Leadership for Health Equity Professional Development Program

Camille Burnett, PhD, MPA, RN, Vice President, Health Equity, Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), has extensive professional health care experience within the US and Canada in the areas of public health, health equity, research and administration, academia, and as an independent consultant. Her experience includes clinical practice and provincial public health administrator leadership positions in Canada, as well as academic administrator leadership positions in the US.

Prior to joining IHI, Dr. Burnett served as Associate Vice President, Education and Health Equity, at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), where she had appointments as a tenured Professor at VCU School of Nursing, Associate Executive Director of the Institute for Inclusion, Inquiry, and Innovation, and is an affiliate with VCU Institute for Women’s Health, School of Medicine. Previously Dr. Burnett was at the University of Kentucky, where she was Assistant Dean for Equity, Outreach and Social Justice, Associate Professor in the College of Nursing, the Cralle-Day Endowed Professor in the Center for Research on Violence Against Women, and Co-Director for Integrated Special Populations in the Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences. While at the University of Virginia, Dr. Burnett’s roles included Academic Director for Community Engagement and Partnerships, Associate Professor in the School of Nursing, and co-founder of the University of Virginia Equity Center.

Dr. Burnett has served on numerous boards with appointments locally, nationally, and internationally. Her program of research amplifies structural inequities that influence disparate outcomes to identify solutions that drive structural justice to redress inequity. She is a registered nurse, a certified Global Nurse Consultant, a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, and a member of both the American Nursing Association and the American Public Health Association.

Taaj Mustapha, MD, is a Hospitalist in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at the University of Minnesota Medical Center, an Associate Professor of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics and the University of Minnesota Medical School, and the Chief of Equity Strategy for M Health Fairview. The Equity Strategy Office at M Health Fairview oversees the health system work in Health Equity, Healthcare Equity, and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and works across functional teams in Human Resources, Community Advancement, Optimal Care, Quality and Safety, Customer Experience and Research and Education. In her role as Chief Equity Strategy Officer, Taj Mustapha, MD, is responsible for the vision, leadership, and strategic planning of equity efforts systemwide. Dr. Mustapha is also the Assistant Dean of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at the University of Minnesota Medical School and serves as a member of the M Health Fairview Healing, Opportunity, People, Equity (HOPE) Commission, which is committed to developing an antiracist and inclusive joint clinical enterprise.

Dr. Mustapha received her medical degree from the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine and then completed her internal medicine and pediatric residency training at the University of Minnesota. She spent a year as Chief Resident in the Department of Pediatrics prior to joining the faculty in both the departments of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, as a clinician educator and hospitalist. 

She started her work in health equity prior to embarking on her medical career, and as an echoing green fellow, she established a harm-reduction based street outreach program for unhoused and unstably housed youth and young adults, many of whom suffered a history of abuse and wrestled with IV drug use. The racial disparities in institutional and individual support to these youth, and the inadequacy of current healthcare institutions to address their needs, spurred her to pursue a career in medicine and advancing justice therein.

Dr. Sandra Brooks, MD, MBA, is Healthcare Strategy Consultant and Health Equity and Care Delivery Strategist. Dr. Brooks has held leadership roles in multiple large health systems throughout the United States, most recently serving as Chief Medical Officer of Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals, Center City Division. Joining just prior to the pandemic, Dr Brooks was integral to the Center City Division pandemic response. Dr Brooks was deeply engaged in quality and safety initiatives and was the architect of Jefferson's REAL TALK vaccine promotion campaign which focused on reducing racial and ethnic disparities in COVID 19 vaccination rates. In 2021, Dr Brooks was appointed the inaugural Executive Vice President, Chief Community Health Equity Officer, TJU, and led the Jefferson Collaborative for Health Equity, while continuing to lead as Chief Medical Officer of TJUH, Inc. Prior to her role at Jefferson, Dr Brooks served as Chief Medical Officer of St. Joseph's Women's and Children's Hospital, BayCare, Health System in Tampa, Florida, and the Women's Health Service Line Lead, leading major initiatives focused on patient safety and quality.

Dr. Brooks trained in OB Gyn at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and Gynecologic Oncology at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School. She served as Professor and Director of the Division of Gynecology Oncology at the University of Maryland for 10 years where in addition to clinical practice, teaching, and mentoring trainees, her research focused on health services and cancer disparities. Dr Brooks received her MBA in Medical Services Management at Johns Hopkins University prior to transitioning to a physician executive role in Louisville where she developed a Prevention service line addressing cardiometabolic disease and cancer in the community and among employees of the 5-hospital health system. Dr Brooks has had an enduring programmatic and research interest in improving health services access, and promotion of health equity.

Dr Brooks serves on the boards of the American Public Health Association, the Greater Philadelphia American Heart Association Board and is Co- Chair of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee of the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists. She is an expert reviewer for the National Cancer Institute. Dr Brooks has been recognized by Beckers as a top African American Leader, CMO, and Pennsylvania City and State Healthcare Power 100. 

Several guest experts from the field will also join the preceding core faculty.