Sherita Hill Golden facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Sherita Hill Golden
Golden in 2021
Alma mater	Johns Hopkins University University of Virginia School of Medicine University of Maryland, College Park
Scientific career
Institutions	Johns Hopkins University

Sherita Hill Golden is an American doctor and scientist. She is a special professor at Johns Hopkins University who studies hormones and how the body uses energy. She also works in other areas like preventing diseases, studying health patterns, and improving patient safety. Her research looks at how our bodies and healthcare systems affect diabetes and its results. From 2015 to 2019, she was a leader in the Department of Medicine. From 2019 to 2024, she helped make Johns Hopkins Medicine a more diverse and fair place. In 2021, she was chosen to be a member of the National Academy of Medicine, which is a big honor for scientists.

Early Life and Education

Sherita Hill Golden grew up in Maryland. She went to the University of Maryland, College Park for her first degree, graduating with very high honors (summa cum laude). She then went to the University of Virginia School of Medicine to become a doctor. She was a top student there and was the first African-American person to win a special scholarship for being excellent in patient care.

At first, Dr. Golden wanted to be a paediatrician, a doctor for children. But she met a diabetes expert who inspired her. She saw that diabetes was becoming a big health problem. She became worried about how diabetes affects both the body and the mind. So, she decided to focus on internal medicine and endocrinology, which deals with hormones and metabolism. She trained at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. While there, she also earned a master's degree in studying health patterns.

Research and Career Highlights

Dr. Golden is a well-known doctor and scientist. She is a member of several important medical groups. Her research mainly focuses on two areas. First, she studies how natural hormones in women after menopause might affect their risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Second, she looks at how mental health problems are connected to diabetes. She was the first to show that if someone has depression, they are more likely to get diabetes. Also, if someone has diabetes, they are more likely to develop depression.

Dr. Golden also helped write a study about how emotional stress affects people with type 2 diabetes. This study showed that when people are stressed, it can be harder for them to stick to their diabetes treatment. This means it's important to help patients with their feelings to improve their diabetes care. She also works to understand and fix health differences in diabetes care. She helps create ways to make sure hospital patients with diabetes get better and safer care. She led the program for managing blood sugar in patients at Johns Hopkins Hospital for many years.

Leading at Johns Hopkins

As a leader in the Department of Medicine at Johns Hopkins, Dr. Golden helped manage many important areas like patient care, research, and teaching. She also worked with the local community. After some difficult events in 2015, she helped create programs to involve staff and the community. She also started a speaker series called "Journeys in Medicine" to encourage community involvement. From 2018 to 2021, she was on the board of the American Diabetes Association.

In 2019, Johns Hopkins Medicine asked Dr. Golden to become the vice president and chief diversity officer. In this role, she worked to make Johns Hopkins a more fair and welcoming place for everyone. She helped lead efforts to ensure fair health care and access during the COVID-19 pandemic. She also created a plan to guide efforts for diversity, inclusion, and health fairness. Under her leadership, Johns Hopkins Medicine hired and kept more diverse staff. She also helped expand groups for employees and started an award program to celebrate people from different backgrounds.

Dr. Golden worked with other groups at Johns Hopkins to create plans for health fairness. These plans help find and reduce health differences in patient care. She is a national leader in promoting health fairness. She has supported lawmakers in Maryland to create state laws about health fairness. She has also talked about how some groups of people, especially those from certain ethnic backgrounds or with less money, often live in areas with fewer resources. She has asked for more farmers markets, healthy food options in libraries, and more regular grocery stores in these communities. Dr. Golden also believes that healthcare providers should learn about fairness and unconscious bias to give better care to everyone.

Recent Work and Resignation

On January 11, 2024, Dr. Golden sent out a newsletter that included a statement about "privilege" in the United States. After some people reacted strongly to this message, she apologized the next morning. She said her message was too simple and took back her summary of social privilege. Johns Hopkins Medicine stated that the language in the newsletter did not match their values. Many employees and students at Johns Hopkins Medicine supported Dr. Golden. Dr. Golden resigned from her position as vice president and chief diversity officer on March 5, 2024.

Dr. Golden continues to lead a study at Johns Hopkins called the Diabetes Prevention Program Outcome Study, a role she has had since 2010. She also recently finished serving on a committee that looked at research on women's health.

Awards and Honors

• 2013 Elected member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation
• 2015 Innovations in Clinical Care Award
• 2015 American Diabetes Association Diabetes Hero Award
• 2017 Elected Member of the Association of American Physicians
• 2017 University of Virginia Walter Reed Distinguished Achievement Award
• 2018 Annual Women Worth Watching Award
• 2019 University of Virginia Distinguished Alumna Award
• 2020 Maryland Top 100 Woman
• 2021 Baltimore Sun 25 Woman to Watch
• 2021 Elected member of the National Academy of Medicine
• 2022 President’s Award from the University of Maryland Alumni Association
• 2023 Trailblazer in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility

Personal Life

Dr. Golden is married to Christopher Golden. He is also a professor and director at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. They have one son together.