Giselle Corbie-Smith facts for kids

Giselle Corbie-Smith is an American doctor and a special professor at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. She leads the UNC Center for Health Equity Research. She also helps direct the Institute of Rural Innovation. In 2018, she was chosen to be part of the National Academy of Medicine. Her work focuses on understanding and fixing differences in healthcare based on a person's race.

Giselle's Early Life and Education

When Giselle Corbie-Smith was young, she didn't always know she wanted to be a doctor. But as a teenager, she volunteered at her local hospital. Her mother was a nurse, which might have inspired her.

She went to Cornell University and studied biology and genetics. She finished her studies there in 1986. During her last year of college, she decided to become a doctor. She needed to take a test called the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) and wanted to earn some money first. So, she worked for a year in Brooklyn and in a science lab.

In 1991, she earned her medical degree (MD) from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. While in medical school, she learned how important it is for doctors and patients to have a good relationship. She also saw how people's lives and communities in The Bronx could affect their health. After medical school, she trained at the Yale University School of Medicine.

A lecture by Nicole Lurie inspired her to study "health disparities." This means looking at why some groups of people don't get the same quality of healthcare as others. She noticed that Black patients sometimes received different care than white patients, even with the same health problems. In 1998, she went to Emory University to study clinical research. She also learned about ethics in public health.

Her Research and Career

In 2000, Dr. Corbie-Smith joined the UNC School of Medicine. When she moved to North Carolina, she saw that people in rural areas, especially those from minority groups, often didn't have the same access to good healthcare.

Dr. Corbie-Smith leads a big project called Project GRACE. This project works with communities in Nash and Edgecombe County to help stop the spread of HIV.

She has also studied why people from minority groups might not want to join medical research studies. She looks at the fair ways to ask people from underserved communities to take part in these studies. Dr. Corbie-Smith found that racism and not trusting doctors can cause African-American men to delay getting important health screenings. She also showed that women who don't have much social support are more likely to die early from cardiovascular disease (heart problems).

Dr. Corbie-Smith is part of a group called the North Carolina Translational and Clinical Sciences Institute. There, she leads a program called Community Academic Resources for Engaged Scholarship (CARES) Services. This program connects healthcare workers with people in North Carolina communities. Together, they try to find solutions to local health problems.

Academic Leadership Roles

In 2013, Dr. Corbie-Smith became a special professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She also became the first Director of the Center for Health Equity Research. She helps with a university group that focuses on community involvement. In 2018, she was chosen to be the President of the Society of General Internal Medicine. In 2019, she became an Associate Provost for the Institute of Rural Innovation at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Awards and Recognitions

Dr. Corbie-Smith has received many awards for her important work:

• 2007: James E. Bryan Award for Public Service from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• 2008: Leadership in Health Disparities Research from the National Institutes of Health
• 2013: Engaged Scholarship Award for community-university partnership from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• 2016: Herbert W. Nickens Award from the Society of General Internal Medicine
• 2018: Elected as a Fellow of the National Academy of Medicine
• 2019: Edward Kidder Graham Faculty Service Award from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill