Renowned Advocate for Adolescent Health Appointed Dean for Global Health, Social Justice, and Human Rights at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai has appointed Angela Diaz, MD, PhD, MPH, to Dean for Global Health, Social Justice, and Human Rights, a newly created role to address profound health care inequities both here at home in the Unites States and globally.
Dr. Diaz is the Jean C. and James W. Crystal Professor in Adolescent Health in the Departments of Pediatrics, and Environmental Medicine and Public Health. She will continue in her current roles as both Chief of the Division of Adolescent Medicine and Director of the Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center.
In this new role, Dr. Diaz will partner with governmental and nongovernmental organizations, civil societies, and donor agencies to advance social justice and human rights globally through research, training, advocacy, policy, and technical assistance.
“Through these partnerships and with Dr. Diaz’s guidance, Icahn Mount Sinai will develop innovative, interdisciplinary approaches to address the power imbalances and social determinants that lead to persistent health inequities and interpersonal violence, including the human trafficking of women, children, and youth,” says Dennis S. Charney, MD, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean, Icahn Mount Sinai, and President for Academic Affairs, Mount Sinai Health System.
“I am deeply honored to be taking on this new role and looking forward to building equitable and sustainable solutions to support these vulnerable populations,” says Dr. Diaz. “Equity, inclusion, belonging, and justice have been central to my work at Mount Sinai and are woven into the fabric of the Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center where our faculty and staff provide compassionate care to young people in New York City.”
Dr. Diaz, who was once herself a patient at the Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center, is widely recognized as one of the world’s most influential advocates for adolescent and young adult health, particularly for the health and safety of youth who have experienced violence such as childhood maltreatment and human trafficking. She worked with Ramon Murphy, MD, MPH, a beloved long-time Mount Sinai pediatrician, teacher, and global health expert, to conceptualize and design Mount Sinai’s original global health program while traveling in her native Dominican Republic. Once back in the United States, the pair continued to further refine and implement their plans and develop other global partnerships. Dr. Diaz will build on this work in her new role.
Dr. Diaz earned her medical degree from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. She completed her residency in Pediatrics at Mount Sinai and an Adolescent Medicine fellowship at the Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center. Dr. Diaz earned a Master of Public Health from Harvard University and a PhD in Epidemiology from Columbia University.
She is a member of the National Academy of Medicine, having served as a member of the Executive Committee of its governing council and the Health and Medicine Division, as well as Chair of the Board on Children, Youth and Families. She is also a member of the Policy and Global Affairs Division and Co-chair of the Roundtable on Science and Technology for Sustainability.
Dr. Diaz has been a White House Fellow, a member of the Food and Drug Administration Pediatric Advisory Committee, and a member of the Board of Directors of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, where she continues to serve as an advisor. She is active in public policy and advocacy and has conducted health projects in Africa, Asia, Central and South America, and Europe.
About the Mount Sinai Health System
Mount Sinai Health System is one of the largest academic medical systems in the New York metro area, with more than 43,000 employees working across eight hospitals, over 400 outpatient practices, nearly 300 labs, a school of nursing, and a leading school of medicine and graduate education. Mount Sinai advances health for all people, everywhere, by taking on the most complex health care challenges of our time — discovering and applying new scientific learning and knowledge; developing safer, more effective treatments; educating the next generation of medical leaders and innovators; and supporting local communities by delivering high-quality care to all who need it.
Through the integration of its hospitals, labs, and schools, Mount Sinai offers comprehensive health care solutions from birth through geriatrics, leveraging innovative approaches such as artificial intelligence and informatics while keeping patients’ medical and emotional needs at the center of all treatment. The Health System includes approximately 7,300 primary and specialty care physicians; 13 joint-venture outpatient surgery centers throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Florida; and more than 30 affiliated community health centers. We are consistently ranked by U.S. News & World Report's Best Hospitals, receiving high "Honor Roll" status, and are highly ranked: No. 1 in Geriatrics and top 20 in Cardiology/Heart Surgery, Diabetes/Endocrinology, Gastroenterology/GI Surgery, Neurology/Neurosurgery, Orthopedics, Pulmonology/Lung Surgery, Rehabilitation, and Urology. New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai is ranked No. 12 in Ophthalmology. U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Children’s Hospitals” ranks Mount Sinai Kravis Children's Hospital among the country’s best in several pediatric specialties.
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