MEET OUR BOARD MEMBERS
KENNY MARSHALL
Cardiology - Sales, IQVIA
Aaron Kenyatta “Kenny” Marshall is summed up best as a dynamic business leader with the mind of a capitalist and heart of a social worker. An executive and business owner with over 20 years of professional experience, Kenny has had a distinguished career in sales leadership driven by his sincere desire to help.
For most of his remarkable sales career, Kenny was a top performing primary care, specialty, hospital sales executive, trainer, and manager for Boehringer Ingelheim, one of the world’s largest private pharmaceutical companies.
Currently, he serves as the owner of DJ Kenny B Entertainment, an entertainment company that specializes in event planning, promotion, and disc jockey services.
His passion for mankind is further realized through his participation in civic and volunteer organizations. He is a proud member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., where he has held many leadership positions. He is currently the State Representative for the Tenth District in Illinois.
Kenny earned his B.A. from the University of Michigan in Sociology, with an emphasis on Law, Criminology and Deviance. He is currently married to his wife Nichole of 14 years, and has 3 children (Kennedy 11, Erin 9, and Nicholas, 6.
Dr. Joy Elion grew up in the south suburbs of Chicago. She completed medical school at The Pritzker School of Medicine at University of Chicago and completed her pediatric residency at Northwestern University’s Children Memorial Hospital in Chicago. She currently works at a federally funded health center on the south side of Chicago. She has a passion for medical missions work and travels to Haiti and Kenya regularly.
JOY ELION, MD
Director, Global Health & Humanitarian Outreach
Dr. David Anyadike is a general pediatrician on staff with UIC and St. Anthony Hospital, and the Pediatric Developmental Center at Illinois Masonic Medical Center. He obtained his degree from Meharry Medical College, did his pediatric residency at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), as well as his chief residency with UIC at Illinois Masonic Medical Center.
Since his residency training, he has founded citywide programs with institutions like the YMCA to address childhood obesity, and has continued to do work and research into the field of family and childhood overweight. He does teaching, mentoring, advocacy, and outreach work while doing general pediatrics in a small private clinic on the near-west side.
DAVID ANYADIKE, MD
St. Anthony Hospital, Private Practice
Denise Jones currently works for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority as an Associate Principal Examiner. Prior to this position, Denise worked in Compliance and accounting for NYSE Chicago. Denise is a member of Living Word Christian Center and serves in the LWCC Prison Ministry working with the Juvenile Detention Center and on the Prison Ministry prayer team. Denise also work as an engineer on the Can TV Medicine Makers program. Denise loves live theatre, jazz, and classic movies.
DENISE JONES, MBA, CPA
Board Treasurer
TRENA BURKE, MHA
Board Secretary, Quality Outcomes &
Performance
St. Anthony's Hospital
Trena M. Burke is a Quality Outcomes and Performance Improvement professional at St. Anthony Hospital where she is provides leadership and management of system-wide, Quality Management and Performance Improvement Plan activities in accordance with healthcare licensing and other accreditation agencies.
Mrs. Burke works closely with her business partners to provide strategic direction across all domains of practice including quality and safety, cost, service and operations.Trena Burke is an Examiner for the Illinois Performance Excellence Board of Examiners including participation in off-site audits to client sites.
Prior to her current role, she was Assistant Director of Research and Medical Education with Mt. Sinai Hospital and Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University. Trena holds a Masters of Healthcare Administration and a Bachelor’s of Science in Finance. Mrs. Burke has also presented at national meetings and published numerous articles on quality assurance, patient safety and mental illness.
Trena is committed to the community and the development of fellow colleagues. Presently, Mrs. Burke serves as a Board member of several organizations: (1) “I Am Abel Foundation” and (2) Chicago-Midwest Chapter of the National Association of Healthcare Services Executives (NAHSE).
JACQUES CONWAY, MDiv
District Superintendent
United Methodist Church
Jacques Conway is District Superintendent of the Southern District of the Northern Conference of the United Methodist Church thereby serving as spiritual and administrative leader to over 60 pastors and churches on his district. With over 22 years as an ordained elder of the United Methodist church, Jacques is best known for his unrelenting community service and commitment and passion for our community's youth.
