School of Rural Public Health dean named to national health organization

(COLLEGE STATION, TX) — The founding and current dean of the Texas A&M Health Science Center School of Rural Public Health recently was chosen a member of the charter class of the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities Society of Fellows and Scholars.

Ciro Sumaya, M.D., M.P.H.T.M., oversees the HSC School of Rural Public Health, the first of its kind in the United States and committed to improving the health of communities — with an emphasis on rural and underserved populations — through education, research, service, outreach and creative partnerships. The many projects and programs serving and researching minority populations throughout Texas and along the Mexico border puts the School’s mission in close alignment with the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NCMHD).

Part of the National Institutes of Health, the NCMHD was designated by Congress to lead, coordinate, support and assess the NIH research effort to reduce and, ultimately, eliminate health disparities as they affect racial and ethnic communities and medically underserved individuals.

The new Society of Fellows and Scholars is a multidisciplinary team of nationally known and widely respected senior scientists, educators, academic and societal leaders, and policy experts. It will assist the NCMHD by addressing issues, challenges and opportunities relative to health disparities, said John Ruffin, Ph.D., NCMHD director.