Making Institutional Changes to Offer Clinical Research Options for a Wider Range of Patients

Dr Goldie S Byrd is Professor of Public Health Sciences and Director of the Maya Angelou Center for Health Equity at Wake Forest School of Medicine. She is the former Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Chair of Biology, and the Nathan F Simms Endowed Distinguished Professor of Biology at North Carolina A&T State University. While serving as dean, Dr Byrd founded the Center for Outreach in Alzheimer’s Aging and Community Health(COAACH) to complement her genetics of Alzheimer’s in African Americans research. COAACH is a cross-disciplinary community engaged center funded by the university and corporate partnerships.Dr Byrd conducts research on the Genetics of Alzheimer’s disease in African Americans, to understand genetic variants that might attribute to the increased burden of AD in this population. Her genetics and community engagement research are widely published and has potential to lead to therapeutics for AD. Her research is complemented by her passion for inclusion and increasing representation of underrepresented groups in research and clinical trials. Dr Byrd has received numerous awards for her leadership, research and service, including the Leadership-North Carolina Stanley Frank Leadership Award, the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM) which was received at a White House ceremony, and most recently she was recognized by Governor Roy Cooper as a Health Equity Champion for the State. Dr Byrd has served on panels, ad hoc groups and advisory boards for the National Academy of Science, the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the Alzheimer’s Association, the North Carolina Biotechnology Center and the Executive Committee for the North Carolina Institute of Medicine. Appointed by the NC Secretary of Health and Human Services, she recently co-chaired the state’s COVID-19 Vaccine Advisory Committee.