Pastor Conway was also well known to many as Sergeant Conway and often chided that "if I don't get you on my first job I'll get you on the second. After 22 years of police service, he became the first African American police officer to retire from the Oak Park Illinois Police Department. In his dual ministries his focus has always been on children. He developed the Oak Park Police Explorers which he ran for nearly a decade. He also started a ground breaking tutorial program with the support of his then congregation, Neighborhood United Methodist Church, that was game changing for kids of Maywood. Upon retirement from police work, he worked several years at Park National Bank as Vice President of Community Equity and Outreach. He has traveled widely abroad on service missions from Haiti to Ghana.
He has been proudly married to his lovely wife, I AM ABEL FOUNDATION Founder and President, Dr. LaMenta Sweetie Conway for 33 years and notes that they met in high school and married in college. Together they have 3 children who share their passion for service and have traveled alongside their parents on service missions. He enjoys reading, old school R&B music simply spending time with family.
JONATHAN MOREIRA, MD
Asst. Professor of Medicine, Northwestern
Dr. Jonathan Moreira is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology/Oncology at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. After receiving dual bachelor degrees at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, he returned to his native Chicago, where he received a medical degree from Loyola University Chicago’s Stritch School of Medicine. He then went on to complete a residency in Internal Medicine at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. He returned to Chicago to complete a fellowship in Hematology/Oncology at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. He is triple board certified in Internal Medicine, Hematology and Medical Oncology.
Dr. Moreira’s clinical practice is focused on hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for hematologic and solid malignancies. His academic interests include protocol development for novel therapeutic agents as well as cancer disparities amongst underserved communities, both locally and globally. In addition to Dr. Moreira’s academic appointment, he is also Northwestern University’s Research and Education Core Co-lead for the Chicago Cancer Health Equity Collaborative (ChicagoCHEC), a National Cancer Institute comprehensive cancer partnership led by the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, Northeastern Illinois University, and the University of Illinois at Chicago. ChicagoCHEC aims to improve cancer outcomes amongst Chicago’s low-income, minority, and disability communities, provide training, mentoring, and learning opportunities to recruit and retain minority and underrepresented students in health and cancer research careers, and establish transdisciplinary cancer disparities research programs in behavioral and social science, biomedical, and translational science.
Dr. Moreira also possesses a passion for mentoring the next generation of physicians, and is actively mentoring students across the educational spectrum, from high school to fellowship training. He serves as the Faculty Advisor for Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine’s chapter of the Latino Medical Student Association (LMSA). In addition to serving on the Board of Directors for the I Am Abel Foundation, Dr. Moreira was recently elected to the Executive Board of the Medical Organization for Latino Advancement (MOLA), and continues to serve on its Board of Directors as well as the chair of its scholarship Subcommittee. When not spending time with his 3 beautiful young daughters and wife, Dr. Moreira enjoys reading, biking, travelling, practicing guitar, and trying new cuisines.
For over 30 years, Marc was a criminal defense attorney, including 24 as a Cook County Assistant Public Defender. He has been an instructor at the U of C Law School Mandel Clinic Intensive Trial Workshop for over 20 years. He is a former Oak Park village trustee. He founded and operates a Mediation practice. He is a conscious aging columnist for the Oak Park Wednesday Journal, a novice beekeeper, a husband of over 40 years, a father and a grandfather. Marc currently facilitates Conscious Aging Workshops and Wise Aging Workshops in the Chicagoland area.
MARC BLESOFF, JD
Retired, Criminal Defense Attorney
SHEILA GORDON, MS
President and Principal Advisor
Greater Purpose Consulting
Sheila is credited for having a pulse on what matters to American workers. She has an HR career spanning almost 30 years with expertise in management development and professional image coaching. Her partnerships have included executive management from various industries such as advertising, commercial print, legal, manufacturing, property management, non-profit and tech services. Helping workers, at any level, thrive at work has been her professional mission, coupled only with her passion to eradicate systemic racial and economic inequities within Corporate America.
