11th Annual MGH Public and Community Psychiatry Spring Symposium

Meet Our Featured Speaker

Cheryl Gore-Felton, Ph.D.

Associate Dean, Academic Affairs and Walter E. Nichols MD, Professor Senior Associate Chair, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Stanford University School of Medicine

Academic History:

• B.A. Psychology, UCLA, 1986
• Ed.M. Counseling Psychology, Boston University, 1989
• Ph.D. Counseling & Health Psychology, Stanford University, 1997

Dr. Gore-Felton has made significant impact as scientist-practitioner and teacher in the fields of psychiatry and psychology. She is a clinical psychologist with specific training as a behavioral scientist in the field of behavioral medicine. Most of her work has focused on improving psychiatric functioning and health outcomes among cancer and HIV/AIDS patients by implementing multicenter studies domestically and internationally. For over 20 years, she has established an outstanding track record of extramural research funding as Principle Investigator and Co-Investigator from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). One of her interventions, Healthy Living Project, has been rated by the CDC as one of the best evidence-based behavioral interventions for reducing risk behavior associated with HIV infection. Importantly, this project helped inform our understanding of the synergistic influence between psychiatric processes and behavior on public health pandemics. She has published 107 peer-reviewed original research articles, multiple book chapters, conference abstracts, and presented at numerous invited national and international talks.

Dr. Gore-Felton is a highly sought after clinician who continues to engage in patient care, focusing on the psychiatric symptoms and sequelae of trauma, anxiety and depression through clinical care, supervision, and consultation. She has assumed leadership positions in her Department (Senior Associate Chair, Co-Chief Division of Public Mental Health and Population Sciences (2018-2022)), School of Medicine (Associate Dean for Academic Affairs), State of California (Chair, HIV/AIDS Research Program) and nationally (Chair, NIH Study Section and Chair, Committee on the Psychology of AIDS). Notably, Dr. Gore-Felton was a Stanford Faculty Research Fellow at the Michelle R. Clayman Institute for Gender Research. She was also a Fellow in the prestigious Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine program at Drexel University College of Medicine, which is reserved for top emerging institutional leaders in medicine. Her record of teaching and mentoring is excellent, focusing on the development of early- and mid- career professionals and trainees in psychiatry. She has won multiple teaching awards, including Professor of the Year. It is estimated that she has personally mentored over 120 trainees in departments of psychiatry at Stanford and elsewhere, many of whom have attained highly successful academic careers of their own, garnering a new generation of scientist-practitioners, who in turn will train the next generation of scientists.

Meet Our Featured Panelists

Charles Anderson, MD, MHP, MBA

Dr. Anderson joined The Dimock Center and President and Chief Executive Officer in January 2021.

A physician leader, healthcare executive, entrepreneur, and advocate for health equity, Anderson has served in a wide variety of roles over the past 25 years in the Boston-area health care community, including co-chairing the committee on Building Strong Families and Communities as part of the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care’s Birth to School-Age Task Force. He currently leads the Dimock community health center in Roxbury, MA as President and CEO.

Growing up in Buffalo, NY, Anderson was inspired by his parents who instilled an early appreciation for the interplay between health, the environment, education, access to care and economic development. His father, a family practice physician and community organizer, created substance use disorder treatment programs still in use in the community today. His mother used her masters in economics, while working for the gas company, to educate and advocate for vulnerable members of their community to not lose their heat during the winter season.

Anderson has been recognized for his advocacy towards equitable access to early child development by the Boston Business Journal and local organizations such as the Urban College of Boston. His partnership with the investment community in Boston has made him a regular speaker on the intersection between healthcare, wellness, technology and patient engagement.

Prior to joining The Dimock Center, Anderson served as Co-Founder and Health and Wellness Operating Affiliate at the private equity firm, Exaltare Capital Partners. Before that Anderson was Vice President of Corporate and Business Development for the $1.5B, Caritas Christi Healthcare System, where he played an integral role in the system’s transition to becoming Steward Health Care. He was also a Manager in the Healthcare Practice at Deloitte.

Anderson serves on the Board of the Cambridge College, where he chairs the Finance Committee, on the Board of Trustees for the Boys and Girls Club of Boston and on the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Board of Overseers. He was appointed in 2021 to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ Racial Inequities in Maternal Health Commission and the Opioid Recovery and Remediation Advisory Council. In 2022, he joined the Harvard Catalyst External Advisory Board.

