Dr. Ala Stanford was appointed Region III Director of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services by President Biden in April 2022, overseeing Children Youth and Families, Federally Qualified Health Centers, Office of Disabilities and Early Childhood Education. Region III includes Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia. Dr. Stanford is a practicing physician for over 25 years, and is board certified by the American Board of Surgery in both pediatric and adult general surgery.
As Regional Director, Dr. Stanford prioritizes health equity, COVID-19 recovery and response, maternal health, opioid abuse and prevention, and mental wellness. She also works to address other public health concerns of our nation and those that specifically impact Region III.
As the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded, Dr. Stanford recognized that a disproportionate number of people of color were being diagnosed, hospitalized and dying from COVID-19, largely because they lacked access to resources and health care. This was exacerbated by a medical system that has, unfortunately, been untrustworthy to Black Americans, both historically and current day.
In her presentation titled "The Power of One: Stories of Triumph During the Pandemic," Dr. Stanford will discuss how to create a path forward to eliminate health disparities in the United States, and share her journey on how the power of one vision can galvanize many to shared purpose, for the greater good of the most vulnerable.
About the Stanley P. Mayers Endowed Lecture
The Stanley P. Mayers Endowed Lecture is regularly conducted each Spring. The late Stanley P. Mayers, Jr. M.D., co-founded the Penn State undergraduate program in the Department of Health Policy and Administration. He was a member of the Mount Nittany Society, the University’s highest donor-recognition group, and gave his own personal resources to support outstanding students in the College of Health and Human Development. In honor of his late wife, he established the Virginia L. Mayers Memorial Scholarship Endowment in 1992.
HPA faculty members, staff, and alumni are committed to enlarging the endowment and have unanimously supported the initiative with their own private contributions. The fund enhances the education of students and expertise of faculty members in areas that continue to honor Dr. Mayers’ contributions as a professor, administrator and philanthropist. Today, the principal challenge for HPA is to stay abreast of changes in the industry while continuing to serve the public interest.
The endowment provides funds to enrich the department’s outreach activities, examples include: creating a public lecture series, enhancing field-based professional development for faculty members, and acquiring health care-specific teaching materials. Established as an endowment, the fund will provide income for the HPA department in perpetuity.