Meet the Maryland Office of Minority Health and Health Disparities (MHHD) Staff!
 Noel Brathwaite, PhD, MSPH
Director
Dr. Noel Brathwaite, joined the Office of Minority Health and Health Disparities (MHHD) on December 06, 2017, as Director. He is an international public health expert who gained experience working with health issues in the United States, the Caribbean, and parts of West and East Africa. Prior to joining MHHD, he organized the Greater Los Angeles Health Network to collaboratively tackle Urban and Suburban issues of health that continue to disproportionately impact people of African descent. Some of his other past experiences include leadership positions with the Florida Department of Health; the University of Miami School of Medicine, Cancer Center; at Morehouse School of Medicine International and Public Health Program; and as Director of Research in Trinidad. Originally from the Caribbean, Dr. Brathwaite’s research interests include the impact of geography and lifestyle on chronic disease; health and premature mortality in small island developing states; and health system resiliency. He has published a number of health-related articles in peer review journals. He is a graduate of Loma Linda University; earned a Doctorate from the University of Maryland; and pursued Postdoctoral studies at Johns Hopkins University and also at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, (CAMH) affiliated with the University of Toronto, Canada. His vision is to work collaboratively with the MHHD team and other stakeholders to position the MHHD as a Transformative and Innovative agent that significantly lowers health disparities within the next decade. His goal is to advance prevention, equal health care access, quality treatment, and improved health for all populations in Maryland.
 Mark Martin, PhD, MBADeputy Director
Dr. Mark Martin currently serves as the Deputy Director for the Office of Minority Health and Health Disparities for the State of Maryland. He has a passion for improving patient-centered care and for strengthening the continuum of care in communities through public and private partnerships. Dr. Martin brings over 25 years of combined professional experience in public health, hospital operations, financial services, and community and faith-based organizations.
In addition to earning a PhD in Leadership and Change from Antioch University where his seminal research focused on the role of servant leadership characteristics in developing an environment of empathic care in a primary care setting, Dr. Martin has earned an MBA and MHA from Pfeiffer University and an MA in Leadership from Antioch University. His combined academic and professional experience continues to fuel Dr. Martin’s efforts to research and develop innovations to improve patient-centered care and the patient experience.
 David Mann, MD, PhDEpidemiologist
Dr. David A Mann is the Epidemiologist at the Office of Minority Health and Health Disparities (MHHD) in the Maryland Department of Health, at 75% FTE. His other 25% FTE is spent as an Instructor in the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at the University Of Medicine School Of Medicine. Dr. Mann received his BA in Biology from The Johns Hopkins University in 1978, his MD from Harvard Medical School in 1982, and his PhD in Epidemiology from the University of Maryland, Baltimore in 2007. Before coming to Maryland for epidemiology and public health training in 1998, Dr. Mann practiced primary care medicine in the greater Boston area for 14 years. At DHMH Dr. Mann was a co-author of the Maryland Plan to Eliminate Minority Health Disparities, released in 2006 by MHHD; and principal author of the Maryland Chartbook of Minority Health and Minority Health Disparities Data, released in 2007, 2009 (2nd Edition) and 2012 (3rd edition) by MHHD. He has been an invited speaker on health disparities data at several venues. At DEPH in UMB SOM, Dr. Mann is the faculty co-leader of the Departmental Journal Club, participates in the Department’s epidemiology teaching for medical students, and teaches the summer course in Chronic Disease Epidemiology for graduate students.
 Namisa K. Kramer, MSMOTA Program Administrator
Ms. Namisa K. Kramer was born in Sierra Leone, West Africa. She attained her Primary and Secondary school education in Sierra Leone and moved to the United States in 1989. While in the U.S., Ms. Kramer attended the University of New Mexico and attained a BSc. Degree in Community Health Education, with a Minor in Nutrition and Child Development. She then attained her MS degree in Health Education and at the same time pursued a certification in Tropical Medicine and public health from Johns Hopkins University. Ms. Kramer worked for seven years with the Maryland Department of Health, as a Community Health Educator at the Center for Health Promotion, Education, and Tobacco Use Prevention. She then left in 2011 for her beloved country, Sierra Leone during the economic downturn, where she worked for three years as the first female Monitoring and Evaluation Officer with the Ministry of Health and Sanitation. During the Ebola outbreak, Ms. Kramer returned to the U.S. and briefly secured a job with the Maryland Department of Aging as the Human Services Specialist Supervisor. She then applied for a position with the Minority Health and Health Disparities Office, where she is now the Program Administrator for the Minority Outreach and Technical Assistance (MOTA) Program. |
