DEMOPOLIS — A Huntsville native has been named to the board of directors of the Alabama School of Healthcare Sciences Foundation.
Dr. Khalilah Brown, chief medical officer for Southern Research in Birmingham since 2023, was named to the foundation’s slate of directors. Brown leads the Catalyst Program to expand access to precision medicine and clinical trials for Alabamians.
The Alabama School of Healthcare Sciences is a residential, specialty high school scheduled to open in the fall of 2026. A part of the Alabama public school system, the school will offer curricula, instruction and work-based training focused on the health sciences to prepare students for career readiness in the healthcare industry.
Among its chief purposes is to alleviate the rural healthcare workforce shortage in Alabama and to provide a model for other such projects to address the national shortage.
“The crisis in rural healthcare in Alabama can’t be turned around with a quick fix,” said Brown, “and I look forward to helping develop this long-term solution that offers the bonus of changing the lives and fortunes of young people in our state.”
The foundation is a charitable, 501(c)(3) organization with the sole purpose of providing financial and educational support for the School of Healthcare Sciences.
Southern Research is an 80-year-old research facility that has contributed to global knowledge of cancer treatment and to COVID research, while pouring an estimated $150 million into Alabama’s economy each year.
Foundation Board President Kirk Stephens said Brown is a “perfect fit” with ASHS.
“She’s passionate about her career field and has shown great leadership, while at the same time understanding and working for healthcare equity and access for all Alabamians,” he said.
Brown is a board-certified pediatrician and published researcher and has worked in public health in Alabama for the past 14 years, serving on a number of community boards related to maternal and child health services, and in the 2019 class of Leadership Birmingham. She also continues to participate in clinical practice as a Clinical Professor in Academic General Pediatrics at UAB Primary Care Clinic.
A native of Huntsville, Brown received a bachelor of science degree with honors in biology from UAB, and her M.D. from the UA School of Medicine. She completed her pediatric residency training with the University of Florida at Sacred Heart Hospital then joined the National Health Service Corps at Quality of Life Health Services in Gadsden.
From 2009-23 she was with the Jefferson County Department of Health, first as a public health medical officer for eight years, then as child health medical and laboratory director for six years.
In addition to expanding its board, the ASHS Foundation is in the final stages of identifying a permanent president/chief executive officer, working with a professional search firm. That individual will answer to the board and will direct fundraising, advocacy and promotion of the school in conjunction with the school president, a position that is also in the process of being filled through the 20-member statewide ASHS school board.
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