medicine
Margolis Executive Core Faculty
Anti-Racism and Equity Committee Member
Devdutta Sangvai, MD, MBA
Faculty Director of the Margolis Summer Experience
Professor, Family Medicine, Pediatrics, Psychiatry
Duke SOM Professor, Program in Education
2020 Intern Mentor
Anti-Racism and Equity Committee Member
Robert Saunders, PhD
Senior Research Director, Health Care Transformation
Adjunct Associate Professor
Senior Team Member
Margolis Core Faculty
Mina Silberberg, PhD
Associate Professor in Family Medicine and Community Health
Margolis Core Faculty
Christina Silcox, PhD
Research Director, Digital Health
Adjunct Assistant Professor
Senior Team Member
Margolis Core Faculty
Cara Smith
Health Equity Policy & Primary Care Fellow
Corinna Sorenson, PhD, MHSA, MPH
Faculty Director of Undergraduate and Graduate Studies
Senior Advisor and Founding Director, Margolis Scholars Program
Assistant Professor in Population Health Sciences and Public Policy
Margolis Core Faculty
Anti-Racism and Equity Committee Member
Barbara Katherine Swartz
Visiting Professor in the Sanford School of Public Policy
Donald H. Taylor, PhD, MPP
Professor in the Sanford School of Public Policy
Margolis Executive Core Faculty
Anti-Racism and Equity Committee Member
Andrea Thoumi, MPP, MSc
Health Equity Policy Fellow
Faculty Director of Health Equity Educational Programming
Senior Team Member
Anti-Racism and Equity Committee Member
Core Faculty Member
Adjunct Assistant Professor
2020 Intern Mentor
Peter Ubel, MD
Madge and Dennis T. McLawhorn University Professor
Margolis Core Faculty
Krishna Udayakumar, MD, MBA
Director of Post-Graduate Education Initiatives, Margolis Center
Associate Professor of Global Health and Medicine
Margolis Executive Core Faculty
2020 Intern Mentor
Courtney Van Houtven, PhD
Professor in Population Health Sciences
Margolis Core Faculty
2020 Intern Mentor
Michael (Buz) Waitzkin, JD
Faculty Director of Education Special Projects
Bass Connections COVID-19 Theme Faculty Lead
Margolis Core Faculty
Deputy Director of the Duke Initiative for Science & Society
Frank Wharam
Core Faculty Member
Professor of Medicine in the Division of General Internal Medicine
Rebecca Whitaker, PhD, MSPH
Research Director, North Carolina Health Care Transformation
Senior Team Member
Anti-Racism and Equity Committee Member
Charlene Wong, MD, MSHP
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics
Margolis Core Faculty
2020 Intern Mentor
Gavin Yamey, MD, MPH
Hymowitz Professor of the Practice of Global Health, Duke Global Health Institute
Margolis Core Faculty
2020 Intern Mentor
Sandra Yankah, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Researcher
News Update September 1, 2022
Press Release May 10, 2022
Community-Based COVID-19 Testing Ensures Protection for All Populations
As the nation surpasses more than one million deaths due to COVID-19—currently, the third leading...
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Press Release January 19, 2022
Test to Stay Programs Will Keep Schools Open—If States Provide Sufficient Staffing and Support
The issue brief details key takeaways from early data on Test to Stay programs. Test to Stay can...
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December 14, 2021
Duke-Margolis Postdoctoral Program in Health Policy
Educating the next-generation of health policy professionals comes at critical juncture with the US...
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