# Sherita Hill Golden

Sherita Hill Golden is an American physician who is the Hugh P. McCormick Family Professor of Endocrinology and Metabolism at Johns Hopkins University. Her research considers biological and systems influences on diabetes and its outcomes. From 2019-2024, she served as the vice president and chief diversity officer. She was elected Fellow of National Academy of Medicine in 2021.

## Early life and education

Golden is from Maryland. She was an undergraduate at the University of Maryland, College Park, which she graduated summa cum laude. She moved to the University of Virginia School of Medicine for her medical degree, and graduated a member Alpha Omega Alpha. She was the first African-American to be awarded the C. Richard Bowman Scholarship for clinical excellence. Whilst she had originally intended to become a paediatrician, she was inspired by a diabetes expert at Virginia to change her speciality. At the time, diabetes was a growing public health epidemic, and Golden became concerned by the physical and mental impacts. She trained in internal medicine at the Johns Hopkins University, where she simultaneously completed a Master of Health Science. She was elected to the Delta Omega society at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

## Research and career

Golden's research considers glucose management in diabetes patients. She was appointed Director of the Johns Hopkins Hospital Inpatient Glucose Management Program in 2003. In particular, Golden investigates the structural inequalities that impact the treatment of minority ethnic populations. In the United States, minority ethnic populations often live in less well-resourced communities than their white counterparts. She has called for more farmers markets, opportunities to order healthy foods at libraries and more traditional grocery stores in deprived communities. Golden has also called for healthcare providers to mandate anti-racism and unconscious bias training. These courses can help to avoid misdiagnosis and treatment of conditions in Black patients, and has been successfully delivered at Johns Hopkins. She was the first to demonstrate the connection between depression and diabetes, i.e. suffering from depression made a person more likely to suffer from diabetes, and having diabetes predicted risk of developing depression.
As vice chair for the Department of Medicine at Johns Hopkins, Golden established evidence-based practises for diabetes care and the Journeys in Medicine speaker series, which became a major civic engagement initiative. She worked with her local community to handle the unrest that followed the 2015 death of Freddie Gray. She was elected to the board of the American Diabetes Association in 2018. She was the inaugural Executive Vice-Chair of the Department of Medicine at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine from 2015 to 2019. Golden co-authored a study titled Emotional Distress Predicts Reduced Type 2 Diabetes Treatment Adherence in the Glycemia Reduction Approaches in Diabetes: A Comparative Effectiveness Study (GRADE). This study highlighted a new view on diabetes showing how emotional distress negatively impacts treatment adherence in patients with type 2 diabetes which emphasized the importance of addressing psychological factors to improve diabetes care outcomes.
Johns Hopkins Medicine asked Golden to serve as the vice president and chief diversity officer, followed by an official appointment in 2019. She had many celebrated achievements in this role, including leadership around health equity and access during the COVID-19 pandemic. On January 11, 2024, Golden released a 'Diversity Digest' newsletter, which included a statement that "White people, able bodied people, heterosexuals, cisgendered people, males, Christians, middle or owning class people, middle aged people, and English-speakers" in the United States are “privileged”. Following widespread backlash precipitated by an employee sharing the message publicly, Golden apologized the next morning for sending an overly simplistic message, and she publicly retracted and disavowed her summary of social privilege. A Johns Hopkins Medicine spokesperson stated: "The January edition of the monthly newsletter from the Johns Hopkins Medicine Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Health Equity used language that contradicts the values of Johns Hopkins as an institution." Johns Hopkins Medicine employees and students supported Golden and expressed disappointment with her co-leadership’s response. Golden resigned her position as vice president and chief diversity officer on March 5, 2024.

## Awards and honors

* 2015 Innovations in Clinical Care Award
* 2015 American Diabetes Association Diabetes Hero Award
* 2017 University of Virginia Walter Reed Distinguished Achievement Award
* 2018 Annual Women Worth Watching Award
* 2019 University of Virginia Distinguished Alumna Award
* 2021 Baltimore Sun 25 Woman to Watch
* 2021 Elected member of the National Academy of Medicine
* 2022 President’s Award from the University of Maryland Alumni Association
* 2023 Trailblazer in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility

## Selected publications

* Elizabeth Selvin; Spyridon Marinopoulos; Gail Berkenblit; Tejal Rami; Frederick L Brancati; Neil R Powe; Sherita Hill Golden (September 1, 2004). "Meta-analysis: glycosylated hemoglobin and cardiovascular disease in diabetes mellitus". Annals of Internal Medicine. 141 (6): 421–431. doi:10.7326/0003-4819-141-6-200409210-00007. ISSN 0003-4819. PMID 15381515. Wikidata Q35894298.
* Ann Marie McNeill; Wayne D Rosamond; Cynthia J Girman; Sherita Hill Golden; Maria I Schmidt; Honey E East; Christie M Ballantyne; Gerardo Heiss (February 1, 2005). "The metabolic syndrome and 11-year risk of incident cardiovascular disease in the atherosclerosis risk in communities study". Diabetes Care. 28 (2): 385–390. doi:10.2337/DIACARE.28.2.385. ISSN 0149-5992. PMID 15677797. Wikidata Q42646355.
* Sherita Hill Golden; Mariana Lazo; Mercedes Carnethon; Alain G Bertoni; Pamela J Schreiner; Ana V Diez Roux; Hochang Benjamin Lee; Constantine Lyketsos (June 1, 2008). "Examining a bidirectional association between depressive symptoms and diabetes". JAMA. 299 (23): 2751–2759. doi:10.1001/JAMA.299.23.2751. ISSN 0098-7484. PMC 2648841. PMID 18560002. Wikidata Q37111643.

## Personal life

Golden is married to Christopher Golden, Director of the Newborn Nursery and Professor of Paediatrics at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Together they have one son.