Pasadena, CA – August 30, 2021 – The Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine today announced the naming of Lori Carter-Edwards, PhD, MPH as Assistant Dean for Community Engagement. Dr. Carter-Edwards will oversee the school’s strategic efforts to engage with community partners across the local Pasadena community and broader Los Angeles area, expanding on the work of the Office of Academic and Community Affairs led by Maureen Connelly, MD, MPH, Senior Associate Dean for Academic and Community Affairs.
“Dr. Carter-Edwards brings with her more than 25 years of academic community engagement,” said Mark Schuster, MD, PhD, Founding Dean and Chief Executive Officer. “She has deep experience, skill, and commitment that will enable us to expand our relationships with our multi-faceted surrounding communities.”
“Extending the reach of the school into the communities we serve is integral to our mission and service-learning curriculum,” said Maureen Connelly, MD, MPH, Senior Associate Dean for Academic and Community Affairs of the Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine. “The expertise Dr. Carter-Edwards brings to this role will further enhance our efforts to engage and advocate with community partners in meaningful ways to support health and well-being.”
In her role, Dr. Carter-Edwards will further develop the strategic goals of the school to become an anchor institution, finding opportunities to support the community, and organizing outreach programs. She will coordinate community-based partnered research programs as well as engage with the school’s service-learning curriculum and efforts to develop a student-run clinic. Dr. Carter-Edwards will also work with stakeholders in the non-profit, healthcare, government, and social services sectors to help determine the most impactful support roles for our school in the community.
“I am thrilled to join the Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine team. It is my honor to contribute to the team’s commitment to support the health of communities through education, programming, research, and advocacy,” said Dr. Carter-Edwards. “I look forward to aligning my expertise in health equity, public health, and community engagement with the strengths of the communities we serve to further the efforts of the school.”
As a nationally recognized expert in community-engaged research, Dr. Carter-Edwards comes to the school from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill (UNC-CH) Gillings School of Global Public Health, where she served as Associate Professor in the Public Health Leadership Program and an adjunct faculty member of Epidemiology and Health Behavior. She was also the Director of the Community and Stakeholder Engagement Program with the North Carolina Translational and Clinical Sciences Institute (NC TraCS), home of the UNC-CH Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) funded by the National Institutes of Health, and Co-Director of the Academic Career Leadership Academy in Medicine. Dr. Carter-Edwards has 25 years of experience conducting observational studies, interventions, and programs with an emphasis on social determinants of health associated with cardiovascular-related risk factors and outcomes in African American faith communities.
