Corliss Heath, PhD, Wins the 2024-2025 Distinguished Achievement Award

For more than 30 years, Corliss Heath, PhD, has transformed the field of public health through her interdisciplinary expertise, community-rooted leadership, and unwavering commitment to health equity. Drawing from a rare combination of experience in public health, theology, and medical anthropology, she has brought an equity-focused lens to academic institutions, health care systems, government agencies, faith communities, and civic organizations.

Throughout her career, Heath has worked to dismantle the structural inequities that drive health disparities—particularly those impacting Black women, whose needs have historically been marginalized or stigmatized in the context of HIV prevention and care. 

As a health scientist in the Division of Policy and Data at the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) HIV/AIDS Bureau, Heath leads innovative national initiatives that address systemic barriers to care. Among them is the System-Level Syndemic Approach to Improve HIV Care and Treatment for People from Racial and Ethnic Minority Groups—a groundbreaking effort that tackles overlapping health and social challenges through a multidisciplinary, community-informed framework. 

In 2020, she launched the Black Women First Initiative, the first national HIV care evaluation effort funded by a federal agency to focus exclusively on Black women. This landmark initiative significantly improved linkage to care, well-being, and quality of life for participants. Her leadership at HRSA for nearly a decade has helped ensure that the voices and lived experiences of historically underserved populations shape HIV care delivery.

Her exceptional contributions have been recognized by a wide range of academic, scientific, and public health institutions, including:

• Top Women Scientist Award – National Technical Association
• Woman of Achievement Award – TRW Scientific & Information Technology Group
• Excellence in Data Management – RTI International
• Leadership and Service Award – Morehouse School of Medicine Program for Healthcare Effectiveness Research
• HRSA Administrator’s Awards
• Del Jones Award – Society for Applied Anthropology

While these accolades reflect a career of extraordinary impact, Heath is quick to note that her work is about far more than titles or recognition, stating that “her greatest fulfillment comes from creating spaces of empowerment, healing, and transformation” — what she calls her ministry.

As a practicing medical anthropologist, Heath bridges research, policy, and practice to drive change that is both evidence-based and deeply human-centered. While pursuing her doctorate, she made lasting contributions to both the campus and the wider Tampa Bay community. As an ordained minister and youth pastor at Mt. Olive AME Church, she helped establish an HIV testing center and created safe, health-focused spaces for young people. She also served as president of the Black Graduate and Professional Student Association, leading HIV outreach campaigns in partnership with the Hillsborough County Health Department and student organizations.

In 2018, Heath became the first African American woman elected chair of the AIDS and Anthropology Research Group, a special interest group of the Society for Medical Anthropology. In this national leadership role, she guided collaborative research efforts that examined the complex social, economic, and cultural drivers of HIV epidemics across the globe.

Her international work includes providing technical consultation in South Africa, where she supported both the South African Council of Churches and the Umsobomvu Youth Fund in designing community programs that address youth economic empowerment and HIV/AIDS in township communities.

As the founder and CEO of SAVE, Inc., Heath mentors future leaders by providing education and technical assistance to youth-serving organizations and promoting service-learning among students in urban communities. Her mentorship philosophy is grounded in compassion and participation—helping future public health leaders understand the value of lived experience, cultural competence, and shared narratives in effective, inclusive care.

Heath’s career is a testament to what is possible when scholarship, spirituality, and compassion intersect. Her work has influenced national policy, reshaped care delivery models, and elevated the voices of those too often left unheard. Her leadership is as expansive as it is grounded—rooted in faith, fueled by research, and always focused on community.

For her extraordinary contributions to public health, her steadfast commitment to equity, and her lifelong dedication to service, we are proud to honor Corliss Heath, PhD, as the 2024–2025 recipient of the RSPH Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award.