April 2, 2015 —Chicago physicians Cheryl Whitaker, MPH ’94, and husband Eric Whitaker, MPH ’93, recently returned to Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health to discuss how their time at the School helped shape their careers, and to inspire students to work to address health disparities. They co-presented this year’s Yerby Diversity Lecture in Public Health on March 26, 2015, before a Harvard Chan audience in Snyder Auditorium.
The lecture was named in honor of Alonzo Smythe Yerby, an African-American pioneer in public health. Meredith Rosenthal, professor of health economics and policy and associate dean for diversity, moderated the discussion.
Cheryl Whitaker is the CEO of NextLevel Health, a Medicaid health plan serving seniors, persons with disabilities, and childless adults in the Chicago area. The plan, launched in 2014, incorporates ideas and concepts Whitaker absorbed when she came to Harvard Chan after attending medical school. “It is the culmination of 20 years of work,” she said, “but it was born here.”
After starting her career in academic research, she found herself growing frustrated that none of her efforts were resulting in tangible change at the community level. Since then, she has worked to find innovative solutions for improving health care for underserved patients. In 2011, prior to joining NextLevel, she became the inaugural chair of the Illinois Health Information Exchange Authority, where she guided the state’s effort to create a secure network for providers to share health information.
She confessed that early in her career, she had no idea how health care was financed. She urged students who want to make change to “learn where the money comes from and how to use it.”
Eric Whitaker began his research in black men’s health while at Harvard Chan. He called himself “a failed academic,” explaining that he was more interested in putting his work into practice than publishing it.
In Chicago, he founded Project Brotherhood: A Black Men’s Clinic, which provides integrated social support and health care services. A former director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, he led the University of Chicago Medical Center’s Urban Health Initiative, which worked to improve the health of residents of the South Side of Chicago. He currently serves as chairman of TWG Partners and Symphonix Health Holdings.
He advised students to learn how to tell a good story to promote their agenda, observing that “No one thinks about public health until something goes wrong.”
“I believe in the power of data,” he said, “but in the political system, personal narrative is more persuasive.”
Photo: Emily Cuccarese