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Vital Signs

Hampton University Nursing Professor Appointed to Key Federal Committee

“This is a wonderful opportunity to help set the national agenda that will have an impact on the health of ethnic minorities. Good health for minorities means good health for the entire nation.” So says Cheryl Killion, PhD, MS, MA, BS, research associate professor of nursing and director of the Minority Family Health Center at Hampton University, of her recent appointment to serve on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)’s Advisory Committee on Minority Health.

The committee’s purpose is to advise HHS on issues such as improving the health of racial and ethnic minorities, eliminating minority health disparities and developing goals and programs for the department’s Office of Minority Health. Of the eight minority health experts newly appointed to the advisory committee by HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt in April, Killion is the only nurse.

Dr. Killion’s distinguished career spans 30 years in nursing and research. Prior to joining Hampton University, one of the nation’s leading historically black universities, she taught at the University of California, Los Angeles and the University of Michigan. She also served as a research assistant at Charles Drew Postgraduate Medical School in Los Angeles.

She believes “much progress has been made” in the battle against minority health disparities. However, Killion continues, “much still needs to be done to improve health care access, service delivery, health literacy and cultural competence among health care providers, [as well as] the quality-of-life issues and circumstances related to racism and discrimination.”