Howard University College of Medicine Center of Excellence (CoE)
Biography
Goulda Downer, PhD, FAND, RD, LN, CNS currently serves as the helm of Howard University College of Medicine’s Center of Excellence (HUC)M CoE) Scholars Program. Under her leadership, Howard University has been recognized locally, regionally, and nationally, for strengthening the nation’s HIV clinical workforce within racial, ethnic minority, most at risk, underserved and vulnerable communities. She has developed and directed several projects of national significance, including as (a) the Principal Investigator and Project Director of the National Minority AIDS Education and Training Center (NMAETC); (b) the AIDS Education Training Center (AETC); (c) the National Multicultural Training Center (AETC-NMC); (d) the National HIV Curriculum Integration Program; (e) the AETC-Capitol Region Telehealth Training Center; and (f) Project Resilience, an innovative HIV/STI prevention program which sought to identify factors that enabled some youth living in high risk HIV settings to remain HIV negative while others living in the same environment became HIV positive.
Currently, Dr. Downer directs and manages several international projects to including the Howard University HIV Caribbean Clinical Preceptorship Program (HUCCPP); and the Caribbean Clinicians of Practice (CCCoP). She has served as Howard University’s Principal Investigator for Central Asian Program on AIDS Control in Vulnerable Populations led by John Snow, Inc. (JSI) and funded by USAID. She provided technical expertise on cultural competency as it relates to medication adherence to address HIV and other communicable diseases in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. She has also served as an Instructor for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Emergency Management Institute, providing workshops on “Integrating Emergency Management Education into Your Institution.”
Dr. Downer has experience in project management, curriculum development and training. She has assisted numerous organizations as a cultural competency expert including the National and Regional AETCs, the District of Columbia Department of Health, the National Medical Association, and National Conference on Latinos and AIDS; the Indian Health Services; the National Dental Association; the National Black Nurses Association, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. She developed several curricula, including e-Curriculum Series, Essentials of HIV Medicine; and Module 6 on Cultural Competence in HIV Care for the Mayo Clinic. She edited the NMAETC BESAFE Cultural Competency Manuals for Native Americans and Asian and Pacific Islanders and assisted in the development of the manuals for African-Americans and Hispanic-Americans.
As the former Director of Medical Education for the National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS), Dr. Downer managed all aspects of curriculum development for instructing medical students, physician assistants, and graduate nursing students with respect to FAS. In her role as adjunct professor in the School of Public Health and Health Services, Exercise Science Program at George Washington, she developed curricula for graduate and undergraduate courses in Nutrition Evaluation and Counseling Techniques. She has served as a grant reviewer for the National Institutes of Health National Center on Minority Health Administrative Support and Health Disparities; National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases; National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Minority Health; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Women’s Health Science Journal; HSOA Journal of Community Medicine & Public Health Care; Elsevier Editorial System; American Journal of Undergraduate Research, and many other public and private funders.
Dr. Downer has served as a member of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Advisory Committee; and the FEMA homeland security and emergency management program accreditation Committee. She is a former Chair of District of Columbia’s Health Coordinating Council (SHCC) as well as the Nutrition & Dietetics Board. She is currently a member of the District of Columbia Developmental Center for AIDS Research (DC D-CFAR); and the District of Columbia's Medical Reserve Corps.
A recognized expert in this field of nutrition and food security, Dr. Downer has served as Nutrition, Food Security and HIV/AIDS Technical Advisor for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Projects in the portfolio focused on the implementation of activities based upon i) UNAIDS Report; ii)AIDS, Poverty and Hunger: challenges and Responses; iii) HIV/AIDS and Nutrition – From Evidence to Action; and iv) v)Evaluate and report on the Regional Network on AIDS, Rural Livelihoods and Food Security (RENEWAL) and Food and Nutrition Security activities in participating countries; v) prepare reviews, briefings and advise on policy and program implications of interactions between HIV/AIDS and agriculture, nutrition, hunger, food security and poverty in Africa; vi) Evaluate Impact of PEPFAR programs on Mother-to-Child Transmission of HV/AIDS; vii) Assess impact or USAID’s Food for Peace (FFP) PL480 Title II Food Aid Programs and the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief related to HIV-infected and -affected populations.
Dr. Downer Co-Chaired the West Africa Region’s Nutrition and Agriculture Steering Committee for the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP) in 2011 where she provided technical assistance for the implementation of country-specific nutrition-related best practices with National Agriculture and Food Security Investment Plans for the region. She has provided expert nutrition consulting services to the U.S. Department of Justice and the DC Superior Court.
Dr. Downer has several publications in national journals. She is the recipient of several awards including the 2013 Congressional Black Caucus Health Brain Trust Leadership in Advocacy Award. She also received the 2013 Health Care Leadership Award from the Washington Metropolitan Area Chapter of the National Association of Health Services Executives and was a Regional Finalist for the White House Fellowship Program.
Dr. Downer received a BS degree from Pratt Institute, and her MSc. (summa cum laude) and PhD (summa cum laude) degrees from Howard University. She completed her post-doctoral residency in pediatrics at Georgetown University. She was inducted as a Fellow of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics in 2014.