Who's in CHARGE? spotlights a member of the AAMC Collaborative for Health equity: Act, Research, Generate Evidence (CHARGE), a forum for investigators, clinicians, and community partners who design and implement research and policy that eliminates health and health care inequities. Today we're featuring Daniel A. Wilkenfeld, PhD, Assistant Professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing and AAMC CHARGE Ambassador. Daniel will host the April AAMC CHARGE coffee break.
What sparked your interest in health equity or health disparities work?
I work at the intersection of bioethics and the philosophy of disability. One of my children and I have both received autism diagnoses.
Why does health equity matter in general? Why should health equity matter to other people?
Health equity is a fundamental aspect of justice and is a requirement for a fair system. Justice is best measured by what it does for the most needful among us. In the long run it's in all of our interest for everyone to be healthy. I'm very proud of my work improving diagnoses for autistic children in underserved communities.
Imagine you’re a Principal Investigator on your dream research project. What’s the question you’re trying to answer?
I would want to research which autism "treatments" actually improve self-assessed quality of life for autistic people.
What’s the first concert you ever went to?
My first concert was Blink-182!
You can meet other health equity champions like Daniel in the AAMC CHARGE virtual community. Interested in nominating yourself or a colleague for a Who's In CHARGE? member spotlight?