Panelist Bios

Latasha Shelby Perkins, MD

Originally from Biloxi, Mississippi, Dr. LaTasha Seliby Perkins is a graduate of the University of California, Davis; and the University of Alabama, Birmingham School of Medicine. She received her residency training from the Spartanburg Regional Family Medicine Program in South Carolina, and the former Health and Media fellow of Georgetown SOM’s Department of Family Medicine.

Dr. Seliby is currently a College Health physician here at Georgetown’s Student Health Center, an Assistant Professor in the School of Medicine, and Medical Editor of Heart & Soul magazine.

Her accomplishments include: Congressional Black Caucus(CBC) 2016 & 2017 Annual Legislative Conference panelist, Congressional Tri-Caucus Minority Health Disparities Summit speaker, 2015 Society of Teachers of Family Medicine New Faculty Scholar and CBC/NMQF 2016 40 Under 40 Leaders in Minority Health Honoree.

She recently became a young professional member of the National Minority Quality Forum Advisory Board; and was featured on Upworthy.com for her advocacy and work in Preventive Medicine.

Dr. Seliby’s hope is to aggressively influence positive change in health care disparities, health education of underserved populations, and mentorship to  impact success rates of diverse students in medicine.  

Doris Browne, MD

Dr. Doris Browne is the 118th President of the National Medical Association (NMA) and the President and CEO, Browne and Associates, Inc. (BAI), a service disabled veteran and woman owned health consulting company, which manages diversified health programs addressing the health status and disparities of national and international populations. BAI provides education, training, disease prevention consultation and a comprehensive worksite wellness programs to its clientele. Our programs are primarily focused in the areas of breast and prostate cancers, women’s health, other non-communicable diseases, disaster management, and HIV/AIDS with an emphasis on health promotion, disease prevention and positive health outcomes. Dr. Browne’s international work has focused on breast cancer and HIV/AIDs. Her NMA program theme focuses on a Collaborative Approach to Health Equity entitled “The Urgency of Now: Creating a Culture for Health Equity. The NMA Collaboration of Professionals for Healthcare Equity (NMA-COPHE) will address health conditions through involving national healthcare providers and leaders from the selected representative organizations in an effort to reduce the prevalence and disparities seen among our disadvantaged communities. Each participating organization will provide input that addresses the specific goals and mission of its membership but also speaks to the collaborative goals of National Action Plan for Health Equity. Dr. Browne retired from the National Cancer Institute where she managed the breast cancer portfolio for the Breast and Gynecologic Cancer Research Group in the Division of Cancer Prevention and is the recipient of an NIH Merit Award (2010).   She was a Woodrow Wilson Public Policy Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars where her research focused on estrogen receptor negative breast cancer health disparities. Her experiences also include training and technical assistance in clinical trials, chronic disease management, and HIV/AIDS. She has worked extensively with the National Medical Association (NMA) Project IMPACT (Increasing Minority Participation in Clinical Trials) for provider and consumer training in clinical trial participation. Dr. Browne is a .retired Colonel of the US Army Medical Corps and former Director, Medical Research and Development, US Army Medical Research and Materiel Command where she was responsible for the biomedical research programs for the Army and the Department of Defense (DoD)  Previously, she was Director, Prevention and Standards, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs with responsibility for analysis, review, and formulation of policies, guidelines and programs on women’s health issues, oversight for health promotion and disease prevention, and TRICARE preventive benefits; Chair, DoD Breast Cancer Prevention, Education, and Diagnosis Initiative and represented DoD on the National Action Plan on Breast Cancer. Her military career included various senior level positions of responsibility including establishing the disaster medical management emergency support team for radiation accidents/incidents; writing a text book on management of radiation casualties;  participating on several NATO Panels and Working Groups; and serving as the Senior Medical Consultant, U.S. Delegation Subgroup on Accident Response to U.S. – Russian Safety, Security, and Dismantlement Working Group and DoD Partnership for Peace program. Her public health background includes health education program on substance abuse, sex education, sickle cell disease and community health education programs, including participating in an international disaster preparedness and humanitarian assistance program for 17 West African Nations following the Ebola epidemic of 2015. Dr. Browne graduated from Tougaloo College (BS), University of California at Los Angeles (MPH), and Georgetown University (M.D.) and completed an internship, residency, and fellowship at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. She is recognized as national and international expert in the medical management of radiation casualties, women’s health, cancer, and HIV/AIDs and is well published including textbooks, book chapters, and peer reviewed articles. She is member of Trinity Episcopal Church and the chair of its Health Ministry. Dr. Browne is a member of numerous professional organizations, Alpha kappa Alpha Sorority, and recipient of plentiful awards. She is the mother of one daughter, Nicole, son-in-law, Kevin, and granddaughter, Payton Arianna.  

Caridad DeLaUz, MD

Dr. de la Uz is a member of the Arrhythmia and Pacing (Electrophysiology) Service at Texas Children’s Hospital. Her clinical interests include the implantation and management of cardiac implantable electronic devices such as pacemakers and defibrillators, clinical arrhythmia management, and ablation of cardiac dysrhythmias in pediatric and adult patients with congenital heart disease. Her research interests include novel cardiac devices and implantation techniques, ventricular arrhythmias,the clinical management of defibrillators and management of the psychological comorbidities associated with cardiac devices. Dr. de la Uz bases her clinical practice on the principle of cura personalis – care for the whole person, where the goal of treatment is not just the health of the body, but the overall well-being of the patient and family.

