Bio of Rhonda Moore Johnson, MD, MPH
Rhonda Moore Johnson, MD, MPH, is a medical director for Highmark Blue Shield Integrated Clinical Services Division. In this position, she provides clinical support to a diverse array of medical management and health related activities. Dr. Johnson serves as the project lead for Highmark’s participation in the National Health Plan Collaborative, Reducing Racial and Ethnic Disparities and Improving Quality of Health Care, a national partnership involving major health insurers and public and private sector organizations. She serves as chairperson for Highmark’s Health Care Disparities/Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (HCD/CLAS) Committee, and leads the Highmark initiative for the collection of race, ethnicity and language preference from our members on a voluntary basis.
 Reducing Disparities and Improving Quality in Health Care Webcast
Bio of William B. Lawson, M.D., Ph.D., D. F.A.P.A.
Dr. Lawson is currently Professor and Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at Howard University College of Medicine. He is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, and a member of the American College of Psychiatrists. He has over one hundred publications involving severe mental illness and its relationship to psychopharmacology, substance abuse, and racial and ethnic issues. He has a long standing concern about ethnic disparities in mental health treatment, and has been an outspoken advocate for access to services for the severely mentally ill. . Dr. Lawson is a past Chair of the Section of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences of the National Medical Association. He is a past president of the Black Psychiatrists of America. He is Vice Chair of the Addiction Council of the American Psychiatric Association. He received the Howard University Faculty Senate Creativity and Research Award, the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill Exemplary Psychiatrist Award and the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill Outstanding Psychologist Award. He was named one of “America’s Leading Black Doctors” by Black Enterprise Magazine, was the Andrea Delgado Honoree and Lecturer for the Black Psychiatrists of America, received the Jeanne Spurlock Award from the American Psychiatric Association, received the E.Y. Williams Clinical Scholar of Distinction Award from the Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Section of the National Medical Association, a Multicultural Workplace Award from the Veterans Administration for his outstanding contributions to the advancement of diversity and multicultural understanding, named as a national mentor by the National Alliance of the Mentally Ill and received numerous awards for excellent teaching. He is on the Scientific Advisory Boards of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill and the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance. Dr. Lawson received his Bachelor’s degree from Howard University, Master’s from the University of Virginia, and Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of New Hampshire. He received his M.D. degree from the University of Chicago, and did his residency at Stanford University Medical Center. He completed a fellowship in clinical psychopharmacology at the National Institute of Mental Health intramural program and did an addictions fellowship at Vanderbilt University. . He is certified by the Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in General Psychiatry and has Added Qualifications in Addictions. He has received state, federal, and foundation support for pharmacological research and to develop new and effective treatments. He currently has three RO! National Institute of Mental Health grants and a contract with the National Institute of Mental Health intramural program. These grants have allowed Dr. Lawson to realize his dream of studying the interaction of culture and genetics in ethnicity and mood disorders.
Cultural Competency in Addiction Treatment Webcast
Bio of Debbie Salas-Lopez, M.D. M.P.H.
Debbie Salas-Lopez is the Chief of the Division of Academic Medicine, Geriatrics and Community Programs, the largest division in the Department of Medicine at New Jersey Medical School. She has worked with Rutgers University’s Institute on Ethnicity, Culture and the Modern Experience as a Gustav Heninburg Civics Fellow and the Center for Health Beliefs and Behavior. She was a visiting scholar at the Harvard Institute of Healthcare Policy and completed fellowships with the National Cancer Institute, and the Association of American Medical Colleges Health Services Research Institute. She is a member of the Northeast Consortium on Cultural Competency and Medical Education that is comprised of 12 medical schools in the Northeast region. She collaborates on research with Rutgers University’s Center for Health Beliefs and Behaviors. She completed a Master’s in Urban Health and Administration at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, School of Public Health in 2005. Dr. Salas-Lopez is an advocate for patients in the area of policy and is a member of the Latino Health Advisory Committee in New Jersey, Past Chair of the Commission of New Jersey’s Office of Minority and Multicultural Health in the New Jersey’s Department of Health and Senior Services, served on the Governor’s Hispanic Advisory Council Health Subcommittee, and the Healthcare Access Study Commission. She was appointed to the New Jersey State Board of Medical Examiners in 2005. She has collaborated with many community-based organizations on issues related to education, economic development, and health care access. She established a Community Based Network that partners with the academic institution through programs such as the “House Calls for Seniors of Newark” a program that provides house calls for the homebound elderly in Newark and “The Ironbound Community Health Outreach” to provide screening and education for a large immigrant population in the East Ward of Newark. Dr. Salas-Lopez has also served on the National Institute of Health study sections with a special focus on health literacy and access to care. She is a nationally recognized speaker and educator in the area of cultural competency and medical interpretation. Most recently, she established an initiative to train bilingual hospital employees to be medical interpreters at University Hospital, a program now recognized by the state and the hospital associations as a model program. Her research focuses on issues relating to community health and access to care, disparities in healthcare, and the impact of culturally and linguistically appropriate healthcare services to better serve our diverse populations.
Cultural Competency for Providers Webcast
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