Joseph L. Wright, MD, MPH is the inaugural Chief Health Equity Officer of the 12 campus, 30,000 employee University of Maryland Medical System. He previously served as tenured Professor and Chair of Pediatrics at the Howard University College of Medicine, and as Senior Vice President within the Children's National Health System, where he provided strategic leadership for the organization’s advocacy mission, public policy positions, community partnership initiatives. He maintains appointments as adjunct professor of emergency medicine and health policy at the George Washington University, and teaches as professor of health policy and management at the University of Maryland School of Public Health. He served 17 years as the inaugural state pediatric medical director within the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems, in addition to 8 years as principal investigator of the National Resource Center for the federally-funded Emergency Medical Services for Children program.

Academically, Dr. Wright is among the nation’s original cohort of board-certified pediatric emergency physicians with scholarly interests that include injury prevention, prehospital pediatrics, and the needs of underserved communities. He has contributed over 120 publications to the scientific literature, served more than 30 visiting professorships, and was principal investigator of the NIH-funded DC-Baltimore Research Center on Child Health Disparities.  Dr. Wright is an elected member of the Alpha Omega Alpha (medicine) and Delta Omega (public health) honor societies, the Academy of Medicine of Washington, and the American Pediatric Society for which he co-chairs the Committee on Diversity, Inclusion and Equity.

Dr. Wright is immediate past chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Committee on Pediatric Emergency Medicine and also chaired the AAP Task Force on Addressing Bias and Discrimination. He is currently a sitting member of the AAP Board of Directors and chairs the Board Committee on Equity. Dr. Wright has been recognized for long-standing AAP leadership as recipient of two career achievement awards for distinguished contributions to injury prevention and emergency medicine, respectively, and the inaugural Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Excellence Award. He is also recipient of the prestigious Shining Star Award from the Los Angeles-based Starlight Foundation for outstanding service to communities of color and the Diversity in Business Leader Award from the Washington Business Journal.

Dr. Wright provides national leadership through advisory and governance service to several health and human service entities including the Association of American Medical Colleges, the March of Dimes and Safe Kids Worldwide. He previously served as an Obama administration appointee to Food and Drug Administration’s Pediatric Advisory Committee, and has recently been appointed to the National Academy of Sciences’ study committee on Addressing the Long-Term Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Children and Families. Dr. Wright regularly presents invited testimony before Congress, state and municipal legislative bodies, has made numerous media appearances, and lectures widely to both professional and lay audiences.

Dr. Wright earned a B.A. from Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT, his M.D. from Rutgers University, and a Master of Public Health in Administrative Medicine and Management from George Washington University.