Latesha Elopre, M.D., MSPH, has been named assistant dean for Medical Education Diversity & Inclusion, a new position established in the UAB School of Medicine to support recruiting underrepresented medical students into UAB residency and fellowship programs and providing critical engagement and support for URIM trainees in the learning environment.
Her promotion to assistant dean was effective Aug. 1.
“I am excited to take on this role to work with leadership to foster an environment for our trainees that supports a sense of belonging, equity and justice,” Elopre said. “In this role, I plan to continue to seek out new avenues to ensure UAB excels in their efforts to promote diversity and inclusion.”
Elopre is an assistant professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases. She has served for the past two years as director of Diversity and Inclusion for Graduate Medical Education, providing strategic leadership for diversity and inclusion in GME programs and recruitment efforts, co-chairing the DCGME Subcommittee for Diversity and Inclusion, and acting as faculty liaison to and adviser for the Underrepresented in Medicine House Staff Council.
As assistant dean, she will lead ongoing implementation and evaluation of the GME Strategic Plan for Diversity and Inclusion; coordinate and provide critical leadership for URiM recruitment efforts across the residency programs with program directors; lead development and evaluation of programs to improve the engagement and enhance the learning environment for all URiM residents; and direct engagement with relevant leaders across the School of Medicine’s four campuses, for the medical student and resident learning environment.
For the latter related to the medical student learning environment, she will work closely with Carlton Young, M.D., assistant dean for Medical Student Diversity and Inclusion. She dually reports to Mona N. Fouad, M.D., MPH, senior associate dean for Diversity & Inclusion, and Alice R. Goepfert, M.D., associate dean for Graduate Medical Education.
“Dr. Elopre’s visionary leadership over the past few years makes her the natural choice to lead as our institution’s first assistant dean for Medical Education Diversity and Inclusion,” Fouad said. “As we, like medical schools across the country, continue grappling with issues affecting our URIM trainees and as we continue working to provide our patients a physician workforce that reflects Alabama’s population, having Latesha’s focused and thoughtful initiative will help us meet our strategic goals.”
As a fellow at UAB, she held a then-new role as director of diversity and inclusion for the Tinsley Harrison Internal Medicine Residency Program. She was the junior faculty winner of the Dean’s Excellence Award in Diversity Advancement in 2016.
Elopre completed her medical degree at the University of Florida’s College of Medicine. She then completed internal medicine residency and infectious diseases fellowship training at UAB. During that time, she also earned her MSPH in applied epidemiology. Her research interests have focused on social determinants of health for STDs and understanding how to improve implementing effective HIV prevention strategies among vulnerable populations in the United States.