Yvonne Maddox facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Yvonne T. Maddox
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Yvonne T. Maddox is an American scientist and leader who has spent her career working to improve health for everyone, especially for minority groups, women, and children. She has held important jobs at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which is a big part of the U.S. government that does health research. Currently, she works as the vice president for research at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.
Yvonne Maddox's School Days
Yvonne Maddox earned her first degree, a Bachelor of Science in biology, from Virginia Union University in 1965.
During her last year of college, she was accepted into medical school. However, her father became ill, and she decided to help her family instead. She took a job as a technician at the Medical College of Virginia to support her parents and two brothers.
Later, after she got married and became a mother, Maddox went back to school. In 1981, she earned her Ph.D. in physiology from Georgetown University.
Maddox also studied as a special scientist at the French Atomic Energy Commission in France. She also completed a special program for senior managers at Harvard University.
Helping People Through Her Work
Yvonne Maddox's work has always focused on making healthcare fair for minority groups, women, and children. This includes people in the United States and in other countries.
She started her career in 1965 as a blood bank technician. From 1968 to 1985, she worked as a researcher and teacher at different places. These included the Washington Hospital Center, American University, and Georgetown University Medical Center.
In 1985, Maddox began working at the National Institute of General Medical Sciences. Here, she helped lead programs focused on science and health research.
From 1995 to 2014, Maddox was the deputy director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). In this role, she led many projects to improve the health of mothers and children. One important project was the NICHD Safe to Sleep campaign. This campaign teaches parents how to help babies sleep safely to prevent sudden infant death syndrome. She also worked on the Global Network for Women's and Children's Health Research.
Maddox also served as the acting deputy director for the entire National Institutes of Health from 2000 to 2002. In 2014, she became the acting director of the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities.
In June 2015, Dr. Maddox became the Vice President for Research at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.
Awards and Special Recognitions
Yvonne Maddox has received many awards for her important work. Some of these include:
- United States Presidential Distinguished Executive Rank Award
- United States Presidential Meritorious Executive Rank Award
- Public Health Service Special Recognition Award
- United States Department of Health & Human Services Secretary's Award
- United States Department of Health & Human Services Career Achievement Award
- National Institutes of Health Director's Award
- American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Distinguished Public Service Award
- HeLa Award from the Morehouse School of Medicine
- 2014 National Caucus on Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Health Disparities’ Vanguard Award for Scientific Leadership in Health Disparities
Maddox was also honored by being added to the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Hall of Fame. This recognized her important contributions in medicine. She has also received several honorary degrees and given many scientific talks around the world.
