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Laverne Carter

Founder/President, Health In Color

Dr. Laverne Morrow Carter is an intervention researcher and social entrepreneur dedicated to designing, building and disseminating digital engagement, learning and communications tools focused on populations of color. For more than 40 years, she has served as the President and Chief Innovation Officer of Health in Color, Inc. (formerly REESSI). The company’s innovations are supported by funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR-STTR ) program. Carter has served for the past ten years as a peer reviewer, chairing multiple SBIR-STTR study sections. She possesses a Ph.D. in Policy Analysis and Administration with a Health Policy concentration and an MPH in Health Behavior and Community Health from St. Louis University. Moreover, during this season of her career, Carter is dedicated to edifying and mentoring emerging social entrepreneurs and researchers of color.

Evaluation Panel

Edna Acosta-Pérez

Associate Professor, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Puerto Rico

Professor & Chair, Community Health & Preventive Medicine, Principal Investigator, Prevention Research Center, Morehouse School of Medicine

Donald Alcendor

Associate Professor of Microbiology, Immunology & Physiology, Adjunct Associate Professor of Pathology, Microbiology & Immunology, Meharry Medical College, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine

Director, Community Health & Outreach Faculty, Harlem Residency in Family Medicine, Family Health Center of Harlem

Assistant Professor, Morgan State University

Brian Castrucci

President & CEO, de Beaumont Foundation

Shamira Chappell

Program Manager, Donaghue Foundation

Associate Professor of Medicine, Sleep Disorders and Research Center, Henry Ford Health + Michigan State University Health Sciences, and Director, Center for Behavioral Circadian Medicine, Henry Ford Health

Retired, Health Care Sales Executive

Jennifer Croker

Senior Administrative Director, Center for Clinical & Translational Science, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Clinical Immunology & Rheumatology, University of Alabama at Birmingham

Research Scientist, Baylor Scott & White Health & Wellness Center

Strategist, Healthcare Strategist & nonprofit Board member (Sepsis Alliance, AJC, Northlight Theatre); Former CEO of Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine

Vice Provost for Graduate Education & Dean of the Graduate School, Professor of Agricultural Economics, Sociology, and Education, Pennsylvania State University

Director of Services, CAPC, Inc.

Chief Health Officer, Yuma County Public Health Services District

Assistant Professor, Department of Population & Community Health, University of North Texas

Professor of Engineering, Case Western Reserve University

Pacific Region Director, ANA Pacific Region Training & Technical Assistance Center

Anissa Irvin Vines

Associate Professor, Department of Epidemiology & Co-lead of the Health Equity & Social Justice MPH Program Concentration, University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health

Director, Translational Science Metabolic Disorders & Director of Patient Engagement, Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH)

Retired, North Carolina DHHS Division of Public Health

Mylynda B. Massart

Board-certified Family Medicine physician at UPMC, Associate Professor at the University of Pittsburgh

Associate Dean of Research, Professor of Public Health, Syracuse University, Falk College of Sport & Human Dynamics

RADx Team Lead & CEO, 149 Medical Inc.

Associate Professor of Family Medicine & Learning Health Sciences, University of Michigan

Melissa Monbouquette

Executive Director, BUILD Health Challenge® (BUILD)

Annette Nansubuga

Program Manager, Massachusetts Community Engagement Alliance

Malinee Neelamegam

Assistant Professor, Department of Population & Community Health, University of North Texas, Health Science Center at Fort Worth

Portfolio Executive at NIH's RADx (Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics COVID 19 Response), NIH RADx Contractor

Associate Professor of Learning Health Sciences, University of Michigan

Research Engagement Specialist, OCHIN

Lawrence Reichle

Senior Public Health Researcher, Westat

Rachelle Reyes Wenger

System Vice President, Public Policy & Advocacy Engagement, CommonSpirit Health

Rebecca Richards-Kortum

Professor of Bioengineering, Rice University

Shaquera Robinson

Community Engagement Specialist, Massachusetts Community Engagement Alliance (MA-CEAL)

Natalia Rodriguez

Assistant Professor of Public Health & Biomedical Engineering, Purdue University

Associate Professor of Medical Sciences (in Medicine), Associate Professor of Medical Sciences (in Medical Humanities & Ethics), Co-Director, Precision Medicine: Ethics, Politics & Culture Project, Columbia University

Vetta Sanders Thompson

Professor of Racial & Ethnic Diversity, Duke University

Associate Professor Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Science, University of Miami

Associate Professor, Public Health Sciences, Parkinson School of Health Sciences & Public Health, Loyola University Chicago

Brenda Solorzano

CEO, Headwaters Foundation

Associate Dean for Community Engagement & Health Equity, Associate Professor Department of Population and Community Health, University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth

Associate Professor, Department of Population & Community Health, School of Public Health, University of North Texas

Luis Torres-Hostos

Founding Dean & Professor, School of Social Work, Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry, Neuro & Behavioral Health Integrated Service Unit, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

Senior Behavioral Scientist, RAND Corporation

Brisa Urquieta de Hernandez

System Director, Operations CommonSpirit Health

Ha Ngan (Milkie)

Ha Ngan (Milkie) Vu

Assistant Professor in the Division of Behavioral Medicine, Northwestern University

Principal Investigator, Undergraduate Training & Education Center (UTEC), Jackson Heart Study, Tougaloo College

Natasha Williams

Associate Professor, Institute for Excellence in Health Equity, Center for Healthful Behavior Change, NYU Grossman School of Medicine

Shammara Wright

Deputy Director, Programs, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Assistant Professor, College of Population Health, University of New Mexico

Selection Committee

No items found.

Let’s build community trust and improve people’s health and well-being.

The NIH Build UP Trust Challenge will award as many as ten Finalists up to $45,000 each and the opportunity to win one of four $200,000 prizes for promising strategies that increase research participation and the adoption of medical care by building trust and improving engagement with historically underserved communities.

A Competition by Carrot

Carrot helps organizations build competitions that engage new talent and deliver groundbreaking solutions.

As part of its mission, NASA’s Center of Excellence for Collaborative Innovation (CoECI) provides assistance in the use of crowdsourcing across the federal government. CoECI provides the NASA Tournament Lab (NTL) as a contract platform for running crowdsourced challenges for NASA and other federal agencies. See all government challenges at

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