Two named to College of Medicine DEI leadership team

Armando De Alba, MD, and Liliana Bronner have been named to the leadership team of the UNMC College of Medicine’s Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI).

Dr. De Alba is the assistant dean of DEI student programs, and Bronner is the director of medical pathway programs.

Shirley Delair, MD, associate dean for DEI in the college, announced the appointments Monday.

In her new role, Bronner will support the DEI office in its collaboration with the admissions office in leveraging current pathway programs — such as the Rural Health Opportunities Program, the Urban Health Opportunities Program and the Kearney Health Opportunities Program in the recruitment and retention of students underrepresented in medicine. She will help develop alternative pathways to medicine programs to improve student diversity at the college, as well as establishing and managing program metrics for current programs and developing a dashboard to specifically monitor efforts to recruit underrepresented students in medicine.

In his new role, Dr. De Alba will support the DEI office in its collaboration with the admissions office in recommending strategies to recruit a diverse pool of medical students that reflect the population served. He also will work on policies and procedures to foster an inclusive climate at the college for students. Dr. De Alba will help develop service-learning opportunities allowing students to strive for inclusive excellence that will benefit underserved and marginalized communities by providing training on best practices in community engagement and advocacy.

Pointing to Dr. De Alba’s extensive work in health care for underserved populations through both public health and medical care lenses, Dr. Delair said: “Dr. De Alba’s experience will be invaluable to the DEI office goals to enhance student education through service-learning, community engagement and advocacy in order to build a workforce to help address health disparities in our state and beyond.”

“I enjoy building bridges between the health sector and underserved communities while holding the values of social justice, equity, inclusion, diversity, academic excellence and respect,” Dr. De Alba said. “I’m grateful to the UNMC College of Public Health for the support I received for 10 years while carrying out this mission, and I am honored and grateful to the College of Medicine for the opportunity to work together with an excellent team of DEI leaders and distinguished colleagues in education, research and health care.”

Dr. Delair noted Bronner’s work in building the infrastructure support for pathway programs for rural students under the Area Health Education Center (AHEC) program and her experience implementing outreach and enrichment efforts for Native American students.

“Her understanding of program development, coordination and management, and the broad network she has developed with key underrepresented groups will support the DEI office in attracting a diverse pool of students into medicine,” Dr. Delair said.

“My main goal in this new role is fostering the use of innovative and evidence-based approaches to improve the recruitment and retention efforts for underrepresented students in medicine,” Bronner said. “This moment is vital for our college. I am excited and extremely honored to be more involved with efforts to create a more diverse, open and inclusive environment. Working with a talented team of faculty and staff, I look forward to creating a richer experience for incoming students.”