Our New Director of Health Affairs Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Dear colleagues,

We are pleased to announce that Adriana Black, MPH, MAT is joining us as Director of Health Affairs Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, effective December 5, 2022. In this new role, Ms. Black will work closely with the Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs (OVCHA) and the Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Engagement (VCDEE), the health sciences colleges, and other UI Health units to focus on anti-racism and social justice initiatives related to DEI education and cultural programming for students, faculty and staff; curricular design; faculty, student and staff recruitment and retention; and professional development among the academic healthcare delivery enterprise.

Adriana brings a wealth of experience to fulfill this important charge, most recent of which was her role as Director of Health Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. She also has over a decade of experience working at the intersection of academia and health through clinical work, research and teaching, which has earned her awards in both mentorship and health equity advocacy. In addition to the University of Chicago, she has held positions at Tufts University and Boston University School of Public Health, contributing to both racial justice education and academic administration in health sciences schools and programs. She has developed and taught courses around health equity, community health needs assessments and systems of oppression. Adriana has also consulted and partnered with various other organizations including the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, University of North Carolina Health Care System, Planned Parenthood and University of Memphis School of Public Health. Her research interests include immigrant children’s health, Latina maternal health, and racial justice, health equity and mentorship initiatives in health sciences graduate schools.

Prior to her work in academia, Adriana worked as a Certified Athletic Trainer (ATC) across the Midwest and also abroad in Spain. Originally from Venezuela, Adriana is bilingual and grew-up in Urbana-Champaign, Illinois. She received a Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science and a Master of Athletic Training (MAT) from Saint Louis University. She received a Master of Public Health (MPH) in Maternal and Child Health and Epidemiology from Boston University.

Please join us in welcoming Adriana in her new leadership role in advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion throughout the health sciences at UIC. Adriana’s email address is ablack3@uic.edu, and she will have an office in the new Health Affairs Diversity, Equity and Inclusion suite in the Library of the Health Sciences when it opens at the beginning of 2023.

Please join us in welcoming Adriana in her new leadership role in advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion throughout the health sciences at UIC.

Sincerely,

Robert A. Barish, MD, MBA
Professor of Emergency Medicine
Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs

Amalia Pallares, PhD
Professor of Political Science and Latin American and Latino Studies
Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity & Engagement