Sheila’s personal passion is rooted in youth and peer mentoring. She sees herself as a beneficiary of wisdom imparted upon her from multiple mentors and feels obligated to pass the torch. Through work, church and sorority, she has carved out several venues by which she can devote, time and finances to enriching the lives of others -just as she continues to be poured into by her mentors.
Currently, Sheila serves as Board Advisor to KQ Communications (PR & Communications Agency in Memphis and Atlanta) and as a proud Board Member of I AM ABEL Foundation where she serves as the Posse Foundation (Chicago) Scholarship Coordinator.
Sheila is a University of Illinois, “I-L-L-I-N-I” (Urbana-Champaign) alumna with a B.S. in Psychology and a M.S. in HR & Organizational Development. Her path to helping others was broadened there and sparked a career that would be entirely grounded in Human Resource service.
Dena Beaty grew up on the south side of Chicago and attended Lewis University in Romeoville, IL where she received her Bachelor Of Science in Business Management. She currently works for AT&T as a Universal Service Executive for over 29 years. However, she’s always had a strong passion for decorating and party planning. She is currently utilizing this passion as co-owner of D&V Touch Of Elegance.
DENA BEATY
Universal Service Executive, ATT
Revita Prowell grew up in the south and moved to Chicago 20+ years ago. She obtained her MBA in Management at Robert Morris University in Chicago, IL. She enjoys working in Accounting and Financial Planning for over 25 years. She uses her knowledge to help others with finances or group event budgeting. However, she’s always had a strong passion for volunteering, working with youth and planning travel for groups. She is currently utilizing this passion as an Independent Travel Agent of Travel With Vita 2.
REVITA PROWELL
Independent Travel Agent, Travel With Vita 2
TAKIJAH HEARD, MD
Division Head of Child Neurology
& Epilepsy
Director, Pediatric Neurophysiology
NorthShore University Health System
Dr Takijah Heard is a Chicago native, born on the south side of Chicago. Dr Heard received her doctorate of medicine from the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. She remained on the south side at UIC/Advocate Hope Children’s Hospital for her pediatric residency. Dr Heard’s pediatric neurology residency and epilepsy fellowship was completed at Harvard’s Boston Children Hospital. After completing her fellowship in epilepsy, she attended the Harvard School of Public Health to learn more about how to conduct epilepsy research in order to impact the world on a broader level. She has travelled to various countries in Africa including Zambia and Tanzania teaching and spreading awareness about epilepsy. Dr Heard plans to continue these educational efforts with Kenya in the future as a medical mission.
Dr Heard’s teaching skills have been honored as she was the recipient of the Dean’s Excellence in Teaching Award during her first position as the Assistant Professor at the University of Texas at Houston. She has worked extensively with the Epilepsy Foundation of Texas and Greater Chicago. She currently serves on the Physician Advisory Board for the Epilepsy Foundation of Greater Chicago. Dr Heard’s passion for epilepsy has been shared on National Public Radio (NPR). She has been named as one of 2013’s Top America Doctors. Dr Heard has authored chapters in books focused on pediatric epilepsy. Additionally, she has been featured in a book called Against All Odds Celebrating Black Women in Medicine that has recently turned into a documentary renamed Changing the Face of Medicine which was released in 2017.
Dr Takijah Heard is currently the Division Head of Pediatric Neurology and Epilepsy and the Director of Pediatric Neurophysiology at Northshore University HealthSystem. She has recently established a pediatric epilepsy surgery program at Northshore and continues to teach medical students and residents about pediatric neurology and epilepsy in hopes of broadening the field.
CHRISTIAN A. CONWAY, ESQ
Trial Lawyer
Christian A. Conway is a trial lawyer who practices in the areas of criminal and civil litigation at the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office. Conway has successfully tried multiple cases to juries and over 50 Bench trials. Conway has also argued and won a case in front of the Illinois Court of Appeals. In addition to her legal work, she has a deep commitment to volunteer work and service. In law school, Conway volunteered her time with the Wisconsin Unemployment Appeals clinic --aiding the underserved in their quests to obtain unemployment benefits.
As a lawyer, Conway has volunteered at expungement clinics helping those to expunge their criminal records and at driving exposition fairs where she has dismissed old traffic cases, assisted persons to re-obtain their driving privileges and much more.
