Dean’s Executive Diversity Council

The Dean's Executive Diversity Council supports the Saint Louis University School of Medicine by developing and implementing goals germane to diversity, equity and inclusion as it pertains to our tri-part mission of education, research and clinical care. This council is crucial to drive impactful change across our academic and administrative operations at SLU.

The council provides support and institutional leverage for the LCME Diversity Council for the SLU School of Medicine, a larger group of institutional stakeholders who are charged with developing goals, outcome measures, and monitoring processes related to diversity, equity and inclusion.

The advisory council is key to our mission in moving the School of Medicine forward.

LCME Leadership Council on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Members of the Leadership Council on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion have the opportunity to lay the groundwork for the Saint Louis University School of Medicine (SLUSOM) to be a national leader in diversity, equity and inclusion issues and solutions.

A culture embracing diversity, equity and inclusion is essential for all that SLUSOM wants to accomplish. A comprehensive planning process around those values will collaborate with the strategic planning process while elevating the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion as a foundation for all SLUSOM.

This council’s work will go well beyond LCME, including work and solutions that lead to a more diverse, equitable and inclusive School of Medicine. The council is charged with developing goals, outcome measures, and monitoring processes related to diversity, equity and inclusion and crucial to driving impactful change across our academic and administrative operations.

The council must lead by example in being a safe, welcoming, and respectful campus. It will focus on developing and implementing goals germane to diversity, equity, and inclusion as it pertains to our tri-part mission of education research and clinical care.

We must use this moment in the arc of our institution’s journey to inventory efforts around diversity, equity, and inclusion across SLUSOM, identify potential synergies, pinpoint existing gaps, and establish a framework for making SLUSOM a national leader. In so doing, it will be necessary to examine the composition and success of our faculty, staff and student body, research and scholarship, curriculum and educational programs, community engagement, and the culture our community members live and experience daily. These areas should be evaluated broadly, focusing on social identities, including age, color, disability status, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, national origin, race, religion, sexual orientation, socioeconomic level and veteran status.

This process should result in an actionable plan that informs the long-term strategic planning of the institution. The purpose of the Leadership Council on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion shall be as follows:

• Work closely with senior leaders to ensure tight alignment with the SLUSOM overall strategy and help institutionalize human capital practices that support and accelerate diversity, equity and inclusion goals.
• Create strategic accountability for results, provide governance and oversight on diversity efforts, and promote school-wide communication progress.
• Successfully integrate the diversity, equity and inclusion program with the SLUSOM mission, operations, strategies and objectives.
• Identify barriers that impact recruitment, retention and advancement, recruitment, training, and critical assignments.
• Review and highlight best practices and insights on diversity, equity and inclusion efforts from benchmarking; keep an inventory of actions and initiatives.
• Make recommendations for a Strategic Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Planning Process for SLUSOM, with short-term, mid-range, and long-term action items and goals to make SLUSOM a national leader in this area.

The Leadership Council on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is supported by the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and the Dean's Executive Diversity Council.

Through these activities to advance diversity, equity and inclusion through every part of our School of Medicine, we hold ourselves accountable for prioritizing this work, adopting initiatives to advance our progress, and achieving meaningful results.

Diversity Liaisons

The role of the diversity liaison is to facilitate the creation of a department-level diversity plan, chair the department’s diversity committee (if one exists), aid in communication, and oversee the implementation and assessment of their department’s diversity, equity and inclusion programs. The liaison will be crucial to drive impactful change across our clinical operations in areas germane to diversity, equity and inclusion.

The Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion supports the diversity liaison.

Member List

Deepa Arun, M.D. 
  Assistant Residency Program Director, Neurology-Pediatric 
Sherri Besmer, M.D. 
  Assistant Professor, Pathology and Associate Director, Pathology Residency Program 
Anthony Brock, M.D. 
  Resident, Psychiatry 
Sofia Chaudhry, M.D. 
  Assistant Professor, Chair, Diversity, Inclusion, Equity and Justice Committee, Dermatology 
DePorres Cormier, M.D. 
  Assistant Professor, Pediatrics 
Shelly Dalton, Ph.D. 
  Assistant Professor, Medical Family Therapy 
Gabriela Espinoza, M.D. 
  Associate Professor, Ophthalmology 
Sumesh Kaswan, M.D. 
  Assistant Professor, Surgery-Plastic 
Heather MacArthur, Ph.D. 
  Professor, Pharmacology and Physiology Science 
John Mwangi, M.D. 
  Director, Pulmonary Hypertension Program and Chairman, IM Diversity Council 
Howard Place, M.D. 
  Chair, Orthopaedic Surgery 
Jeevin Shahi, M.D. 
  Assistant Professor, Radiation Oncology 
Kavya Sudanagunata, M.D. 
  Assistant Professor, Radiology 
Divya S. Subramaniam, Ph.D., M.P.H. 
  Assistant Professor and Program Director, Department of Health and Clinical Outcomes Research 
Ryan Teague, Ph.D.  
  Associate Professor, Molecular Microbiology & Immunology