Camara Phyllis Jones, MD, PhD, MPH
Jones is a family physician, epidemiologist and past president of the American Public Health Association whose work focuses on naming, measuring and addressing the impacts of racism on the health and well-being of our nation and the world. She is an adjunct professor in the Department of Behavioral, Social and Health Education Sciences and the Department of Epidemiology at the Rollins School of Public Health of Emory University. She also is a senior fellow and adjunct associate professor at the Morehouse School of Medicine.
Jones’s NAM election citation reads: “For contributing novel insights about the epidemiology of health disparities related to racial classifications. She is the preeminent spokesperson on pathways linking racism to poor health outcomes by using innovative, powerful allegories to enable inclusive dialogue and catalyze collective action on this critical public health issue.”
“Advancing health equity is a priority area for us as a school, and Dr. Jones’s national eminence and depth of research in health disparities is emblematic of that commitment,” says M. Daniele Fallin, PhD, James W. Curran Dean of Public Health at Rollins. “We extend our sincere congratulations on this outstanding achievement.”
Jones is currently a Leverhulme Visiting Professor in Global Health and Social Medicine at King’s College London in the United Kingdom and recently completed her tenure as the 2021-22 Presidential Chair at the University of California, San Francisco.
She previously taught for six years at the Harvard T. H.Chan School of Public Health, served 14 years at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and was a 2019-20 Radcliffe Fellow at Harvard University and a 2021 Presidential Visiting Fellow at the Yale School of Medicine.
Jones is celebrated for her allegories on race and racism, which enable her to effectively illuminate topics that can be difficult for many Americans to understand or discuss. Recognizing that racism saps the strength of the whole society through the waste of human resources, she aims to inspire and equip all Americans to engage in a sustained National Campaign Against Racism with three tasks: name racism; ask, “How is racism operating here?”; and organize and strategize to act.
In addition to her election this fall to the NAM, Jones also was elected to the 2022 American Academy of Arts and Sciences class this spring.
There are approximately 2,400 members across the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (the National Academies). Membership into the NAM begins with a nomination from two current NAM members familiar with the candidate’s work, then moves to an election process involving the regular NAM membership body. No more than 90 regular and 10 international members are elected each year. Members are selected based on their “outstanding professional achievements and commitment to volunteer service.”