Women of Color: Leadership, Retention, and Toxic Environments (IDEAS) - May 21

Associate Vice President of Faculty Affairs and Development & Professor
University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston

Dr. Cain joined the UTHealth Houston School of Dentistry faculty in 2017 as associate dean for Professional Development and Faculty Affairs, and as a professor in the Department of Diagnostic and Biomedical Sciences. She is also an adjunct professor in the Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston.

She came to the School of Dentistry from The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston, where she served as an associate professor in the Department of Neuroscience and Cell Biology, associate member of the Institute for the Medical Humanities, director of Medical School Enrichment Programs in the Office of Student Affairs, and as assistant dean for Faculty Affairs at the School of Medicine.

Her experience in governance and faculty affairs also includes past roles as chair of the UTMB Faculty Senate and co-chair of the Health Affairs Committee of The University of Texas System’s Faculty Advisory Council. Currently, she is an executive board member of the AAMC Council of Faculty and Academic Societies (CFAS) and holds an elected position as chair of the AAMC Group on Faculty Affairs (GFA). In 2017, she founded and organized the regional Texas Consortium for Faculty Success, which consists of 13 Texas health science institutions and 32 faculty affairs/faculty development administrators.

Dr. Cain is also co-chair of the leadership development component of the American Dental Education Association (ADEA) Women in Leadership Section. She is co-chair of the 2024 ADEA International Women in Leadership Conference.

Dean for Faculty Affairs
Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth

As Dean for Faculty Affairs since 2021, Dr. Brown oversees all aspects of appointments, titles, and promotions for Geisel faculty members situated at the three primary sites that constitute the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (the Geisel campus in Hanover, NH, the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Clinic/Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital campus in Lebanon, NH, and the Veterans' Affairs Medical Center in White River Junction, VT) and at clinical affiliates throughout the United States and international locales.

Dr. Brown has experience in faculty affairs, professional development, and in accreditation and assessment. In her previous role, she built an effective and resourceful office to develop and sustain the faculty—encompassing recruitment, on-boarding, retention, promotion, career guidance, and professional development for all academic ranks, including courses and ongoing workshops with an emphasis on junior faculty.

Dr. Brown serves as the Geisel liaison to the Dartmouth College Office of Institutional Diversity and Equity for faculty hiring and is a Deputy Title IX coordinator.

Vice Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and Professor of Medicine
University of Minnesota Medical School

Dr. Núñez is a graduate of Hahnemann Medical College where she continued a residency and chief residency in internal medicine. She then completed fellowships in medical education at Michigan State and the AAMC’s Health Service Research Program, as well as serving as a policy fellow for the U.S. Secretary of Health.  

Prior to joining the University of Minnesota nearly four years ago, she had a productive career at Drexel University College of Medicine where she served as the inaugural Associate Dean of DEI, and prior to that led the Office of Urban Health Equity, the national Center of Excellence in Women’s Health and Women’s Health Education program and early in her career was Associate Residency Director. Dr. Núñez's research career focus has involved funded projects in health disparities for urban minority populations, especially women and cardiovascular health, integration of health disparity knowledge into medical education, prevention of intimate partner violence, and cultural competence in medical practice. In 2022, she was named one of Fierce Healthcare’s Most Influential Minority Executives in Healthcare.

Dr. Núñez currently resides in Minneapolis with her pediatrician wife of 39 years in a home overlooking one of Minnesota’s 10,000 lakes.  She enjoys exploring the many outdoor opportunities that the region offers.

Dean
Vice President of Clinical Affairs
Howard University College of Medicine

Dr. Andrea Hayes Dixon FACS is the Dean of Howard University’s College of Medicine and Vice President of Clinical Affairs. Dr. Hayes Dixon is the first African American female pediatric surgeon in the USA and the first female Dean at the HUCOM. She is nationally and internationally known for her work pioneering Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Tumor, DSRCT. Her patients request her services from around the world because she was the first to do hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy, HIPEC, and cytoreductive surgery in a child. Dr. Hayes Dixon has a basic science laboratory that focuses on finding a cure for DSRCT. She has cared for the largest number of DSRCT, patients at any one hospital and by any one surgeon. Dr. Hayes Dixon was appointed by President Trump to the National Cancer Advisory Board. (The National Cancer Advisory Board reports to the Director of the National Cancer Institute and the Secretary of Health). Dr. Hayes Dixon has published over 160 manuscripts and dozens of book chapters.

Associate Professor-Research
Director, Undergraduate Academic Pathway Programs for Diversity
Dept. of Medicine & Office of Diversity and Community Engagement
LSUHSC New Orleans, School of Medicine

Dr. Allison C. Augustus–Wallace leads and has several roles regarding Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Affairs committees and educational initiatives in the LSU Health Sciences Center-New Orleans (LSUHSC-NO) Schools of Medicine and Graduate Studies for Faculty/Staff/Professional Students (Medical and Biomedical). Through leadership responsibilities that promote equitable inclusivity, she works to promote greater educational access, increase the presence of historically-excluded and marginalized groups of people in both medicine and biomedical research, and promote health equity and improved health outcomes for marginalized and overall collective communities.

In 2020, Dr. Augustus-Wallace earned Certification in Diversity, (Equity), and Inclusion from Cornell University. In addition to serving in active roles with Sigma Xi such as the Associate Director of the Research and Doctoral Universities Constituency Group, as well as a member of the 2022 and 2023 IFoRE Meeting Planning Committees, Dr. Augustus-Wallace is an active member of other professional organizations: the Maximizing Access Committee of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; the Health Professions Chapter of the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education; the AAMC Group on Women in Medicine & Science Steering Committee; the Editorial Board of the AAMC’s peer-reviewed journal, Academic Medicine; the NIH-Women of Color Research Network; the Law Committee of the American Public Health Association; the Association of Women in Science-National & Southern Louisiana-LSUHSC Chapter; and others.

Associate Professor, Dept. of Family Medicine
University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC)

Dr. Bibb is a dual board-certified Family Medicine and Obesity Medicine physician. She has played an integral role in the establishment of the UMMC Weight Management Clinic where she focuses on educating patients on the importance of developing healthy lifestyles and providing appropriate treatment for obesity and other chronic diseases. Her scholarly work focuses on various obesity medicine topics and improving medical education related to obesity medicine for medical students and residents. Dr. Bibb serves as Co-Chair of her department’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee and is a member of the American Academy of Family Physicians and the Obesity Medicine Association.

Dr. Bibb served four years on the UMMC Group on Women in Medicine Science (GWIMS) Executive Board as Membership Committee Chair, President-elect, President, and Immediate Past President. She is currently serving a three-year term on the AAMC GWIMS Steering Committee where she has been actively involved as a co-facilitator for the following GWIMS Virtual Office Hours, “Women’s Leadership Programs”, “Starting and Maintaining a WIMS Group”, and “Taking Your WIMS Group to the Next Level”. She has also co-authored the AAMC GWIMS Toolkits, "Maintaining a WIMS Program" and “Strategies for Advancing the Careers of Women of Color in Academic Medicine”. In addition, Dr. Bibb is currently serving as Co-Chair of the GWIMS Women of Color Working Group and as a member of the GWIMS Awards and Nominations Working Group and the GWIMS Voter Education Working Group. Dr. Bibb serves as Co-Chair of her department’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee and is a member of the American Academy of Family Physicians and the Obesity Medicine Association.