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Joseph L. Wright, MD, MPH

Academic Title:

Adjunct Professor

Primary Appointment:

Pediatrics

Email:

Joseph.Wright@umm.edu

Location:

250 West Pratt St. Baltimore, MD 21201

Phone (Primary):

410-328-4368

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Education and Training

Education

1975-79  B.A., Psychology, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT

1979-83  M.D., Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ

1991-94  M.P.H., Administrative Medicine and Management, George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services, Washington, DC

Post Graduate Education and Training   

1983-86  Residency, Pediatric Medicine, Children’s National Medical Center, Washington, DC

1990-92  Fellowship, Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Children’s National Medical Center, Washington, DC

Biosketch

Joseph L. Wright, MD, MPH is the inaugural Chief Health Equity Officer of the 12 campus, 30,000 employee University of Maryland Medical System. He previously served as tenured Professor and Chair of Pediatrics at the Howard University College of Medicine, and as Senior Vice President at the Children's National Hospital, where he provided strategic leadership for the organization’s advocacy mission, public policy positions, community partnership initiatives. He maintains appointments as adjunct professor of emergency medicine and health policy at the George Washington University, and teaches as professor of health policy and management at the University of Maryland School of Public Health. He served 17 years as the inaugural state pediatric medical director within the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems, in addition to 8 years as a principal investigator within federally-funded Emergency Medical Services for Children program.

Academically, Dr. Wright is among the nation’s original cohort of board-certified pediatric emergency physicians with scholarly interests that include injury prevention, prehospital pediatrics, and the needs of underserved communities. He has contributed over 120 publications to the scientific literature, served two dozen visiting professorships, and was principal investigator of the NIH-funded DC-Baltimore Research Center on Child Health Disparities.  Dr. Wright is an elected member of the Alpha Omega Alpha (medicine) and Delta Omega (public health) honor societies, the Academy of Medicine of Washington, and the American Pediatric Society for which he co-chairs the Committee on Diversity, Inclusion and Equity.

Dr. Wright chaired the AAP Task Force on Addressing Bias and Discrimination and is immediate past chair of the AAP Board of Directors Committee on Equity. Dr. Wright has been recognized by the Academy for long-standing leadership as recipient of two AAP career achievement awards for distinguished contributions to injury prevention and emergency medicine, respectively, as well as the Academy’s inaugural Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Excellence Award. He is also the 2023 recipient of the George Armstrong Award, the Academic Pediatric Association’s highest honor.

Dr. Wright provides national leadership through advisory and governance service to several health and human service entities including the Association of American Medical Colleges, the March of Dimes and Safe Kids Worldwide. He previously served as an Obama administration appointee to Food and Drug Administration’s Pediatric Advisory Committee, and has recently been appointed to the National Academy of Sciences’ study committee on Addressing the Long-Term Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Children and Families. Dr. Wright regularly presents invited testimony before Congress, state and municipal legislative bodies, has made numerous media appearances, and lectures widely to both professional and lay audiences.

Dr. Wright earned a B.A. from Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT, his M.D. from Rutgers University, and a Master of Public Health in Administrative Medicine and Management from George Washington University.

Research/Clinical Keywords

Evidence-based Best Practice, ebpc, advocacy and policy development, evidence-informed policy and clinical practice guideline development, child health issues, equity, disparities and social justice

Highlighted Publications

Wright JL, Jarvis JN, Pachter LM, Walker-Harding LR. "Racism as a Public Health Issue" APS Racism Series: At the Intersection of Equity, Science and Social Justice. Pediatric Research 2020 Nov;88(5):696-698.

Wright JL, Freed GL, Hendricks-Munoz KD, Jarvis JN, Maldonado YA, Raphael JL, Schnadower D, Sims B, Bogue CW, Leonard MB, Coyne-Beasley TD. Achieving Equity through Science and Integrity: Dismantling Race-based Medicine. Pediatric Research 2022 Apr 5. doi: 10.1038/s41390-022-02041-8. Epub ahead of print.

Wright JL, Davis WS, Joseph MM, Ellison AM, Heard-Garris NJ, Johnson TJ. Eliminating Race-Based Medicine. Pediatrics 2022;150(1):e2022057998

Wright JL, Golden WC. See it to be it: Diversity and Inclusion in Academic Pediatrics Starts at the Top. Pediatrics 2022;150(3):e2022057435

Wright JL, Trent ME. Applying an Equity Lens to Clinical Practice Guidelines: Getting Out of the Gate. Pediatrics 2022;150(3):e2022058918

Wright JL, Johnson TJ. Child Health Advocacy: A Journey to Anti-Racism. Pediatric Clinics of North America 2023;70:91-101

Additional Publication Citations

Awards and Affiliations

Contributions to Science

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