Biden’s health official to visit campus
SALISBURY – A member of the Biden Administration whose work is dedicated to bridging racial gaps in healthcare and within the COVID-19 crisis will visit Livingstone College next week. Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, appointed by President Biden to chair the Presidential COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force, will visit the historic black college on Feb. 8. There will be a brief program at the college’s new F. George Shipman Science Annex, where STEM students will participate in scientific demonstrations during her tour of the facility. Livingstone’s science program will also unveil a new instrument at the program that no other HBCU in North Carolina its size can boast. “It is an honor to have one of the nation’s leading public health experts on the campus of Livingstone College, especially during the month that we celebrate the contributions of African Americans,” said Livingstone President Dr. Anthony J. Davis. “Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith is among those highly regarded in her field, coupling her passion for medicine with her commitment to social equity. Consistent with the population we serve, Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith’s insight will significantly impact our students and the greater Rowan Salisbury community.” The Health Equity Task Force is part of the government’s efforts to identify and eliminate health and social disparities that cause disproportionately higher rates of exposure, illness, hospitalization and death related to COVID-19, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Minority Health. Nunez-Smith was there when the first COVID-19 patient arrived at Yale New Haven Hospital at …