Christian Conway received a J.D. from The University of Wisconsin Law School in 2017 and a B.S., from Emory University in 2013. She clerked for the Hon. LaShonda A. Hunt of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois from 2018-19. Conway is an active Board Member of the I am Abel Foundation and proud member of the Black Prosecu
DEONNA WARDLOW
Senior Associate,Health & Benefits NA
Brokerage & Advisory
Willis Towers Watson
Deonna joined Willis Towers Watson in May 2019 and has more than 8 years of consulting experience in employee benefits. She has worked in partnership with various clients across multiple industries. Her knowledge and expertise include:
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Providing a high level of support to obtain, maintain, and expand client and vendor relationships
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Overseeing all projects surrounding the contract renewal/marketing process
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Recommending additional solutions that align with derived strategic objectives and guiding principles
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Overseeing carrier implementation projects
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Preparing key deliverables and managing deadlines outlined in the client service plan
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Serves as a member of the Diversity & Inclusion recruitment team responsible for partnering with organizations in efforts to attract and retain African American and Latinx talent
Outside of WTW Deonna preforms her greatest work as a loving wife and mother to her four children. She enjoys being an active member of her church, supporting worthy causes, and volunteering with various organizations.
Education and Credentials
Deonna holds a bachelor’s Degree in Organizational Management from Concordia University Chicago. She actively maintains Life and Health Insurance licenses in over twenty states.
RENE ROBERTS, MD
Co-Director, Saturday Morning Professor
Executive Producer, Medicine Makers
I Am Abel Foundation is pleased to welcome Dr Rene Roberts to the Board of Directors. She is the Executive producer of our public broadcasting show Medicine Makers beginning beginning Season 3 and one of the main hosts. She is also a physician mentor and co-director of the Saturday Morning Professor Intro to History Taking series with Dr Conway.
Dr. Roberts, is a board-certified Family Medicine physician, speaker and former competitive figure skater. Since 2016 she has been a physician mentor with the I Am Abel Foundation and enjoys working with high school, college and post-baccalaureate students pursuing their dreams of becoming a medical doctor. She has recently joined the foundation as a board member as well.
After her competitive figure skating career concluded, Dr. Rene began to pursue her passion for medicine full time. She completed her medical degree at Indiana University School of Medicine and her residency at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Chicago. When she is not caring for her own patients, you will probably find Dr. Rene traveling the globe serving on medical missions including trips to Ecuador, the Dominican Republic, Africa, and Moldova. In her free time Dr. Rene enjoys spending time with family and friends, traveling and staying active by running, figure skating recreationally and walking her dog.
PRENTISS TAYLOR, MD
Vice President, Medical Affairs - Doctors On Demand
Physician, Advocate Christ Hospital
Prentiss Taylor Jr., MD, FACP, currently serves as Vice President of Medical Affairs at Doctor On Demand, a leading innovative national telemedicine company. There he is currently co-leading national health initiatives with Walmart, Humana, and several other national companies. He is also an attending physician on staff at Advocate Christ Hospital in Metro Chicago. He is involved with three local mentoring programs for students as well as on the National Alumni Council of National Medical Fellowships, which gave him a scholarship to Harvard Med School.
He was awarded the Unsung Hero Award by WGN-TV for his volunteer work at a free clinic. Prentiss has volunteered as guest lecturer for the American Heart Association’s Life’s Simple Seven program, has spoken to church groups, and has appeared on local radio stations in support of Hypertension Awareness and Control.
He has most recently been Medical Director at Advocate Aurora Health Care, the largest health system in the Midwest. He also had responsibility for launching Advocate’s successful Patient Centered Medical Homes sites.
Prentiss is a graduate of Harvard Medical School, the Kellogg Business School, and is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians. Prentiss is board-certified in Internal Medicine and Preventive Medicine. He has been chosen as a Top Doctor by Chicago Magazine, Castle Connolly, and US News, multiple times, including in 2018-2020. He has previously been a faculty member of the Department of Preventive Medicine at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine.
