Daniel F. Sarpong was appointed as the new executive director of the Yale Office of Health Equity Research and senior research scientist in general internal medicine, according to a press release from the Yale School of Medicine. 

He previously served for eight years as the endowed chair and director of the Center for Minority Health and Health Disparities Research and Education (CMHDRE) at Xavier University, where he performed work related to health equity research. Before his time at Xavier, Sarpong served as a research professor, senior biostatistician with RCMI Translational Research Network Coordinating Center and as an associate director of the Center of Environmental Health at Jackson State University in Mississippi.

“I’ve always been interested in addressing conditions that disproportionately affect vulnerable populations”, Sarpong said. “I happened to have the opportunity to work with the Jackson Heart Study for 10 years where I worked at the data coordinating center which at the time was housed at Jackson State University.”

The Jackson Heart Study is the largest single-site epidemiology study looking at the cause and progression of cardiovascular disease in African Americans.

There, he found that conditions like cardiovascular disease that disproportionately affect people of color are not necessarily biological, but are often linked to sociopolitical factors. At the same time, he realized the importance of working closely with community members.

“I came firsthand, visited churches, worked with the community and also looked at the data for the participants,” Sarpong said. “Based on publication and the research that was being done, the interaction with the community, I understood more of the need to look at health problems affecting vulnerable populations from a health equity lens.”

Tynesia Fields, community engagement and outreach coordinator at CMHDRE, spoke to the impact that Sarpong has had, both on the center and the surrounding community.

“Dr. Sarpong has led us well for the past eight years as director of the Center for Minority Health and Health Disparities Research and Education,” Fields said. “He has contributed greatly to moving the needle forward in true community engagement and partnership and health disparities research across Louisiana.”

According to Fields, Sarpong’s efforts in community engagement have driven the CMHDRE’s work to build and maintain long-lasting partnerships with key community, faith-based, governmental, institutional and other local and statewide stakeholders in order to create sustainable health equity improvements.

Sarpong looks forward to joining the Yale community and continuing efforts to improve health equity in New Haven’s most vulnerable communities. He plans to work closely with Yale faculty and researchers to allocate resources to those who need it most and hopes to bridge the gap between academia and the local community of New Haven by coming up with solutions that can be easily implemented by communities in need. Sarpong added that New Haven has its own share of equity work to be done and is excited about the opportunity to contribute. 

Tara Rizzo, deputy director of the Equity Research and Innovation Center and member of the Office of Health Equity Research team, shared her excitement towards working with Sarpong.

“He is a pre-eminent biostatistician and it is fantastic that we can attract him here to Yale,” shared Rizzo. “His most recent work in community engagement will be invaluable here. He brings a wealth of expertise in the research that we do as well as community engagement and health equity more broadly.”

Sarpong said that he is especially excited about community outreach. He said that achieving health equity can only occur when those in need are motivated to be a part of the solution, which requires engaging with members in a meaningful way and harnessing the wealth of knowledge a community has. Rather than telling communities what they need, Sarpong calls for researchers to work together with the local communities they’re trying to support.

In addition, Sarpong noted that students who are interested in learning more about or getting involved with health equity research and initiatives should look to volunteer and work with local organizations.

“I think that having Yale students immersed in community organizations … will get [them] to understand the problem much more,” Sarpong said. “Therefore, they can leverage the great talent and knowledge that they acquired at Yale, and harness that to really make a difference and move the needle in a positive direction.”

The Office for Health Equity Research was formed in 2020 to coordinate and expand health equity research efforts across Yale.