The Black Maternal Health Momnibus matters & so does naming who this crisis harms most. In the updated version, “Black” was removed except for one mention. I’m holding the tension between political strategy & what’s lost when we stop naming Black mothers. 19thnews.org/2026/05/blac...

This week, I had the honor of delivering the commencement address at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. I spoke to the Class of 2026 about trust, in patients, in institutions, in one another, and in the part of ourselves that first said yes to medicine. Grateful.

Today marks 72 years since Brown v. Board of Education, the landmark Supreme Court decision that declared segregated public schools unconstitutional. I’ve been thinking about Brown not only as an education case; but as a public health story we still haven’t fully reckoned with.

Four years ago, I made this vision board with my then team while writing my @nytimes.com best seller LEGACY 🩺. At the time, so much of it felt aspirational. TIME. New York Times. MSNBC. PBS. National stages. The UN. Rooms I hoped one day I might be invited into.

As the DOJ is accusing medical schools of bias, it’s relitigating discussions about what it means to be “qualified” to be a physician by narrowly focusing on metrics as more schools have embraced holistic admissions www.statnews.com/2026/05/15/t...

Yesterday’s Department of Justice’s latest finding against Yale School of Medicine should concern anyone who cares about the future of medicine. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/14/u...

Part of why this hantavirus outbreak feels so unsettling, especially for Americans, isn’t only because of the virus itself. It’s because of the public health landscape we’re in right now. Our public health infrastructure is more strained and weakened than it was in 2020.

Grateful to the National Health Council for convening the 2026 Science of Patient Engagement Summit yesterday, and to Shyrea Thompson of The Iris Collaborative for a thoughtful conversation. Meaningful patient engagement is not a checkbox. It has to shape how healthcare systems are designed.

Hantavirus update: current public risk remains low, but this is still evolving. We can be cautious without panicking, and we can share evidence-based information without dismissing people’s fears.

A maternal health website is never just a website. Especially when pregnancy, reproductive care, and public trust are already so deeply politicized. thehill.com/homenews/adm...

As of today 5/11, 17 Americans from the MV Hondius have been repatriated after the cruise-related hantavirus outbreak. One tested positive for Andes hantavirus, and another has mild symptoms. Public risk remains low, but exposed passengers are being monitored for 42 days.

Mother’s Day is also a reminder that honoring mothers means building a society that actually supports us with paid leave, childcare, whole-person care, and workplaces that understand we can be caregiving and still want purpose, leadership, creativity, and room to become.

A quick update on the hantavirus outbreak linked to the MV Hondius. Per WHO, the broader public risk remains low, but the larger question is about public health leadership, communication, & trust. When institutions are slow, quiet, or fragmented, misinformation fills the space.

My 5 horror stories 🧟 1. “Can I pick your brain?” 2. “Mom, I forgot to tell you…” 3. “Healthcare is broken, but DEI is the problem.” 4. Never resting because everyone needs something from you. 5. Staying in a life that looks good but feels wrong.

NEW KFF poll: 42% of voters who support the “Make America Healthy Again” movement said lowering healthcare costs was their top health priority. Affordability is still the story. www.kff.org/public-opini...

Excited to be speaking next Monday, May 11 at the 2026 Science of Patient Engagement Summit hosted by @NHCouncil at Amazon HQ2 in Arlington, VA. Looking forward to conversations about trust, patient engagement, and building healthcare systems with communities, not just for them.

The DOJ’s conclusion about UCLA Geffen isn't about one medical school. It's about whether “merit” in medicine is reduced to test scores, while ignoring the unequal opportunities that shape them. Patients deserve doctors with strengths beyond test-taking. www.latimes.com/california/s...

Grateful to moderate “The Economic Case for Health Equity” at @milkeninstitute.org Global with Wayne A. I. Frederick, Alison Goldberg, AC Locklear, and Kent Thoekle this week in LA. We talked about what it costs when people and communities are left behind.

Black and Latino adults are more likely than White adults to say they use AI chatbots for mental health support. That makes equity, transparency, and accountability urgent, not optional. New @kff.org report here: www.kff.org/racial-equit...

While the world’s eyes are on fashion’s biggest night, we’re turning ours to the garment, retail, and warehouse workers who keep the industry running. From true love found on the picket line to a free tailoring school out of a Brooklyn basement — meet the New Yorkers who make it all possible.

🧵 THREAD: Hantavirus on a cruise ship What we know, What investigators are doing, and Why you don't need to panic

I’m leading a workshop at Aspen Institute’s Trust in Practice Summit in Chicago on May 19: Beyond Trust-Building: Designing Institutions People Can Trust. Trust isn’t just messaging. It’s shaped by systems, accountability, and everyday experience. Link: form.jotform.com/261113752720...

Per a recent KFF report, 67% of adults say they trust AI tools “not too much” or “not at all” for reliable health information. Yet 32% are already using AI chatbots for health advice. That gap is worth paying attention to. www.kff.org/public-opini...

Yesterday’s Supreme Court decision on the Voting Rights Act was also a decision about health equity. When communities have less power to shape the policies that govern their lives, they have less power to shape the conditions that determine their health.

Loved joining the Ground Control Parenting podcast to talk about this reminder: Doctors are experts in medicine. Patients are experts in their own bodies. That power dynamic in the exam room is real, but your voice matters, especially when advocating for yourself or your child.