CHRISTOPHER L. GANDY
Founder | CEO, "The Coach"
The Midwest Legacy Group, LLC
Chris has spent the last 21 years helping individuals reach their most important financial goals. In 1999, Chris started his own financial services practice, and, since then, has traveled the U.S. working with athletes, key executives and minorities. Chris specifically focuses on the areas of individual and corporate Life Insurance, Disability Income Insurance, Investments*, Unique Tax Reduction Strategies, Retirement Income Optimization and Pension Maximization.
Chris was a communications major at the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana. Outside of the classroom, he played on the Fighting Illini basketball team where he was co-captain and earned 2nd Team All Big-Ten honors. After college, Chris played basketball professionally for the Chicago Bulls, San Antonio Spurs, and in L’Hermaine and Vichy, France.
In 2010 he started his own Agency, where he leads a team of highly skilled advisors, meanwhile still developing his clientele nationwide. He has been featured in numerous magazine articles; Crain’s Chicago Business, GQ, Black Enterprise and African-American Career World.
In 2012 Chris found a way to give back to sports by becoming a member and sitting on the board of the Chicago Concussion Coalition which goal is to make the games safer for children in amateur sports, Founded by Chris Nowitski of the Emmy Nominated movie “Head Games” he finds passion in helping resolve the issue of CTE in sports.
Chris donates his time and efforts to many organizations. He is on the Board of Directors for the Urban League, is part of the United Way’s Young Community Leaders, volunteers for the Big Brothers/Big Sisters organization & and joined the board of the SAME Network of Chicago’s RUSH medical center.
ASHLEY WINFIELD-DIAL, MD
Assistant Director, Cook County Health Simulation Center
Founder & Current Chair, Cook County Department of Emergency Medicine Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee
Dr. Ashlea Winfield is a board-certified emergency medicine physician, Assistant Director of the Cook County Health Simulation Center, and the founder and current chair of the Cook County Department of Emergency Medicine Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee.
Dr. Winfield earned her Master of Science in Public Health from the Tulane University School of Public Health and medical degree from the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine in New Orleans. She then went on to complete her residency at Cook County Health where she served as chief resident and completed a fellowship in medical simulation.
Dr. Winfield has an interest in increasing the number of underrepresented minorities in medicine and uses her expertise in simulation to bridge educational gaps for students from underrepresented backgrounds interested in medicine and to expose youth to careers in medicine.
COLETTE BLAKE-SMITH, RTRP, BA, MST
Tax Manager, Domestic Tax
OSI Industries, LLC
I Am Abel Foundation is pleased to welcome Colette Blake-Smith to the Board of Directors. Colette obtained her Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting from DeVry University and her Master of Science Degree in Taxation from Northern Illinois University.
She is currently the Tax Manager of Domestic Tax (US Tax) for a premier global supplier of food products to the world’s leading foodservice and retail food brands. She also works as a Tax Analyst for H&R Block She has been with HR Block for over 20 years; servicing the lower to middle income individuals/families and small business owners and she also has her own small business as an Independent Seacret Agent of Skin and Wellness Care products.
Colette is contemplating going back to school to pursue a degree in law to become a Tax Attorney. She is very passionate about wanting to be the advocate to the lower income individuals/families, young adults just entering the workforce, and the elderly; those she calls “the most vulnerable” as they usually fall victim to tax identity theft and scams. She also desires to help represent more minority-owned small business owners and clients navigate and comply with the complex tax codes and laws, so they can legally take advantage of the myriad deductions, credits, and exemptions.
Colette is married with three children and one grandson. She attends Neighborhood United Methodist Church in Maywood, IL where she is a member of the Voices of Praise Choir and the former Finance Treasurer. She was instrumental in leading the charge in helping Neighborhood United Methodist transition from manual processes to a more automated environment by implementing software and training for processing payroll, setting up direct deposit for the church’s employees, tax filings, paying vendors, etc. She enjoys quality family time, karaoke, and bowling and in her spare time.
JOHN PANDOLFINO, MD
Hans Popper Professor of Medicine
Chief of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University
Dr. Pandolfino is the Hans Popper Professor of Medicine and Chief of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University. His career has focused primarily on studying the biomechanics of bolus transport and gastrointestinal motility as it pertains to gastroesophageal reflux and swallowing disorders.
