Sharing the Experiences of Faculty with Disabilities in Academic Medicine (IDEAS) - April 9

Instructor, Stanford University School of Medicine

Ken Sutha, MD, PhD is a pediatric nephrology physician scientist and two-time kidney transplant recipient. He is passionate about mentorship and disability advocacy, serving as co-chair of Stanford Medicine Alliance for Disability Inclusion and Equity (SMADIE) and also co-founding the Disability in Medicine Mutual Mentorship Program (DM3P).

Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine/Texas Children’s Hospital

Jocelyn Gomez, Psy.D., is an assistant professor of Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine and a pediatric psychologist at Texas Children’s Hospital. Dr. Gomez provides psychological services in English and Spanish to patients and families impacted by acute and chronic pain conditions. Dr. Gomez's research interest includes health equity among pediatric Latinx population and use of virtual reality for pain management.

Professor, University of Virginia

Dr. Rupa S. Valdez is a professor at the University of Virginia with joint appointments in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and the School of Medicine and serves as president of the Blue Trunk Foundation. Dr. Valdez merges the disciplines of human factors engineering, health informatics, and cultural anthropology to understand and support the ways in which people manage health at home and in the community. Her work draws heavily on community engagement with community organizations and individuals from multiple health disparity populations, and has been supported by the NIH, AHRQ, NSF, and the USDA, among others. She has testified before Congress on the topic of health equity for the disability community and received the Jack A. Kraft Innovator Award from the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES). Among other appointments, she serves as associate editor for the Journal of American Medical Informatics Association Open, on the Board of Directors for the American Association of People with Disabilities, and as an advisor for PCORI’s Patient Engagement Advisory Panel and for NCQA’s Health Equity Expert Work Group.

Assistant Professor of Neurology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine

Diana M. Cejas, MD, MPH is an Assistant Professor of Neurology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and faculty of the Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities. Her clinical work, research, and advocacy focus upon understanding the effects of ableism on health and improving care delivery and outcomes for children and young adults with neurodevelopmental disabilities. Dr. Cejas has also devoted much of her career to patient advocacy and improving communication between healthcare providers and the disability community, particularly young disabled patients of color. Dr. Cejas shares her own story and other commentary on disability and health via essays and other nonfiction.