Vivian Asare, MD, assistant professor of medicine (pulmonary, critical care & sleep medicine), has been named vice chief for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) in the section of Pulmonary, Critical Care & Sleep Medicine (Yale-PCCSM).
Asare will work with the section’s leadership and DEI committee to continue ongoing initiatives, and to integrate, facilitate, and develop DEI efforts into all aspects of the section’s mission. She also will work with Inginia Genao, MD, associate chair for DEI at the Department of Medicine (ODEIM), and other institutional leaders, to foster a culture of safety, inclusion, and belonging in the section.
Asare has been focused on serving the underserved since college. At Howard University College of Medicine, Asare was the community service chair, and developed community service projects in which her class could participate, including helping to organize a mission trip to Haiti. She drew inspiration from a trip to Ghana, her native country.
A sleep medicine specialist who is interested in improving access to care, Asare developed the Compassionate CPAP Service, which seeks to connect patients with resources that would enable them to get the CPAP or BiPAP machines and supplies they need. CPAP, or continuous positive airway pressure, is a device to treat patients diagnosed with sleep apnea, a condition that causes people to stop breathing when they are asleep. Asare also has picked up supplies and set up CPAP for her patients who were unable to obtain them themselves.
The Section of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine is one of the eleven sections within YSM’s Department of Internal Medicine. To learn more about Yale-PCCSM, visit PCCSM’s website, or follow them on Facebook and Twitter.