Dr. LaQuandra S. Nesbitt is a board-certified family physician with over a decade of experience leading population health initiatives in governmental public health agencies. Dr. Nesbitt currently serves as Senior Associate Dean for Population Health Sciences and Health Equity and Bicentennial Endowed Professor of Medicine and Health Sciences at The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences and is the inaugural Executive Director of the Center for Population Health Sciences and Health Equity.
The GW SMHS Center for Population Health Sciences and Health Equity (CPHSHE) was founded in late 2022 as a premier academic center within the university for applied population health research to address health inequities. CPHSHE provides strategic direction and support to the education, research and clinical programs within the GW academic medical enterprise (GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences, GW Medical Faculty Associates, GW University Hospital, and Cedar Hill Regional Medical Center-GWH) to advance the improvement of population health through a health equity lens.
Dr. Nesbitt most recently served as the Director of the District of Columbia Department of Health in Washington, DC, from January 2015 to July 2022 where she led with a focus on health equity and improving the quality of health programs and healthcare services for all DC residents, working to address the District’s most pressing health challenges. As a physician leader, Dr. Nesbitt mobilizes organizations and communities to implement innovative solutions that promote health and wellness, and achieve health equity. Throughout her career she has led multi-sector collaborations to address innovation in healthcare delivery and its impact on high cost, high need and other special populations; the integration of public health and healthcare; and the impact of emerging infectious diseases on population health. Prior to her role in DC, Dr. Nesbitt served as the Director of the Louisville Metro Department of Public Health and Wellness where she led initiatives focused on Affordable Care Act implementation and violence prevention.