Sidney Hankerson, MD, MBA is Director of Psychological Well being Fairness within the Institute for Well being Fairness Analysis on the Icahn Faculty of Drugs at Mount Sinai. On March 21, 2024, he was honored with the 2024 Presidential Lifetime Achievement Service Award. Dr. Hankerson was acknowledged for his dedication to modern psychological well being providers in under-resourced communities. The award was introduced to Dr. Hankerson by Rawle Andrews Jr., Esq., Government Director of the American Psychiatric Affiliation Basis and one hundred and thirty fifth President of the Bar Affiliation of the District of Columbia. The distinction was established by President George H.W. Bush. Dr. Hankerson was chosen beneath then-President Joseph R. Biden Jr.
Dr. Hankerson spoke with the Amsterdam Information for a Q&A concerning the award, his work in under-resourced communities, and his analysis round melancholy and suicide. This dialog has been edited and condensed for readability.
AmNews: Are you able to inform us about your background?
I grew up in Virginia, went to the College of Virginia, then went to Emory for Medical Faculty, and stayed at Emory for residency, fell in love with Psychiatry, and whereas at Emory obtained a twin MD/MBA diploma. [I] initially wished to enter hospital administration, however then, form of, was struck by the inequities in care that sufferers at Grady Hospital obtain which is the general public hospital in Atlanta, in comparison with the personal hospital at Emory in order that led me to pursue analysis and I did well being disparities analysis at Columbia and got here to Mt. Sinai in 2022 in my present function.
AmNews: Are you able to speak about among the analysis you’ve completed?
My analysis focus is melancholy. I grew to become taken with finding out melancholy in black adults for a number of causes. One, black adults with melancholy are sicker for an extended time frame and have extra extreme signs as in comparison with white People. Two, Black People have a lot decrease charges of remedy for melancholy in comparison with white adults and three, associated to that ,Black adults with melancholy usually tend to be hospitalized in comparison with their white grownup counterparts. So these are among the obstacles with melancholy that I sought to pursue. Then I mentioned the place are folks in our neighborhood naturally congregating?
I began with the Black church. So we performed the primary ever church primarily based screening research, and located very excessive charges of melancholy, after which I collaborated with Dr. Olajide Williams once we had been each co-directors of Columbia’s Wellness Middle on the time, and that led to the TRIUMPH research the place we’re utilizing neighborhood well being staff to display screen folks for melancholy and get them related to care.
Now we’re additionally making an attempt to handle the rise of Black youth suicide and now we have grants from foundations to implement evidence-based suicide packages for Black and Latino boys and YMCA baskeball leagues and girls and boys golf equipment. So actually, assembly youngsters the place they’re by sports activities.
AmNews: Are you able to please inform our readers about your Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award?
I used to be honored to obtain the 2024 Presidents’ Lifetime Achievement Award that was signed by President Biden. It was awarded in recognition of neighborhood service and so the cohort that I used to be inducted with included leaders like the manager director of the Government Management Council, WWII Veterans, CEOs from nonprofits, attorneys, and different psychiatrists. It was actually a perform of my method on addressing disparities — assembly folks at trusted neighborhood settings and partnering with their neighborhood facilities.