How Black Women are Finding Peace & Joy in This Moment. Psychologists Danielle Dickens, Dionne Stephens, wellness expert Jameta Barlow and more: tinyurl.com/39ratfhh @ucheblackstockmd.bsky.social, @blacknandv.bsky.social, @wordinblacknews.bsky.social, @blackwomensrj.bsky.social

Excited to join The Boston Globe’s #HealthEquitySummit2026 on May 13 at Harvard. Looking forward to being in conversation with Jeneé Osterheldt about building care that works for everyone. Register: events.bostonglobe.com/2026/health-...

We keep treating health misinformation like a knowledge problem, but it’s not. 70% believe at least one false health claim, including 25% who believe vaccines are used for population control. This cuts across education level. That’s a system failure.

Health equity isn’t just a values statement. It’s an economic strategy. We can’t build strong workforces or resilient systems while accepting preventable inequities as the cost of doing business. Moderating this at @MilkenInstitute next week More here: milkeninstitute.org/events/globa...

Braid extensions aren’t the problem. Lack of transparency is. I wrote for @katiecouric.bsky.social Media about what we know, what we don’t, and why Black women deserve safer beauty products, clearer labeling, and real oversight. Read here: katiecouric.com/health/are-h...

Hot take: Patients using AI & social media for health information isn’t the problem. The problem is healthcare is often too rushed, confusing, inaccessible & expensive for people to feel fully supported inside the system. People aren’t replacing clinicians. They’re filling gaps.

Grateful to give the opening plenary at the Association of American Medical Colleges Joint Meeting last week. I spoke about what we inherit in academic health systems: structures, assumptions, and histories often treated as fixed. But they can be redesigned.

The EdelmanPR Trust & Health report came out last week, and one finding stayed with me: people still trust clinicians, but they’re also getting health information from AI, social media, peers, family, & community voices. That’s not something to dismiss. www.edelman.com/trust

"Too often, we fail to address the conditions that determine whether care happens at all. Patients don’t experience illness in a vacuum," @ucheblackstockmd.bsky.social writes about LCME removing language on teaching health equity

My latest op-ed in @statnews.com is out today. I wrote it in response to the LCME removing explicit language requiring medical schools to teach about structural barriers that shape patients’ health. This isn’t ideology. It’s clinically competent care. www.statnews.com/2026/04/15/l...

At the Sanford Distinguished Lecture, @ucheblackstockmd.bsky.social reminded us that health equity is rooted in community, mentorship and the shared humanity of patients and clinicians. Event recap: duke.is/blackstock-s...

Breaking: A federal judge blocked major parts of RFK Jr.’s vaccine policy overhaul. As a physician and mom, I believe public health decisions must be rooted in evidence, transparency, and trust. When vaccine policy becomes politicized, public confidence suffers. www.statnews.com/2026/03/16/k...

NEW: South Carolina, which doesn’t require hospitals to disclose measles-related admissions, has reported only 20 such hospitalizations since Oct. 2. That leaves doctors with an incomplete picture of how the outbreak is affecting the community. By @jenniferberryhawes.bsky.social

NYC measured wealth (assets minus debt) + health across 11 racial/ethnic groups. Punchline: wealth helps, but it doesn’t erase racism. Next: measure wealth in surveillance + treat debt relief and asset-building as health policy. Health policy is economic policy. www.nyc.gov/site/doh/abo...

FDA reversed course and will now review Moderna’s mRNA flu vaccine application, with an Aug 5 target date. The bigger issue: predictable, evidence-based standards are essential for trust,

Too good not to share… again. 🤭🖤🤍❤️ Honored to be included on the inaugural #TIME100Health list in 2024. A moment two years ago that I won’t forget. Styled by Elsa Isaac Dress: Mara Hoffm

Health care spaces should be safe for all regardless of status. As @ucheblackstockmd.bsky.social highlights in this post "Fear delays care, and delayed care harms patients." I’m a doctor. The consequences of ICE presence in hospitals could be deadly. www.ms.now/opinion/immi... via @ms.now

NEXT THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 19th, I’ll be presenting the Distinguished Lecture on “Healthcare and Systemic Racism: Where and Why They Intersect” at the Duke University Sanford School of Public Policy! 🕠 5:30-6:30 p.m. 🏫 Duke Sanford Fleishman Commons 🎟️ lnkd.in/ed2wiMZ8

Fear delays care. Delayed care harms patients. My new MS NOW piece, “I’m a doctor. The consequences of ICE presence in hospitals could be deadly” on how enforcement fears are deterring people from seeking medical help.” Link to my full OpEd: www.ms.now/opinion/immi...

I am seeing this every day. People afraid to come for medical care. Afraid to see a specialist or get an x-ray. They are afraid regardless of status, because it is abundantly clear to anyone paying attention that legal status (even citizenship) doesn't protect you

Fear delays care. Delayed care harms patients. My new MS NOW piece, “I’m a doctor. The consequences of ICE presence in hospitals could be deadly” on how enforcement fears are deterring people from seeking medical help.” Link to my full OpEd: www.ms.now/opinion/immi...

Very excited for my upcoming talk at Duke University Sanford School of Public Policy @dukesanford.bsky.social next month! Details below.

Physician and health equity advocate @ucheblackstockmd.bsky.social will visit Duke to deliver the Sanford Distinguished Lecture, exploring why we cannot reform healthcare without addressing systemic racism. 🗓️Thursday, Feb. 19 🕠5:30-6:30 p.m. 🎟️https://duke.is/distinguishedlectures

The American Academy of Pediatrics released its 2026 childhood and adolescent immunization schedule, endorsed by 12 leading medical and health organizations. It continues to recommend routine vaccination to protect against 18 infectious diseases. The AAP is no longer endorsing the CDC schedule.