The Office of Health Equity supports our institutional mission of excellence in education, research, and service by fostering a broad range of perspectives, world views, and experiences within our clinical and scientific workforce and our teaching faculty.

We strive to provide a welcoming environment to the UMass Chan community and our learners, who represent the next generation of clinicians, scientists, and educators. We also aim to encourage strong role models and mentors from a variety of backgrounds for all learners. Our efforts include initiatives focused on increasing faculty representation from all social groups, with particular attention to those who have historically had limited participation in medicine and the biomedical sciences. To achieve these goals, our office promotes best practices for faculty recruitment and career advancement at UMass Chan through programs and strategies such as pipeline initiatives, broad outreach, cluster hiring, and compensation for health equity contributions.

Our office also enhances advancement opportunities for all faculty by providing mentoring and structured career development programs such as the Investigator Career Advancement Program (iCAP).

The Office of Health Equity is home to the Collaborative for Health Equity, supporting the growth and advancement of cross-disciplinary health research and scholarship across the three schools of UMass Chan. This collaborative, led by Dr. Crista Johnson-Agbakwu, brings together faculty, learners, and surrounding communities to address health disparities experienced by disadvantaged local and global populations through the creation and sharing of research. The collaborative was formed to strengthen our institution’s commitment to improving health outcomes locally and internationally, and was made possible by a five-million-dollar institutional investment.

Overall, our office serves as a central hub for promoting UMass Chan’s institutional goals related to health and community impact. We partner with the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, the Office of Faculty Affairs, clinical and basic science departments, and the entire UMass Chan community to foster an environment of academic excellence. Through programs, policies, and practices, we aim to enhance the experiences of faculty, students, staff, and administrators in line with the institution’s values and mission.