Melissa Buffalo is an enrolled member of the Meskwaki Nation in Iowa, and Dakota from the Crow Creek and Lower Brule Sioux Tribes. She received her undergraduate degree in child psychology from the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities and earned a master’s degree in Human Development from South Dakota State University.
Melissa has over 15 years of experience working in the public health sector in a variety of different roles. She brings a wealth of knowledge to the American Indian Cancer Foundation. As CEO, Melissa is committed to working with and for tribal communities, both urban and rural, and supporting our Indigenous people with opportunities to heal emotionally, historically, spiritually, and physically from the burdens of cancer.
Dr. Carol Brown is a board-certified gynecologic oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering. She is a Senior Vice President, Chief Health Equity Officer, and the incumbent of the Nicholls-Biondi Chair for Health Equity. Dr. Brown also serves as Vice Chair of Health Equity in the Department of Surgery.
Dr. Brown’s career is focused in three areas: providing high-quality and compassionate surgical care to women with gynecologic cancer; wiping out cancer health disparities; and promoting public policy to increase awareness, improve care, and increase research funding for gynecologic and other cancers.
As MSK’s Chief Health Equity Officer, Dr. Brown works to address cancer disparities that exist due to racial, ethnic, cultural, or socioeconomic barriers. She is responsible for center-wide initiatives focused on the reduction and elimination of cancer disparities experienced by medically underserved populations. This includes efforts to increase participation in clinical trials by collaborating with MSK investigators in increase diversity on clinical trials and through a unique partnership between MSK investigators and community oncologists to bring MSK clinical trials to underserved patients at their local institutions.
Dr. Brown’s national leadership positions include serving as the 50th President of the Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO), former Co-Chair of the NRG Oncology Health Disparities Committee, and as a member of the Board of Directors for the Biden Cancer Initiative. She was the first African American female to lead the SGO, an organization whose 2,000 members are dedicated to caring for women with gynecologic cancers and advancing research in the field.
Lynette Bonar is CEO of Tuba City Regional Health Care Corporation, a self-governance Title V Tribal Organization that serves 3 tribes: Navajo, Hopi, and San Juan Southern Paiute in Northern Arizona. Bonar is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executive and a member of the Navajo tribe. Her Navajo tribal clans are Meadow People born for Manygoats, her maternal grandparents are Bitterwater, and her paternal grandparents are Night Chant Dancer. Bonar is a veteran of the U. S. Army and Active Reserve as a Medic and LPN (1982-88).
Philip founded the AAMC Center for Health Justice as the natural next step in a career focused on eliminating inequities in health and health care. He also currently serves as the AAMC’s senior director of health equity research and policy. His previous roles included leading health equity research and evaluation efforts alongside community partners in New York City for the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and working as a graduate research assistant with Columbia University and the National Center for Children in Poverty.
His 2 decades of professional experience have nurtured a long-standing passion for researching, implementing, and evaluating systems and policies that can help every community have an equitable chance to thrive. As the founding director of the Center for Health Justice, Philip is developing efforts to build true community collaborations and an aligned agenda for better health throughout the country. This work is fueled by the strong belief that solutions to health injustice exist within communities themselves and that the path to better health goes beyond medical care to working alongside partners across multiple sectors that impact our everyday lives.
He earned his Ph.D. in sociomedical sciences and his bachelor’s degree in psychology from Columbia University.
