Dr. Bettina Beech Honored with Leadership Award
The Center for Translational and Precision Health (CTPH) is proud to announce that Bettina M. Beech, has received the J. Michael McGinnis Leadership Excellence Award from the Interdisciplinary Association for Population Health Sciences (IAPHS). This award acknowledges her exemplary dedication to scientific leadership, translational research, and mentoring, which have significantly advanced the mission of population health science.
Beech’s extensive career is marked by research that spans clinical, community-partnered, and policy-oriented efforts to improve health outcomes, particularly among underrepresented and under-resourced populations. Her ongoing work has addressed cardiometabolic disease risks, with a particular emphasis on health disparities and improving minority health outcomes. Currently, she leads three major National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants: the HEALTH-RCMI, focusing on addiction and cancer prevention in minority communities; AIM-AHEAD, a national initiative dedicated to diversifying data science and promoting health equity in AI/ML studies; and the Obesity Health Disparities Program for Inclusion and Diversity (OHD PRIDE), which fosters research training for individuals from underrepresented backgrounds.
Throughout her career, Beech has made significant contributions to the field, publishing over 150 peer-reviewed articles and books that investigate the social determinants affecting the cardiovascular health and overall well-being of African Americans. Her upcoming editorial work, the second edition of Race and Research: Perspectives on Minority Participation in Health Studies, reflects her long-standing commitment to diversifying research participation and advancing health equity. Her dedication to fostering future generations of researchers is evident in her service with IAPHS, where she has been an active member since its founding years and played a pivotal role in creating the organization’s first undergraduate chapter at the University of Houston.
The J. Michael McGinnis Leadership Excellence Award is given to individuals who have demonstrated an outstanding commitment to population health through impactful research, translation of findings into policy or practice, and exemplary mentorship. Dr. Beech’s contributions fulfill all these criteria, reflecting IAPHS’s core values of integrity, collaboration, and commitment to diversity. In addition to the honor, Dr. Beech received a $1,000 stipend, which she plans to dedicate toward advancing mentorship opportunities for young scholars in population health.