2024 GMHC Gala · Monday, September 30th · 6:00pm

The 2024 GMHC Gala will honor outstanding individuals and institutions who have made significant contributions to end the HIV epidemic, improve health equity, and to destigmatize other social determinants of health such as housing, nutrition, and access to mental health services.

Oni Blackstock, M.D., M.H.Sc.
Founder & Executive Director of Health Justice

Uché Blackstock, M.D.
Founder & CEO, Advancing Health Equity

Judith Peabody Humanitarian Award

Oni Blackstock, M.D., M.H.Sc.
Founder & Executive Director of Health Justice

Dr. Oni Blackstock is founder and Executive Director of Health Justice, a nationally renowned consulting firm that helps to support health-related organizations to center anti-racism and equity in the workplace and reduce health inequities in the communities they serve.

Dr. Blackstock is a primary care and HIV physician, researcher, and public health practitioner. Her dynamic career has been defined by a relentless pursuit of equity and justice in healthcare. Her groundbreaking and often-cited research has not only helped to shed light on the complex intersection of race, gender, and health outcomes, but her work also challenges us to confront the systemic barriers that perpetuate health inequities.

As a thought leader in the areas of HIV and health equity, she is recognized for her dedicated advocacy for promoting inclusive health care practices. Through her leadership roles, research, and advocacy, Dr. Blackstock has championed policies and programs that prioritize the needs of marginalized communities. Her own experience living at the intersection of multiple marginalized identities has informed her deep commitment to advancing health equity.

Dr. Blackstock previously served as an assistant commissioner for the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene where she led the city’s response to ending the HIV epidemic from 2018-2020. There, she oversaw the establishment of the Health Department’s first Bureau-based Racial Equity and Social Justice program. Prior to serving as an assistant commissioner, Dr. Blackstock was an assistant professor in the Division of General Internal Medicine at Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein, College of Medicine where she provided clinical care and conducted HIV clinical research funded by National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Her research has focused on developing, implementing, and testing interventions to enhance engagement in HIV prevention and treatment services among Black and Latinx people affected by as well as living with HIV including Black and Latina cisgender and transgender women. In her current role as ED of Health Justice, she continues to contribute to transformative HIV research, serving as an expert consultant on NIH-funded research projects focused on HIV and health equity.

Dr. Blackstock holds degrees from Harvard College, Harvard Medical School, and Yale School of Medicine. She has been the recipient of awards and recognition from media outlets such as Marie Claire, GO, Out, and Essence magazines and community-based organizations such as Callen-Lorde Community Health Center and Exponents. She has made multiple media appearances including sharing her expertise on Democracy Now!, CNN, MSNBC, and Good Morning America and has previously served as a Board Member and advisor for a number of community-based organizations serving marginalized communities as well as for global health-related initiatives focused on health equity.

Uché Blackstock, M.D.
Founder & CEO, Advancing Health Equity

Dr. Uché Blackstock is the founder and CEO of Advancing Health Equity (AHE), appears regularly on MSNBC and NBC News, and is a former associate professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine and the former faculty director for recruitment, retention, and inclusion in the Office of Diversity Affairs at NYU School of Medicine.

In 2019, Dr. Blackstock founded AHE with the mission of partnering with healthcare organizations to dismantle racism in healthcare and to close the gap in racial health inequities. In its five years of existence, AHE has helped major companies, hospitals, and health systems create strategic plans for promoting equitable health care moving forward.

Dr. Blackstock has received numerous awards, including the American Medical Women’s Association’s 2021 Presidential Award, the 2021 Harvard Humanist of the Year, and the NAACP Brooklyn Chapter’s 2022 Valiant Service Award. Her writing, including numerous OpEds, has been featured in the Chicago Tribune, Scientific American, the Washington Post and New York Magazine.

She was recognized by Forbes magazine, in 2019, as one of “10 Diversity and Inclusion Trailblazers You Need to Get Familiar With”, in 2023 by Fortune Magazine as one of “13 Innovators Shaping the Future of Health”, and in 2024, as one of TIME’s “100 Most Influential People in Health”. Dr. Blackstock received both her undergraduate and medical degrees from Harvard University, making her and her twin sister, Oni, the first Black mother-daughter legacy graduates from Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Blackstock’s generational memoir, “LEGACY: A Black Physician Reckons with Racism in Medicine,” was published by Viking Books on January 23, 2024 and became an instant New York Times best-seller.

