The Dean of Arts and Health Sciences at Laboure College of Healthcare
Dr. Doreen Richards has received numerous honors. She is a recipient of the James Hudson Humanitarian Award and was also named one of the top community leaders in Tallahassee by the Tallahassee Community College. In addition, she has been named one of the 25 Women to Know in Tallahassee.
Dr. Doreen Richards
Dr. Doreen Richards is the Dean of Arts and Health Sciences at Laboure College of Healthcare. In this position, she collaborates with faculty and students who want to pursue careers in the health sciences. In the Greater Toronto Area alone, there are 152 colleges and universities, including 116 private and 24 public colleges, plus 12 community colleges.
Dr. Lataisia Jones
Dr. Lataisia Jones earned her bachelor’s degree from the College of William and Mary, where she studied cell cycle exit mutations in Caenorhabditis elegans. Later, she earned her M.S. and Ph.D. from Virginia State University, where she studied Non-Insulin Dependent Diabetes Mellitus. She later taught undergrad biology and taught young students in Ghana. She was also one of the first African-American women to receive a doctorate from Florida State University.
In her research, Dr. Jones has studied Levodopa Responsive Dystonia, and she has used an antibody to develop better diagnostics. Dr. Jones earned her Bachelor’s degree in biology and her Master’s degree in biochemistry at Virginia State University, and she has since become the first African-American to earn a Ph.D. in biomedical science at Florida State University. She enjoys providing STEM resources and programs to students, and she hopes to see students pursuing STEM fields.
Jones has worked to inspire young girls to pursue STEM careers, and is also a volunteer writer and program host for AWIS. She is a member of AAAS and the Black Women PhDs program, and she has featured on Mission Unstoppable, WUSA9’s Great Day Washington, and WTOP Radio. Her work has earned her several awards and recognitions.
Dr. Richard Wamai
Dr. Wamai has a diverse background and extensive experience in international health and development. He has been a research fellow at Harvard University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health and a researcher at Oxford University’s Department of Social Policy. He has also worked for a number of institutions, including the World Bank and the Nordic-Africa Institute in Uppsala, Sweden. His research has focused on HIV/AIDS and other neglected tropical diseases. He has published extensively in leading journals.
Wamai emphasized the importance of identifying and understanding the factors causing health disparities. While some health differences are rooted in biological variation, others are the result of social and cultural factors. Ultimately, disparities emerge when unequal health outcomes between populations are caused by addressable conditions and barriers that may have been preventable.
