Cheryl A. Dickson, MD, MPH is associate dean for health equity and community affairs at WMed. In this position, Dickson works as an advocate, convener, collaborator, and connector of medical school resources with the local and global community to facilitate meeting shared goals and improving the health and well-being of all the communities WMed serves. Dickson is also a professor in the Department of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine. Dr. Dickson received her medical degree from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey Medical School (UMDNJ) and her Master's in Public Health, Health Policy and Management from Columbia University. She completed her residency training in pediatrics at the UMDNJ Children’s Hospital of New Jersey, in Newark, New Jersey. Dickson has worked extensively in urban healthcare settings. In her former role as the director of ambulatory and emergency health services for Children’s Hospital of New Jersey, she was instrumental in developing practice sites, evidence-based practice protocols, and key relationships for the hospital with managed care health plans as well as community partnerships. She has also served as a chair of pediatrics in which she established a pediatric inpatient hospital service, served as director for the ambulatory primary care practice, implemented policies for pediatric emergencies, and established affiliation agreements with the Children’s Hospital, Health Department, and Board of Education. Dr. Dickson’s accomplishments include developing the cultural competency curriculum for medical students at WMed, and developing the initial Profession of Medicine longitudinal course which includes clinical skills, service-learning, and principles of medicine. She has co-facilitated cultural competency training for continuing education for practicing physicians for license requirements in New Jersey and California. Her passion and work centers on health equity and justice. In her role as Associate Dean of Health Equity at WMed, she has many accomplishments, including developing an annual health equity summit, creating and implementing educational curricular programs to promote equity integrated throughout the curriculum, developing multiple pathway programs to diversify the health workforce, developing key community partnerships for the medical school, including a grant from the AAMC as one of eight medical schools in the country selected for the model program in health equity and academic community partnerships. She has authored many book chapters and articles, including a recently published monograph on health equity and pediatrics. She has received many awards and honors for her teaching and service to the community and serves as a representative on numerous community boards.