The NCIOM was chartered by the North Carolina General Assembly in 1983 to serve as a non-political source of information and analysis on major health issues facing the state. The NCIOM informs and shapes health policy by identifying evidence-based solutions to North Carolina’s health challenges and working collaboratively with stakeholders from across the state to identify and build consensus around actionable solutions. Membership in the NCIOM provides an opportunity to connect with colleagues also working to advance the health of North Carolinians. The new 2023 members will be joining a prestigious group of over 150 North Carolinians who serve the state as health care providers, community health leaders, researchers, educators, policymakers, and business leaders. 

“I am honored to join the membership of the North Carolina Institute of Medicine in their mission of shaping policy to improve public health,” says Ramos. “Promoting policy solutions is essential to leveraging the wide-ranging expertise of the nursing workforce in developing effective nurse-led models of care. Nurses are the solution to mitigating harmful social determinants of health, advancing health equity, and ultimately improving health outcomes throughout North Carolina and the United States.”

Ramos is director of the Center for Latino Adolescent and Family Health at DUSON and a nurse practitioner dually licensed in primary care and psychiatric-mental health nursing. His research examines the role of families in promoting adolescent and young adult health, with a focus on mitigating the mechanisms through which the social determinants of health (SDOH) shape health inequities. Ramos’ research has been federally funded for over two decades by the National Institutes of Health and various other extramural agencies. He has published over 100 manuscripts in leading peer-reviewed scientific and health journals including The Lancet Infectious Diseases, JAMA Pediatrics, Pediatrics, and the American Journal of Public Health. Ramos has developed a set of conceptual and applied web resources for SDOH mitigation (www.DUSONTrailblazer.com). Ramos’ work has been featured by national media outlets including CNN, NPR, The New York Times, Newsweek, and The Guardian. 

Ramos serves as a member of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS, the HHS Panel on Antiretroviral Guidelines for Adults and Adolescents, the CDC/HRSA Advisory Committee on HIV, Viral Hepatitis and STD Prevention and Treatment, and on the boards of the Power to Decide, Latino Commission on AIDS, and HIV Medicine Association. Ramos currently serves on the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) Unequal Treatment Revisited: The Current State of Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Healthcare Committee and the NASEM Standing Committee on Reproductive Health, Equity, and Society. Previously, he served on the NASEM Committee on Prevention and Control of Sexually Transmitted Infections in the United States. Ramos is a fellow of both the American Academy of Nursing and the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare, an Aspen Health Innovators Fellow, and a Presidential Leadership Scholar.

For more information about the NCIOM, visit nciom.org