Dr. Blackstock currently lives in her hometown of Brooklyn, New York, with her two school-age children.

Betty Chiang, M.D.
Vice President, US Medical Affairs, Virology, Gilead Sciences

Corporate Impact Award

Betty Chiang, M.D.
Vice President, US Medical Affairs, Virology, Gilead Sciences

Dr. Betty Chiang is the Vice President and Head of US Medical Affairs, Virology at Gilead Sciences. She joined Gilead in 2006 and held various leadership roles within the Medical Affairs organization, including Vice President of International Medical Affairs and Global Medical Affairs Oncology. She acquired her expertise in global health from her hands-on involvement with implementing catalytic public health initiatives and fostering research programs in collaboration with healthcare providers, community-based organizations, governments and global health entities.

She has been actively involved in the Employee Relations Group, serving as the Co-Chair of GAIN, the Gilead Asian Interest Network. Prior to joining Gilead, Betty was a practicing physician in New York City and a teaching attending physician at New York Downtown hospital. She received her medical degree from SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University and underwent her Internal Medicine residency at NYU School of Medicine and Bellevue Hospital.

Michelle Visage
Television & Radio Personality, Actress, Singer, Activist & Author

Community Advocate Award

Michelle Visage
Television & Radio Personality, Actress, Singer, Activist & Author

Multiple Emmy and Producer’s Guild Award winning, internationally renowned television personality, radio show host, podcast host, platinum-selling recording artist and author, Michelle Visage has made a name for herself in the entertainment industry, across multiple mediums for the past three decades.

Visage initially rose to fame as a member of the girl group (A&M) Seduction in the early 1990s, with their platinum-selling album “Nothing Matters Without Love,” that spawned multiple hits that climbed the billboard charts. Visage was also featured on the best selling soundtrack of all time [35 million copies sold], THE BODYGUARD [Warner Brothers Pictures], with her remake of Bill Withers’ “It’s Gonna Be A Lovely Day,” that she wrote and sang. Visage was immediately signed to Arista Records by Clive Davis himself.

Today, Visage can be seen as head judge on the multiple Emmy Award winning show, “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” alongside iconic host, RuPaul. The reality competition show leaves fans wanting more each week with Michelle’s rapid-fire quick wit, impeccable sense of style and signature sass, as the judges decide who will stay or “Sashay Away.” Her work extends across some of the international spinoffs including “RuPaul’s Drag Race UK” (BBC3, BBC1, and WOW Presents Plus) where she can be seen next to RuPaul, Graham Norton and Alan Carr.

Visage’s judging expertise can also be seen on the Paramount+ hit series, “Queen of the Universe” – the world’s first all drag queen singing competition – in addition to her time on both seasons of the IFTA-nominated Ireland’s Got Talent.

Michelle was recently announced as the new host of “Drag Race Down Under” (Stan TV, TVNZ, and WOW Presents Plus).

In addition to her iconic work as a judge, Visage serves as the host of companion series “RuPaul‘s Drag Race: Whatcha Packin’? with Michelle Visage” – the weekly series where she sits down with the eliminated queens to discuss life and fashion, earning herself another Emmy nomination this time for Whatcha Packin’. Fans have also seen Visage on her reality show “How’s Your Head, Hun?” where she and her family kept everyone’s spirits high during lockdown. In 2019, Visage competed and dominated in UK’s biggest show, “Strictly Come Dancing,” leaving after a controversial dance off. She was the fan favorite and fell in love with the world of dancing!

Visage has also been a staple on morning radio for 17 years, hosting and co-hosting programs on various stations such as WKTU 103.5 [New York], HOT 92.3 [Los Angeles], SUNNY 104.3 [West Palm Beach, FL], WMIA [Miami] and Sirius XM, to name a few. In this time, Michelle has recorded thousands of commercials and delivered even more live reads. She was the co-host of the hugely successful RuPaul’s What’s the Tee? With Michelle Visage podcast, which won a 2018 Webby Award as well as the show having been downloaded over 50 million times and is now the host of her own podcast on the BBC entitled “Rule Breakers with Michelle Visage” and has a weekly Fabulous Friday night show on BBC radio 2 in the UK.

She is also the author of bestseller “The Diva Rules” [Chronicle Books], offering advice for living life to the fullest, and finding success no matter what hand you’re dealt.

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