Member SpotlightsAdvancing the Public Good: A Physician with a Passion to Serve Diane L. Adams, M.D., MPH A Member Since April 2002  As a champion of addressing health disparities in minority populations, Diane L. Adams, M.D., MPH, has spent her career forging linkages to direct federal, state and private resources to this cause. Dr. Adams began her medical career by attending Howard University in Washington DC where she was a premed and zoology major. After graduating from college at the age of 20, she worked for two years before enrolling in the New Jersey Medical School in Newark where she was awarded a scholarship from the United States Public Health Service (USPHS). Upon receipt of her medical degree, she returned to Howard University Hospital to pursue a three-year residency in family practice. Her decision to practice family medicine was influenced by her mother, who was a nurse in Chicago and encouraged her to enter a medical field that was underserved.After her residency was completed, Dr. Adams obtained a Masters of Public Health degree from Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health in occupational/environmental health and public health administration. She also completed a general preventive medicine residency at the Hopkins in Maternal and Child Health. Once her medical training was completed, she served as the first African-American female Physician Director at the United States Coast Guard Shipyard Health Clinic and was later transferred in the same capacity to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing Medical Clinic. While at both clinics, Dr. Adams established the first Occupational Health and Biological Monitoring Program in their histories. Dr. Adams also created the first Minority Health Program at the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research [now the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)]. During her tenure at the agency, she conducted field visits to ensure that the standard of care offered at institutions was in line with current medical recommendations. Specifically, this work involved developing Public Health Service recommendations for the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) now the [Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS)] on Medicare coverage for health technologies including drugs, devices and procedures to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of these technologies. Dr. Adams' advocacy and innovations have been responsible for numerous other research and service programs that address minority health issues within the Department of Health & Human Services. These issues include HIV/AIDS, cancer, geriatric, cardiovascular, obesity, asthma, mental health, substance abuse, chronic illness, infant mortality, immunizations, teenage pregnancy, hypertension and diabetes. Dr. Adams has authored many scholarly and technical works, both nationally and internationally. In 1995 she edited, Health Issues for Women of Color: A Cultural Diversity Perspective, which was listed by Sage Publications, Inc., as a best seller in 1997. Dr. Adams has been the recipient of a variety of awards and honors including an invitation to the White House in 1993 to participate in President Clinton's Health Care Reform Initiative. In June 2000, Dr. Adams retired as a Commissioned Officer in the USPHS. She has also recently retired from being an Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore in the Department of Physical Therapy. She has mentored many students, giving them advice on their career paths. After retiring from both government service and academia, Dr. Adams then served as the Director of Health Policy, Research and Professional Medical Affairs for the National Medical Association (NMA), which is an organization that promotes the collective interests of physicians and patients of African descent. The policy and governmental affairs experience she gained by working as a LEGIS Fellow to former Congressman Louis Stokes (D-OH) enabled her to be an effective advocate for the NMA. Because of her past contributions in the areas of biotechnology, automated medical information systems, outcomes assessment, clinical decision support, and telehealth, Dr. Adams currently serves as a consultant to the Georgia Centers for Advanced Telecommunications Technology (GCATT). She is also a consultant to the company, Juxtopia, which is a bioscience and information technology company with expertise in wireless technologies, virtual reality engineering and human genome research. For more than 35 years Dr. Adams has been married to William M. Adams, a computer scientist/software engineer. The couple has three children, Kareem M. Adams, Dawn C. Adams, and Akeem M. Adams. Dr. Adams is active in Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., the oldest African American Sorority with chapters around the world. As the Programmatic Chair for the North Atlantic region for the sorority, she organized a natural disaster relief program in the late 1990's for the region (MD, DE, PA, NJ, NY, MA, CT, RI, ME, VT, and the District of Columbia) that was later adopted on a national level. Her experiences as a public health doctor helped prepare her to be able to respond quickly and efficiently to emergency situations (i.e. disaster medical assistance training). Her professional memberships include the American College of Preventive Medicine and the American Public Health Association. In her free time she loves to go horseback riding and antique shopping. ### << Previous Next >> [ View All Member Spotlights ] |
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