Professor Vincent Guilamo-Ramos Named Inaugural Leona B. Carpenter Chair in Health Equity and Social Determinants of Health

Professor Vincent Guilamo-Ramos has been named the inaugural Leona B. Carpenter Chair in Health Equity and Social Determinants of Health.

“I am honored to be appointed as the inaugural Leona B. Carpenter Chair in Health Equity and Social Determinants of Health in addition to my work as Executive Director of the Institute for Policy Solutions,” says Dr. Guilamo-Ramos. “Leona B. Carpenter was a pioneering nurse who inspires us as we intensify the important work to meet unmet need, eliminate all health and health care inequities, and secure optimal health across our nation.”

In January of 2024, Dr. Guilamo-Ramos joined JHSON as the inaugural Executive Director of the Institute for Policy Solutions — the only nurse-led organization of its kind to focus entirely on eliminating health and health care inequities. Prior to joining Johns Hopkins, Dr. Guilamo-Ramos held tenured faculty appointments at Columbia University, New York University and Duke University. In addition, he has held numerous senior adminstrative appointments over the past two decades.

Under Dr. Guilamo-Ramos’ leadership, the Institute for Policy Solutions has already begun to make waves. IPS secured NIH funding for the Nursing Science Incubator for Social Determinants of Health Solutions. This unique fellowship will create an environment where new talent, thinking, and research can figure out the innovative evidence-based approaches to fully eliminate health inequities, and the first cohort of fellows arrive in Feb 2025. IPS increased earned media placements in influencer media such as the Washington Post and the Miami Herald. They provided health policy reform thought leadership through research in prestigious publications such as the New England Journal of Medicine, Millbank Quarterly, and Health Affairs Forefront and established partnerships with national organizations to advance collective action to redesign health, such as Manatt, Morgan Health, and the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM). Additionally, IPS is fully leveraging the unique research of the Center for Latino Adolecent and Family Health (CLAFH) (which Dr. Guilamo-Ramos leads) to shine the spotlight on the Invisible HIV crisis facing the Latino community.

In September, Dr. Guilamo-Ramos was asked to present his research and policy recommendations at the White House ¡Adelante! Summit to raise awareness of HIV inequities in the Latino community. He was also a member of the NASEM committee tasked with drafting the landmark “Ending Unequal Treatment” report; it was released in June 2024.

Dr. Guilamo-Ramos and the team at the Institute for Policy Solutions are dedicated to translating the Ending Unequal Treatment report’s findings into action, with a vision that, two decades after the report’s initial release, health inequities will become a thing of the past. They aim to amplify many of the report’s recommendations, highlighting the pivotal role nurses play in eliminating health care disparities. Invested with the resources of the Leona B. Carpenter Chair in Health Equity and Social Determinants of Health, Dr. Guilamo Ramos can champion the mission to break down health inequities even further.  

Dr. Guilamo-Ramos’ overall program of research and scholarship focuses on family-based prevention and health promotion, particularly among Latinos and other people of color. He has a long and distinguished track record as principal investigator of extramurally funded research from federal agencies such as NIH and the CDC; his research draws on an interdisciplinary perspective grounded in nursing, public health, and social welfare to address persistent health inequities among underserved communities in the U.S. 

The Leona B. Carpenter Chair in Health Equity and Social Determinants of Health was established in 2022 by the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation. It seeks to eliminate health inequities among communities experiencing marginalization, including underrepresented racial, ethnic, and LGBTQIA+ groups. The Carpenter Foundation is a longtime supporter of the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, having made significant contributions to student support, community nursing, and this Chair, all of which prioritize health equity and social justice.

“Dr. Vincent Guilamo-Ramos is one of contemporary nursing’s most respected thought leaders, scientists, and change agents” says JHSON Dean Sarah Szanton, PhD, RN, FAAN. “We will continue to work together to best leverage our nation’s highly-skilled nursing workforce to improve health for all.”

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Located in Baltimore, the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing is a globally-recognized leader in nursing education, research, and practice. In U.S. News & World Report rankings, the school is No. 1 nationally for its DNP program and No. 1 (tied) for its master’s. In addition, JHSON is ranked as the No. 3 nursing school in the world by QS World University. The school is a seven-time recipient of the INSIGHT Into Diversity Health Professions Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award and a six-time Best School for Men in Nursing award recipient. For more information, visit www.nursing.jhu.edu.