News

The Office-GAP program made Michigan State University News in a Dean’s Update where it was announced our NIH-funded grant had received the 1964 Project grant award. GAP first made MSU campus news when the NIH awarded a $3.75 million grant which kickstarted the GAP Program. Named for the momentous year of 1964, in which MSU founded the College of Human Medicine and the United States signed into law the Civil Rights Act, the 1964 Project is focused on advancing scholarship in justice, inclusion, equity, and diversity. This grant funding will allow the Department of Medicine, of which the GAP Program is a part of, to continue working to address health equity and health disparities through action on social determinants of health (SDOH) and the structural inequities that determine them.

After an extensive national search, Denise White-Perkins, M.D., PhD., has been named Chair of the Department of Family Medicine. Dr. White-Perkins has served as the interim chair since May 2023.

An integral and committed leader, she currently also serves as Vice Chair of Academic Affairs for the Department of Family Medicine and Director of Healthcare Equity Initiatives for the Office of System Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Social Justice (DEIJ), collaborating across the organization to design clinical, community and educational interventions to improve healthcare equity. Her previous leadership roles at Henry Ford Health include associate director of the Family Medicine Residency Program from 2019 to 2022 and director of the Institute on Multicultural Health from 2003 to 2016.

Blanch B. & Frederick C. Swartz Endowed Professor of Medicine, Ade Olomu, MD, MS, will become the college’s interim associate dean for faculty affairs. She takes this role as an NIH researcher and division chief for the Division of General Internal Medicine in our Department of Medicine. Dr. Olomu has also been praises as an excellent co-faculty excellence advocate (co-FEA), a university supported role in the college dedicated to supporting faculty. Dr. Olomu’s roles in her department and the college have prepared her well for this interim position.