Addressing Health Disparities in the LGBTQIA+ Community

Addressing Health Disparities in the LGBTQIA+ Community is a comprehensive compilation of medical students' researches, reflections and discussions on the issue of health disparities experienced by the LGBTQIA community in the healthcare industry. It is a book that would be a good resource to medical students, health professions students in the Dentistry, Pharmacy, Occupational Therapy, Nursing, Public Health and the Social Sciences. This book is a good read by all healthcare providers and the general public as well.

Sade Kosoko-Lasaki, MD, MSPH, MBA is associate vice provost for Health Sciences, professor of surgery (ophthalmology) and professor of preventive medicine and public health at Creighton University. She is co-founder and co-director of Creighton's Center for Promoting Health and Health Equity (CPHHE), a multiple national award winner and an internationally renowned researcher in minority health with a focus on increasing the health care workforce.

Dr. Kosoko-Lasaki has led Creighton University's participation in the training and education of a diverse group of faculty and students at the pre-collegiate and collegiate levels in Nebraska which has resulted in the award of several multi-million-dollar research initiatives. In addition, her efforts helped achieve the designation of the Creighton School of Medicine as a Center of Excellence in Minority Education from 2005 to 2008.

Dr. Kosoko-Lasaki leads Creighton's Office of Health Sciences-Multicultural and Community Affairs through programs such as the pre-Medical, pre-Dental Post Baccalaureate programs and the pre-Pharmacy and Health Professions Pre-matriculation programs; the Health Careers Opportunity Program (HCOP); the Health Professions Pipeline Program; Cultural Proficiency Seminars, Community Outreach Primary Care (COPC) and other Health Disparities Initiatives with a focus on community-based participatory research.

Dr. Kosoko-Lasaki has built collaborative relationships locally, nationally and worldwide while serving as a community/academic leader in the Omaha area. She oversees the recruitment of disadvantaged students to Creighton's health science schools, and mentors these students to retain them. Dr. Kosoko-Lasaki has lectured nationally and internationally on cultural proficiency and health disparity issues, focusing on the promotion of "pipeline programs" that prepare and support disadvantaged students from fourth grade through health professional schools, so the students can become successful health care providers.

As an ophthalmologist with a public health degree, Dr. Kosoko-Lasaki is passionate about training and educating individuals in developing countries on blindness prevention, specifically Vitamin A deficiency, which is the leading cause of preventable blindness in children and a major public health problem throughout the world. She is also a subspecialist in the treatment of glaucoma. She has served as a consultant to UNICEF, USAID and Helen Keller International in Burkina Faso, Niger, Mauritania, Chad and the Philippines.

Since 1986, Dr. Kosoko-Lasaki, a clinician and surgeon, has researched the prevalence of glaucoma in blacks in St. Lucia, West Indies. With a focus on detecting and treating glaucoma -- the most common cause of blindness in African Americans and Hispanics - she has initiated health fairs and screenings throughout the Washington DC metropolitan area, in Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, the U.S. Virgin Islands and in the Dominican Republic. In 2001, she created a program for blindness prevention at Creighton University entitled, "Preventing Glaucoma Blindness in Nebraska: A Creighton University Initiative," which targeted individuals at risk for glaucoma blindness in Omaha and surrounding states.

Dr. Kosoko-Lasaki has written over a hundred and fifty publications in peer-reviewed journals and has co-authored "Maintaining the Target Intraocular Pressure: African American Glaucoma Specialist" a textbook, "Cultural Proficiency in Addressing Health Disparities and a recently a book titled "Diversity and Inclusion in a More Perfect University: HS-MACA 20-Year History of Success."

She is married to Dr. Gbolahan Lasaki, a petroleum engineer and is blessed with three children, three step children and four grandchildren. "Enjoy the journey if you can, it's all quite humorous after all!"

That gregarious attitude led Dr. Mark Goodman into a vocation where he would be able to interact with people. Combine that with his desire to find a career that "mattered" and it's no wonder he became a doctor.

The environment at Alegent Creighton Health Clinic plays right into Dr. Goodman's extroverted nature. He has built himself a fine list of consultants that he knows and trusts. The benefits of working as part of a team go directly to the patient.

Dr. Goodman enjoys teaching caregivers of the future so he can leave a legacy for future generations. Research and publications can do only so much but passing the gift of medicine to the students and residents keeps giving.

Dr. Goodman lists yoga, triathlons, travel and dogs as some of his favorite things. He is also passionate about seeking justice, meaning and kindness in his life. Michael D. White, MD, currently serves as the Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of Valleywise Health in Phoenix, Arizona. Valleywise Health (formerly Maricopa Integrated Health System) has a proud tradition of being both the community safety net health care system, with a mission and commitment to serving the underserved and Arizona's only public teaching hospital. Valleywise Health consists of Valleywise Health Medical Center, the only Level I Trauma Center in Maricopa County verified by the American College of Surgeons to care for both adults and children, Arizona's only nationally verified Burn Center serving the entire Southwestern United States, the McDowell Healthcare Center, the largest provider of HIV primary care in Arizona, women's and pediatric refugee health services, the Arizona Children's Center, three behavioral health centers, and 12 FQHC sites throughout Maricopa County. Dr. White joined Valleywise Health in August 2019.

Dr. White currently also serves as Associate Dean for Technology and Informatics at the Creighton University School of Medicine. He continually identifies opportunities to enhance the learning environment for healthcare clinicians of the future. Dr. White is an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Cardiology. He joined the faculty of Creighton University School of Medicine in 2008. He previously served as Associate Dean for Medical Education in 2013 and held that role until 2015. In this prior Associate Dean role, Dr. White oversaw the curriculum for undergraduate medical student education.
Dr. White is a practicing interventional cardiologist. He is board-certified in internal medicine, cardiovascular diseases, and interventional cardiology. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in biology from Creighton University. Dr. White received his medical degree from the Creighton University School of Medicine. He also completed a residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in cardiovascular disease. He completed a fellowship in interventional cardiology at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. Dr. White earned his MBA degree from Creighton University in 2019.