He currently is funded by the NIH to study GERD and Dysphagia pathogenesis and also receives funding from industry focused on the development of new technologies to investigate and treat gastrointestinal disorders. He also maintains a strong clinical practice and in the Esophageal Center at Northwestern which serves as one of the nation’s top referral centers for complicated esophageal diseases.
He is active in multiple professional organizations and has a strong commitment to the editorial process as a member of the editorial board of multiple high-level Gastroenterology and Hepatology journals.
IKE S. OKWUOSA, MD
Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiologist, Northwestern Memorial Hospital
Assistant Dean, Medical Education - Northwestern Memorial Hospital
Dr. Okwuosa is an advanced heart failure and transplant cardiologist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. He is also serves as an assistant Dean of Medical Education and assistant professor of Medicine at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. His clinical focus is in the realm of advanced heart failure and transplant cardiology and his clinical scope encompasses patients with all stages of heart failure. He directs the infiltrative and inflammatory cardiomyopathy program focusing on cardiac amyloidosis and Cardiac Sarcoidosis. And as such has put together a multi-disciplinary team that meets and reviews cases dealing with cardiac sarcoidosis.
His research is focused on post heart transplant and LVAD outcomes, and heart failure disparities. His commitment to science has resulted his research being presented at National meetings such as the American College of Cardiology, the Heart Failure Society of America, The American Heart Association and the International Society of Heart and Lung Transplant conferences.
His commitment to the mission of Northwestern Feinberg school of medicine has been shown in his work as a college mentor. As 1 of the 8 college mentors for the graduating class of 2022 he regularly meets with 20 medical students and reviews their academic performance. He also serves as a research mentor for three students of the class of 2022, and under his guidance, their work has been presented nationally. In alignment with Northwestern’s commitment to promote diversity not only within the school of medicine, but within the field of medicine, he serves as a steering committee Chair for the Daniel Hale Williams society, and the faculty advisor for the Northwestern McGaw Under Represented Minority Residents and Fellows Forum (NMURFF). He also serves as the Northwestern site director for the American Heart Association S.U.R.E program. A program that matches 3-4 minority undergraduate students with AHA funded mentors at the Feinberg School of Medicine to conduct summer research.
He serves as a champion to end inequities in healthcare and this is evident in his service to the city of Chicago. He has partnered with leadership at The Loretto Hospital, and on an annual basis organizes community grand rounds on their campus. A successful program in which residents of the Austin community are provided health screening and receive lectures on cardiovascular disease, nutrition, cancer prevention and communicable diseases. He also is the director of the Heart Smart Program for the I Am Abel Foundation. A program that exposes Chicago minority high school students to the field of medicine.
AUDREY L. TANKSLEY, MD
Medical Director, Salaam Community Wellness
Attending Physician, Mather's Recovery
Dr. Audrey L. Tanksley was born and raised on the south side of Chicago in the Roseland community. She attended undergraduate school at Southern Illinois University Carbondale and medical school at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine in Springfield, IL. Dr. Tanksley returned to the Chicagoland area to complete her Internal Medicine residency training at UIC/ Advocate Christ Medical Center where she also served as an attending resident. She has subsequently completed fellowship training in Medical Education Research at University of Chicago, Integrative Medicine at University of Arizona Andrew Weil Center of Integrative Medicine. She is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine and is a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society.
As a researcher, Dr. Tanksley’s academic work focuses on poverty and disease, cultural competency, mentorship and medical education. Her scholarly work has been presented at various regional and national conferences, including the Association of American Medical Colleges and the Society for General Internal Medicine.
As an Internist, Dr. Tanksley provides medical care in Mathers Recovery and Mathers Community. Her focus is Integrative Addiction Medicine. She serves as Chair of the Governmental Affairs Committee of the Cook County Physicians Association as well as a member of the Executive Board as the chapter’s Secretary. Dr. Tanksley is a former candidate for Commissioner of the Fifth District of Cook County. She is dedicated to improving the health of those in her community through shedding light on social injustice and health inequities. Dr. Tanksley is an active member of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc.