Rosemary Nabaweesi, DrPH, MBChB, has been named the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation endowed chair of health policy in the Center for Health Policy at Meharry Medical College. A health services research expert, Nabaweesi will support the Meharry's expanded efforts to use health policy, implementation and community-engaged research to address African American injury-related childhood disparities and education inequities. With more than 25 years' experience in injury research addressing health disparities in urban and rural communities, her work will aim to improve the inequitable built (physical) and social environments of underserved African American communities. As an associate professor, she will teach a course centered on leadership and population health change.

Nabaweesi comes to Meharry from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences where she was an assistant professor and senior director for research and evaluation in the Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. She earned a medical degree from Uganda's Makerere University School of Medicine, and a Master of Public Health with a concentration in reproductive and population health and a doctorate in health policy management, both from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.