Debra Holly, MD

Dr. Debra Holly Ford is Associate Professor of Surgery and Vice-Chair of the Department of Surgery at Howard University College of Medicine (HUCM) in Washington, DC. She is the Head of the Section of Colon and Rectal Surgery and Founding Medical Director of the Howard University Health Sciences Simulation and Clinical Skills Center. She is also Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at Howard University College of Medicine. Dr. Ford, a native of Pine Bluff, Arkansas, was educated through the public school system and received the Bachelor of Science (Zoology ’82) and the Doctor of Medicine degrees from Howard University. After graduating from Howard University College of Medicine in 1986 as the top ranking medical student, she successfully completed a general surgery residency at Howard University Hospital (HUH) in 1991. In addition, she received further training in Colon and Rectal Surgery at the University of Texas and Affiliated Hospitals in Houston, Texas. Dr. Ford is board-certified by the American Board of Surgery and is the first African-American female to obtain board certification in Colon and Rectal Surgery in the United States and the first African-American female to become a Fellow of the American College of Colon and Rectal Surgeons.

Dr. Ford has been a member of the faculty of the Howard University College of Medicine since September, 1994. She is a fellow and active member of the American College of Surgeons and the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgery. She has served on numerous national committees including the American College of Surgeons’ Committee on Diversity Issues. She has received many teaching awards including the Kaiser Permanente Teaching Award and has been named to Black Enterprises ‘America’s Leading Doctors’ and The Washingtonian Magazine ‘Top Doctors in the Washington Metropolitan Area’.

Munish Goyal, MD

Munish Goyal, MD, FACEP, is an Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at the Georgetown University School of Medicine and Research Director in the Department of Emergency Medicine at MedStar Washington Hospital Center (MWHC).  His previous experience includes attending in the surgical Intensive care unit and emergency department at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

As an Emergency Physician trained in critical care, Dr. Goyal focuses on the downstream impact of early interventions. He is primarily interested in the care of critically ill and injured patients in the emergency department and has investigated the role of biomarkers and triage vital signs in identification of ischemia and severity of illness, the impact of time to antimicrobials in severe sepsis and septic shock, and the use of lactate in differing populations.

Dr. Goyal has published more than 50 manuscripts, reviews, and book chapters and currently is Vice Chair of the IRB at MedStar Health Research Institute.

Dr. Goyal has received numerous awards and recognition for his work and leadership. In addition to being selected Chief Resident and Resident of the Year during his residency, he received the Hero Award from the R Adams Cowley Shock/Trauma Center, was selected Teacher of the Year and Mentor of the Year at the University of Pennsylvania and Faculty of the Year and Mentor of the Year at Georgetown University.

His medical degree is from the Medical College of Virginia/Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine in Richmond. After his residency in Emergency Medicine at Christiana Care Health System in Newark, DE, Dr. Goyal completed a fellowship in Trauma and Critical Care at the R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center at the University of Maryland.  

Sarah Kureshi, MD

Sarah Kureshi, MD, MPH is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Medicine. She is a graduate of University of Central Florida (BS, Biology), Mayo Clinic College of Medicine (MD), and Harvard School of Public Health (MPH, International Health). She completed her residency in Family Medicine at UCSF in 2010 and then a Fellowship in Community Health Leadership Development at Georgetown in 2012. Dr. Kureshi is the Course Director of the Doctoring Selectives and Co-Director of the Patients, Populations & Policy course. She also serves as Advisor to the Family Medicine Student Interest Group and precepts students at HOYA Clinic, the Georgetown student-driven free clinic. Dr. Kureshi is a clinician at the department practice, MedStar Health Center – Family Medicine at Spring Valley where she enjoys seeing patients of all ages. She is also an attending physician at Providence Hospital with the Georgetown University-Providence Hospital Family Medicine Residency Program through which she teaches on the inpatient medicine team and precepts at the Fort Lincoln Family Medicine Center. Dr. Kureshi serves as a Physicians for Human Rights Asylum Network Provider and also works on health issues affecting Muslim communities. Her professional interests include preventive medicine, health disparities, health and human rights, gender based violence, and refugee/immigrant health.

Keith Melancon, MD

Dr. Melancon is originally from Louisiana and did his medical training at Tulane University in New Orleans. After completing his surgical training, Dr. Melancon did a multi-organ transplant fellowship at the University of Minnesota. After his fellowship training, Dr. Melancon became the director of kidney and pancreas transplantation first, at Johns Hopkins University, followed by Georgetown University, the Washington Hospital Center, and the Children’s National Medical Center from the years 2004 to 2012.

Since 2013, Dr. Melancon has been the director of the George Washington Transplant Institute where he is a professor of surgery and the medical director of the Ron and Joy Paul Kidney Center. Dr. Melancon is an internationally renowned expert in paired kidney exchanges, ABO incompatible kidney transplantation, pancreas transplantation, and immunologic desensitization for organ transplants. Dr. Melancon has on four occasions set the world’s record for largest paired kidney exchange. Dr. Melancon’s passion and research has centered on trying to increase access to organ transplantation for minority patients and sensitized patients who have few options for kidney transplantation.