Museum of Science and Industry

Health Profiles

Throughout the exhibit, guests will encounter more than 30 biographies of African-American health professionals and health-related organizations who work tirelessly to promote wellness and improve the health of their communities. Some of the individuals featured include:

Dr. Damon T. Arnold

As director of the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), Dr. Arnold oversees a statewide agency responsible for protecting the state’s 12.4 million residents through the prevention and control of disease and injury.

Dr. Carl Bell

Dr. Bell is president and CEO of the Community Mental Health Council, Inc., one of the largest not-for-profit community mental health centers in the U.S. Dr. Bell is a noted professor of psychiatry and public health at the University of Illinois at Chicago and author of more than 350 books, chapters and scientific publications addressing issues of violence prevention, HIV prevention, isolated sleep paralysis, misdiagnosis of manic depressive illness and children exposed to violence.

Dr. Albert L. Gunn

Dr. Albert Gunn has practiced naprapathic medicine for more than 20 years. Naprapathic medicine treats connective tissue disorders through gentle hands-on manipulation of spine, joints, and muscles. Dr. Gunn is also co-founder of the Sound Therapy Research Ensemble, a musical group that uses the healing power of sound in workshops that engage the participants in yoga, meditation, and dance.

Dr. Terry Mason

As chief medical officer for Cook County, Dr. Mason oversees doctors at three public hospitals, a prison hospital and 16 clinics in the state of Illinois. Dr. Mason is a former chief of urology at Mercy Hospital and Medical Center, and has spent more than 15 years as moonlighting host of the WVON-AM radio program “Doctor in the House.”

Dr. Risa Lavizzo-Mourey

Dr. Lavizzo-Mourey is the first African American and first woman to be president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the largest philanthropic foundation dedicated to health care in the United States. She is a leader in academic medicine, government service and her medical specialty of geriatrics.

Project Brotherhood

Project Brotherhood seeks to create a safe, respectful, male-friendly place where a wide range of health and social issues confronting African-American men can be addressed. The program is designed to expand the health services for black men beyond those provided through the traditional medical model. The Chicago-based program is aimed at educating African-American men on topics such as cancer detection to HIV prevention.

Dr. David Satcher

Dr. Satcher is most notable as having served as 16th Surgeon General of the United States, from 1998 to 2002. His work is credited with improving public health policy and working to eliminate health disparities for minorities, the poor and other disadvantaged groups.

Click here for information on Dr. Satcher's lecture at the Museum on Saturday, February 13.