As the first woman and first African American to lead 's largest philanthropy devoted to improving the nation's health, Dr. Risa Lavizzo-Mourey isn't interested in making small, incremental changes.

The programs championed by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) under her leadership -- reversing the childhood obesity epidemic, promoting health coverage for children and eliminating disparities in health care -- focus on the biggest health-related issues facing our nation today.

"If we do nothing about the obesity epidemic, the current generation of young people could be the first in American history to live sicker and die younger than their parents' generation," Dr. Lavizzo-Mourey warns. "That's unacceptable to me, and it ought to be unacceptable to everyone else, whether they're doctors, policy-makers, educators or parents struggling to keep their kids safe and healthy."Like most RWJF programs, the obesity-prevention initiative places a special emphasis on reaching traditionally underserved communities, where the obesity epidemic is most severe. According to government statistics, black children are more likely to be obese than white children, and black girls have the single highest obesity rate of any racial and gender group tracked by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Working to help the nation's most at-risk citizens is a family tradition for Dr. Lavizzo-Mourey. Both of her parents practiced medicine in her native city, Seattle. Her mother, Blanche, was the first medical director of the Odessa Brown Clinic for Children, named after the social activist who drew attention to the health care crisis for poor residents of Seattle's Central District. Today, the facility provides treatment for all community members, regardless of income, including chronic disease management for conditions like sickle cell anemia and asthma.

Dr. Lavizzo-Mourey earned her medical degree at Harvard Medical School and completed her internship and residency at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. In 1984, she was named a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania and received her MBA degree in health care administration from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business in 1986. Dr. Lavizzo-Mourey was named president and chief executive officer of the multi-billion dollar health care foundation in 2003.

To learn more about Dr. Risa Lavizzo-Mourey and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, visit the President's Corner of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Web site.

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