American Academy of Pediatrics Names First Chief Health Equity Officer

Dr. Joseph L. Wright to lead the AAP Equity Agenda and implement a national strategy to promote health equity for all children

ITASCA, IL – Joseph L. Wright, MD, MPH, FAAP has been hired by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) to lead and advance the organization’s Equity Agenda. He will oversee and implement the Academy’s national strategy to promote and achieve health equity for all children, as well as efforts for the Academy to become an equitable, diverse and inclusive organization.

Dr. Wright is the first person to serve in the role of Chief Health Equity Officer at AAP. In this role, he will provide strategic guidance to the AAP Board of Directors, the CEO and AAP leadership on all health equity, diversity, and inclusion efforts, integrating clinical, public health and societal perspectives and approaches to improve health and health care disparities.

“The AAP has already greatly benefited from Dr. Wright’s leadership in many areas, and we are incredibly pleased to now have the opportunity to bring him on board to lead our national equity agenda,” said Mark Del Monte, JD, CEO/Executive Vice President of the AAP. “This work is crucial and Dr. Wright brings a breadth and depth of knowledge, experience and wisdom that will help AAP make a meaningful impact in the lives of children and families.”

Dr. Wright is a former member of the AAP Board of Directors and previous chair of the AAP Board Committee on Equity. His AAP leadership roles have also included chairing the AAP Committee on Pediatric Emergency Medicine and the AAP Task Force on Addressing Bias and Discrimination. Dr. Wright has been recognized by the Academy for his long-standing leadership as recipient of two career achievement awards for distinguished contributions to the disciplines of injury prevention and emergency medicine, and last year was recipient of the inaugural AAP Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Excellence Award.

Dr. Wright is currently Chief Health Equity Officer of the 12-hospital, 30,000 employee University of Maryland Medical System. He previously served as tenured Professor and Chair of Pediatrics at the Howard University College of Medicine, and as Senior Vice President at the Children's National Hospital, both in Washington, DC. Dr. Wright is a board-certified pediatric emergency physician with scholarly interests that include injury prevention, prehospital pediatrics, and the needs of underserved communities. He has contributed more than 120 publications to the scientific literature, served more than 30 visiting professorships, and was a principal investigator of the NIH-funded DC-Baltimore Research Center on Child Health Disparities. Dr. Wright is an elected member of the Alpha Omega Alpha (medicine) and Delta Omega (public health) honor societies, the American Pediatric Society for which he co-chairs the Committee on Diversity, Inclusion and Equity, and is the 2023 recipient of the Terrapin Award the highest honor conferred by the University of Maryland School of Public Health.

Dr. Wright provides national leadership through advisory and governance service to several health and human service entities including the Association of American Medical Colleges, the March of Dimes, and Safe Kids Worldwide as well as having previously served as an Obama administration appointee to the Pediatric Advisory Committee of the Food and Drug Administration. Dr. Wright earned a B.A. from Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT, his M.D. from Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, and a Master of Public Health in Administrative Medicine and Management from George Washington University.

“I am thrilled to join AAP and help to continue the transformative work of ensuring that children and families attain their highest level of health along the path to equity.” said Dr. Wright.

Dr. Wright will continue to work with the AAP in a volunteer capacity until he officially assumes the role of Chief Health Equity Officer and Senior Vice President, Equity Initiatives, in September.

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The American Academy of Pediatrics is an organization of 67,000 primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric surgical specialists dedicated to the health, safety and well-being of infants, children, adolescents and young adults. For more information, visit www.aap.org or follow us on Twitter @AmerAcadPeds.