Staff and Affiliates

Allison Caban-Holt, PhD

Associate Director, Maya Angelou Center for Health Equity

As the Associate Director of the Maya Angelou Center for Health Equity, I want to foster positive connections between Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist and the Winston-Salem community. Programs I will lead have at their core the primary goal of creating networks whereby reciprocal communication can occur between the community and Wake Forest Baptist. Together, we will address health equity deficits by improving access to health education, resources and disease prevention measures. I desire to promote the overall well-being of our community who are medically underserved. My areas of research interest include cognition, Alzheimer’s disease, caregiving, stress measurement, Down syndrome, and aging.

Highlighted Projects: Caregiver’s College, Triad Pastoral Network and Congregational Health Ambassadors, NC Brain Health Registry.

Capri Foy, PhD

I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Sciences and Health Policy, and a member of MACHE. My research includes the effect of physical activity upon health-related quality of life and physical function; designing and examining the effect of theory-based, translatable cognitive-behavioral interventions upon long-term adherence to health-promoting behaviors in older adults; and emerging research on the role of behavioral risk factors upon chronic disease outcomes in older adults using an epidemiological perspective. I am interested in developing health promotion partnerships with community-based organizations and enjoy being Co-Director of the Translational and Health System Science Master’s Degree Program.

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Shawnta Lloyd, PhD, MPH

Project Manager

As a Project Manager, I am involved in research that aims to boost health literacy, increase linkage to research studies, and diminish adverse health outcomes among marginalized populations. I am passionate about improving the quality of life and health of older adults. My areas of research interest include gero-epidemiology, substance use, mental health, and health disparities. The most compelling draw of my career as an epidemiologist is the ability to integrate research with the fundamental basis of medicine, which is preserving health.

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Takiyah Starks, MS

Project Manager

As a Project Manager, my focus is research in genetics of Alzheimer’s disease, particularly African Americans and underrepresented populations. My goal is to increase awareness in AD and to bridge the gap of health inequities in the most vulnerable populations. I have a personal connection in that my paternal grandmother is living with AD, diagnosed in her late fifties; this makes this research especially meaningful for me. Currently, there is no cure for AD, which makes it critical to find answers to better understand the disease. My experience and educational training is in Genetics Research, Cancer Biology, and Biology.

Highlighted Projects: African American Alzheimer’s Disease Study, Student Internship Program, Caregivers College, Triad Pastors Network.

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Charlene Hunt, BA

Project Manager

As a Project Manager, my work involves working with NC tribal communities through educational outreach, community-engaged research, and advocacy programs. I am also an enrolled member of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina. My areas of interest are in improving health of tribal communities through education, access to care and addressing social determinants of health. I am involved in MACHE Pipeline programs and efforts to educate health professionals on community-engaged research. My educational training and specialty areas are Education, Pedagogy and Community Engagement. I am the manager of the North Carolina American Indian Health Board, which is housed in the Office of Cancer Health Equity.

Highlighted Projects: Native Pathways to Health, AIMS, MedCaT.

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Rev. Kelvin Lamonte Williams, D.Min.

Community Liaison and Outreach Specialist

As a Community Liaison and Outreach Specialist I work with MACHE and the WFSM Alzheimer's Disease Research Center to develop and lead strategic community engagement and outreach programs. I have served as a pastor since 2009 and my work focuses on social, health, and economic advancement issues that effecting the church and community at large. My experience and expertise in divinity education, mentorship for young adults, and connecting non-profits with the communities they serve through faith community based engagement. As past-president of Minister’s Conference of Winston-Salem and vicinity, I am passionate about nurturing relationships between WFSM and faith communities.

Highlighted Projects: Black Men’s Health Initiative, Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias Outreach, Triad Pastors Network.

TanYa M. Gwathmey, PhD, MS

Director of Research in Health Equity Education and Training

My goal is to foster innovative and highly effective approaches to developing a diverse workforce of biomedical scientists and health professionals. With health equity as the core of this training, programmatic activities are strategically designed to enhance academic performance and professional skills attainment through didactic instruction, research and community engagement, and refinement of inter-and intra-personal skills.

Sheree Mills

Grants Administrator

As the finance and grants administrator at the Maya Angelou Center for Health Equity, I track and organize grant requirements to ensure timely and meaningful reporting to funding agencies. I am also responsible for finance management and human resources.

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Ashley Gregory, PhD

Program Manager III

As a program manager at the Maya Angelou Center for Health Equity, one of my goals is to extend community outreach within a network of African American communities to build trust and expand community engagement to improve brain health and increase minority participation in research. My passion lies within health education by directly interfacing with community members to increase their education in diseases that affect them personally such as Alzheimer's disease and other dementias. Providing honest and transparent information is so important in gaining the trust of the community and educating underserved populations about diseases that affect them on a daily basis and providing resources that can help them. Providing up to date information and current research information is imperative to helping medically underserved populations continue to live and thrive and I am thrilled to be able to be a conduit to assist in this journey.

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Kristy Terrell

Clinical Studies Coordinator II

I am a Clinical Studies Coordinator II at the Maya Angelou Center for Health Equity. A major portion of my work is to educate, recruit, and ascertain participants for the African American Alzheimer’s disease research study.

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Patricia Smyre, PhD

Program Manager III

As a Project Manager, my work involves working with the Triad Pastors Network. We are partnering with churches to build health ministries within each place of worship, in order to improve health in marginalized communities. Health is wealth. Therefore, our goal is to educate, equip, and empower our communities to better understand their health, adopt healthy behaviors, and improve their overall health. Through creative intentional and strategic approaches to developing sustainable activities that focus on health inequity, we have the opportunity to transform communities and generations to follow.