Applied Anthropologist Profile: Dr. Leandris Liburd, Acting Director for the CDC’s Office of Health Equity

Dr. Leandris Liburd (Image Source: CDC)

 

Healthcare is a serious and essential aspect of people’s lives, but the reality is that not everyone has equal access to healthcare, let along quality healthcare.  There are various reasons for this, which include individual but also systematic barriers.  Medical anthropologists have been at the forefront of studying these factors, and one such medical anthropologist who has contributed a significant amount of time and research to this topic is Dr. Leandris Liburd, who is currently the Acting Director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s Office of Health Equity.  This blog post is dedicated to addressing her outstanding contributions and continued efforts in addressing and resolving healthcare disparities that exist in the United States.

 

Dr. Leandris Liburd has dedicated her education and career efforts to understanding and resolving health care inequities for underserved communities.  In 1980 she earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Urban Community Studies and Health from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor.  She immediately entered graduate school at the University of North Carolina, where she enrolled in their Master of Public Health program.  She focused her work on health education/health behavior.  This enabled her to work at both the local and state levels as both a health educator and public health researcher.  In 1987 she joined the CDC.  Since then she has worked in various positions with the CDC her work has already followed a consistent theme: addressing health care inequities among underserved populations.  She has tackled these complex issues in various ways, from working in community health promotion, chronic disease prevent, research, and more.

 

She ultimately returned to graduate school in 2000.  She first earned her Master’s in cultural anthropology and immediately followed that up with a PhD in medical anthropology, both from Emory University in Atlanta.  From here she began to take on more leadership positions within the CDC, first serving as a Branch Chief (before completing her doctorate) and eventually moving into the position she currently serves: the Acting Director of the CDC’s Office of Health Equity.  She earned this distinguished position through her hard work and previous experiences leading other areas of the CDC, again with the community health and health inequities perspectives at the forefront. 

 

Her dedication to her research and work has been honored numerous times over the decades.  She has received multiple awards from the CDC and top medical programs and institutions from across the nation.  She was honored for her work in diabetes awareness and prevention, addressing healthcare inequities and disparities, distinguished service, and more. 

 

She has no plans in stopping as she continues to do the work that must be done in providing greater and equitable access to healthcare across the United States.  She is credited in leading the agency’s work concerning minority health, health equity, and women’s health, using data driven approaches and identifying the agency’s vision in addressing these issues to better the health outcomes for minorities across the nation.  Additionally, it was her efforts that led to the expansion of programs to train the next generation of healthcare professionals as she was integral in the implementation and growth of two important CDC programs: Lewis Scholars Program (formerly the CDC Undergraduate Public Health Scholars Program) and the James A. Ferguson Emerging Infectious Diseases Graduate Fellowship.  Taken together, her work has been instrumental in drawing much needed attention to healthcare disparities, as well as finding solutions to closing those gaps.  While they are not yet closed there are no doubts that her efforts will help lead to a successful conclusion in short order and over subsequent generations.

 

Bibliography

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2023, February 21). Office of Health Equity (OHE): Leandris Liburd, PhD, MPH, MA. Retrieved from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: https://www.cdc.gov/about/leadership/leaders/ohe.html

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). About Dr. Liburd. Retrieved from Conversations in Equity, CDC: https://blogs.cdc.gov/healthequity/about-dr-liburd/

Emory University. (2022). Leandris Liburd, Adjunct Associate Professor. Retrieved from Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University: https://sph.emory.edu/faculty/profile/index.php?FID=leandris-liburd-8947

Liburd, L. (n.d.). Biographical Sketch. CDC Conference.

 

 

Anthropologist Profile: Dr. Darius Bittle-Dockery

Dr. Darius Bittle-Dockery (Image Source: LinkedIn)

Can you recall a time when you or someone you know was asked what you want to do with your life, and you had difficulties answering that question?  Perhaps the answer was difficult to come up with because it was new and not something that had been seriously considered previously.  Or the answer was difficult to specify because of the variety of interests and goals that one wanted to achieve, paralyzing one by the possibilities and options available to them.  I bring this latter point up because one of the wonderful things about anthropology, which can be simplified to the study of people, is that it allows one to explore various different interests, so long as those interests involve people in some way.  Today’s anthropologist being profiled in this blog post exemplifies this point.  Dr. Darius Bittle-Dockery has led quite a vibrant career over his lifetime, demonstrating how anthropology can open doors to different opportunities and allow for the exploration of many interest.

 

Dr. Darius Bittle-Dockery earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology, with a minor in Philosophy, from Tufts University (Massachusetts) in 2010.  As an undergraduate student he took the opportunity to pursue independent, grant sponsored research through the National Science Foundation.  His project enabled him to use his cultural anthropological experience to better understand the relationships among disc jockeys, the music industry, and listeners to gain a greater understanding of society and mass media. 

 

This was his first foray into anthropological research, but it was not his first experience doing something on his own. In 2008 Bittle-Dockery became the brainchild of a company, DNA Custom Productions.  He started the apparel company by drawing designs in his home. He later teamed up with two of his classmates, Andres Naim and Ben Betcher, and they grew the company, which catered to mass produced apparel with custom designs.  They marketed their products to various campus organizations and groups at Tufts University, which made up the bulk of their customer base.  Bittle-Dockery credited the company’s success to superior customer service and a price match guarantee.  The three students enjoyed their work and they wanted to provide quality products that satisfied their customers’ wants and needs.  While they were not focused on making a huge profit their company netted a modest $25,000 in gross revenue every semester.  Ultimately, the company was sold almost two years after they started it for almost ten times their initial investment.

 

After graduating from Tufts University Bittle-Dockery joined the Peace Corps, where he was stationed in rural Jordan.  Here he was responsible for providing training and education to local residents on technology.  He and his fellow Peace Corps volunteers set up computers and related technology, and then they provided instruction to individuals of all ages on how to use that newly installed technology.  This may very well have been part of the inspiration for Bittle-Dockery’s doctoral research. 

 

That would not come about until several years later.  He bounced among various jobs before joining the University of Pittsburgh’s doctoral program.  His positions varied as he worked in business, nonprofits, and international non-governmental organizations, but they focused largely on research, grant writing, and user services.  All these experiences were later put toward his doctoral pursuits, which drew upon various theoretical approaches and ethnographic methods in assessing the connections among communication technology, information networks, and chronic disease among Syrian refugees in Jordan.  In addition to his research he amassed several awards and served in various professional organizations.  In 2022 he graduated with two degrees from the University of Pittsburgh: a Ph.D. and a M.P.H. in Medical Anthropology and Behavioral & Community Health Sciences, respectively. 

 

What is Dr. Bittle-Dockery up to these days?  Well, a couple of things.  He is currently the VP, Senior Experience Strategist for PNC, a bank based in Pittsburgh.  He also works on projects related to improving financial literacy and providing professional mentorship among BIPOC youth with Project Come Up.  He remains interested in his research, with his interests in medical anthropology, surveillance studies, and human ecology (the study of how environment, biology, technology, and demographics affect human cultures and systems).  It will be interesting to see where his experiences and his interests take him as he continues in his varied but fruitful career.

 

Bibliography

Bittle-Dockery, D. (2023, December 11). Darius Bittle-Dockery. Retrieved from Department of Anthropology, University of Pittsburgh: https://www.anthropology.pitt.edu/people/darius-bittle-dockery

Bittle-Dockery, D. (n.d.). Darius Bittle-Dockery, LinkedIn Profile. Retrieved from LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dariusbdockery/

The Tufts Daily. (2008, October). If the shirt fits, customize it, order it, wear it. The Tufts Daily, p. 1.