First Visiting Diversity Scholar to Speak at UNM’s Domenici Center June 14

Deleso A. Alford, asso­ciate pro­fes­sor at Florida A&M Uni­ver­sity Col­lege of Law and a renowned expert on the his­tor­i­cal con­text of peo­ple mar­gin­al­ized in our health­care sys­tem, will present a pub­lic lec­ture, “Why the Truth Mat­ters: Sto­ries Ignored by Our Health­care, Research and Legal Sys­tems,” Thurs­day, June 14, at 6 p.m. in Domenici Cen­ter audi­to­rium at UNM’s Health Sci­ences Center.

Alford, who will be in res­i­dence this sum­mer at the Health Sci­ences Cen­ter as the Office of Diversity’s inau­gural diver­sity vis­it­ing scholar, will dis­cuss infa­mous instances of peo­ple mar­gin­al­ized by the Amer­i­can health care, research and legal sys­tems. Alford, an engag­ing sto­ry­teller, will pro­vide new per­spec­tives on these stories:

• Hen­ri­etta Lacks – her cells are used by research sci­en­tists world­wide, yet she was never com­pen­sated dur­ing her lifetime;
• The Women of Tuskegee – the over­looked impact on women of the noto­ri­ous U.S. Pub­lic Health Ser­vices Syphilis Study at Tuskegee; and
• Exper­i­ments on Enslaved Women – the use of enslaved women, with­out anes­the­sia, for gyne­co­log­i­cal exper­i­ments by Mar­ion Sims, known as the father of Amer­i­can gynecology.

Audi­ence mem­bers will have an oppor­tu­nity to engage in dis­cus­sion fol­low­ing the lecture.

A new health equity pro­gram – ini­ti­ated this year by the HSC’s Office of Diver­sity and cospon­sored by the UNM Divi­sion for Equity & Inclu­sion of the Office of the Provost and the UNM School of Law – the diver­sity vis­it­ing scholar pro­gram will bring nation­ally rec­og­nized schol­ars, edu­ca­tors, prac­ti­tion­ers and lead­ers on issues of diver­sity and inclu­sion in res­i­dence at UNM to teach, con­duct research and serve as a resource for the uni­ver­sity and the wider com­mu­nity through­out New Mexico.

“Pro­fes­sor Alford’s pres­ence at UNM this sum­mer as our inau­gural diver­sity vis­it­ing scholar is an excit­ing oppor­tu­nity for the uni­ver­sity and the com­mu­nity to learn more about why diver­sity and why diver­sity in health – and specif­i­cally HSC’s inclu­sive research agenda – is essen­tial to the health and well-being of the peo­ple of New Mex­ico,” said Valerie Romero-Leggott, vice chan­cel­lor for diver­sity at the UNM Health Sci­ences Cen­ter, asso­ciate dean of the School of Med­i­cine and asso­ciate pro­fes­sor in the Depart­ment of Fam­ily and Com­mu­nity Med­i­cine. “We are delighted to host her as she meets and works with our stu­dents, fac­ulty and staff and with com­mu­nity members.”

Alford, who grad­u­ated magna cum laude from South­ern Uni­ver­sity A&M Col­lege, holds a Juris Doc­tor from the South­ern Uni­ver­sity Law Cen­ter and a master’s degree in law from George­town Uni­ver­sity Law Cen­ter. She was a Ful­bright scholar in Sene­gal and Cote d’Ivoire. She will begin a master’s degree in bioethics this fall at the Med­ical Col­lege of Wis­con­sin. As a scholar, she focuses on inte­grat­ing race-conscious fem­i­nist the­ory into cul­tural com­pe­tence and on build­ing links between law, med­i­cine and the health pro­fes­sions, with a par­tic­u­lar empha­sis on the his­tor­i­cally marginalized.

“A sig­nif­i­cant part of our health edu­ca­tion cur­ric­ula focuses on the under­served and under­rep­re­sented,” said UNM Chan­cel­lor for health sci­ences and Dean, School of Med­i­cine Paul Roth. “Under­stand­ing cul­tural influ­ences enables health care providers an oppor­tu­nity to improve health out­comes by cul­ti­vat­ing empa­thy and under­stand­ing. In part, diver­sity and diverse per­spec­tives can teach us why a patient is expe­ri­enc­ing health issues and how a patient is will­ing to par­tic­i­pate in his or her recov­ery and over­all health.”

Alford will be in res­i­dence at UNM June 11-July 27, work­ing on her writ­ing and host­ing ses­sions with UNM stu­dents, fac­ulty, staff and admin­is­tra­tors. Alford also will work with the wider New Mex­ico com­mu­nity while she is at UNM. In addi­tion to the June 14 pub­lic lec­ture, she will present a sec­ond major pub­lic lec­ture on Thurs­day, July 26, 6 p.m. in Domenici Cen­ter auditorium.

The UNM HSC Office of Diver­sity pro­motes diver­sity – includ­ing racial, eth­nic, geo­graphic, gen­der, sex­ual ori­en­ta­tion and socio-economic diver­sity – in the Health Sci­ences Cen­ter and devel­ops a vari­ety of oppor­tu­ni­ties to address key issues in diver­sity. It offers sum­mer and other pro­grams to sup­port stu­dents, from mid­dle school through col­lege and pro­fes­sional schools, to suc­ceed in health careers. This year, the office is launch­ing men­tor­ship and lead­er­ship pro­grams for UNM fac­ulty of color. It also pro­vides a forum for dis­cussing issues con­cern­ing under­rep­re­sented and dis­ad­van­taged populations.

For more infor­ma­tion about Alford’s pub­lic lec­tures and com­mu­nity out­reach, con­tact the UNM HSC Office of Diver­sity at (505) 272‑2728.

Media Con­tact: Luke Frank, (505) 272‑3679