Anderson received his Bachelor’s degree from Princeton University, an MPH from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, an MD from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and an MBA from the Boston University Questrom School of Business.

He is married to Oneeka Williams MD, MPH, a urologic surgeon and author of the “Dr. Dee Dee Dynamo” children’s book series promoting positivity, literacy, and STEM. They live in Newton with their teenage son Mark.

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Michael Curry, Esq.

Dr. Michael Curry, Esq. serves as President & CEO of the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers, which represents 52 health centers, serving over one million patients out of over 300 practice sites. He was named “Bostonian of the Year 2021” by The Boston Globe and Boston Magazine, and in the spring of 2022 will deliver three commencement college speeches and receive two honorary degrees: a Doctorate in Business Administration from Curry College, and Healthcare Administration from Labouré College.

During the early battle with the COVID-19 pandemic, Michael was appointed by the Massachusetts Senate to the legislatively created Health Equity Task Force, which he co-chaired, aimed at addressing the health disparities that have been realized and magnified by COVID-19. He was also appointed by Governor Charlie Baker to the COVID-19 Vaccine Working Group, and served on the Department of PublicHealth’s Health Equity Advisory Group, the City of Boston’s Health Inequity Task Force, and the City of Brockton’s Social Justice Task Force. He brings over 25 years of experience and results in civil rights advocacy, health reform and health equity.

Notably, Dr. Curry raised over $6.5 million dollars in 2021 to launch the nation’s first “Institute for Health EquityResearch, Evaluation & Policy” at a state primary care association. The institute will focus on “participatory” and “emancipatory” research and evaluation at community health centers, building a pipeline of diverse researchers and evaluators grounded in community health. He also co-led an effort to organize Black and Latinx leaders in health in Massachusetts to launch a “Health Equity Compact” aimed at eliminating health disparities in Massachusetts through an omnibus health equity reform proposal.

He is also the Immediate Past President of the Boston Branch of the NAACP (2011-2016), and has over twenty years of dedicated service to the NAACP on the city, state-area conference and national levels. He was elected nationally to the NAACP Board of Directors in 2014, and was reelected in 2017 and again in 2020. He serves on the National NAACP’s Executive Committee, and has been appointed Chair of the National Board’s Advocacy & Policy Committee since 2019 and Vice-Chair the Political Action and Legislation Committee.

He serves on the Board of Advisors for Eastern Bank and WGBH (public broadcasting), among others. He also served on the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, the Massachusetts Non-profit Network, Kids Count Advisory, and Roxbury Community College Board of Directors, as well as the City of Boston’s Compensation Advisory Group and the City of Brockton Redevelopment Authority.

Michael has received numerous local and national awards for leadership and advocacy, and is frequently requested as a keynote speaker and panelist on a wide range of civil rights and health policy issues. In 2022, he received the Trailblazer Award from the Massachusetts Black Lawyers Association (MBLA), a Community Leadership Award from the Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action (JALSA), a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Massachusetts Non-profit Network (MNN).

Mr. Curry is a regular commentator on the local Public Radio Broadcast/WBUR Boston, WGBH Radio, as well as on television with WGBH, WBZ and New England Cable News/NBC Boston, on a wide range of political, cultural and social issues. He earned a Bachelor’s of Arts from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota and a Doctorate of Jurisprudence from New England School of Law, and later graduated from the inaugural class of the Executive Leadership Council’s Pipeline to Leadership Program.

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Shunda McGahee, MD, CGP

Chief Medical Officer – North Suffolk Community Services
Dr. Shunda McGahee was born and raised in Miami, FL. She obtained her BS in Chemistry from Howard University and her medical degree from Georgetown University. Her psychiatric residency training was at Massachusetts General Hospital and McLean Hospital – where she served as chief resident. As a former National Health Service Corp Scholar, her clinical interests are community mental health in underserved populations. She has worked for Boston Healthcare for the Homeless, Massachusetts Department of Mental Health Center, and South End Community Health Center. She has served as Medical Director of Ambulatory and Community Services for Beth Israel Lahey Health Behavioral Services. She is a clinical instructor for Harvard Medical School and supervising psychiatrist for multiple residency training programs. She has recently transitioned to North Suffolk Community Service in the role of Chief Medical Officer. Dr. McGahee leads community programs which provide treatment for the severely, chronically mentally ill with co-occurring substance dependence.