Rea Pañares Named to Advisory Board for U.S. Office of Minority Health
Prevention Institute’s own Rea Pañares has been appointed to the U.S. Advisory Committee on Minority Health, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The committee provides guidance and input to Deputy Assistant Secretary J. Nadine Gracia on ways to improve the health of racial and ethnic minorities and on the activities of the Office of Minority Health.
This is fantastic news. Rea has over a decade of experience working to advance health equity across the nonprofit, advocacy, government, and philanthropic sectors. As director of minority health initiatives at Families USA, she led efforts to strengthen federal health policies and programs with an eye toward improving racial and ethnic minorities’ access to care. Rea is currently board chair of the Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum, the nation’s oldest and largest health policy organization aimed at addressing the healthcare needs of America’s fastest growing demographic. She also co-authored our 2011 paper, “Community-Centered Health Homes,” advancing a model for addressing community factors that influence health based on research supported by the Office of Minority Health.
We couldn’t be prouder to have Rea on our team, and working to advance PI’s role in bridging community prevention and health care. Rea just spent two days in Washington, D.C. at her first meeting as a committee member and says she was “humbled to be part of such an impressive group of individuals—from diverse backgrounds—committed to advancing health equity.”
Congratulations, Rea.