She is also a former New Century Scholar (2005-2007). Dr. Thornton is committed to addressing disparities in health and healthcare and to advocating on behalf of underrepresented minority trainees at all levels of medical education. As a researcher, Dr. Thornton has NIH funding to conduct research focused on addressing racial/ethnic disparities in obesity and cardiovascular disease risk among children and adolescents. She has numerous publications. Moreover, she is a former White House Fellow. She obtained her M.D. from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and her PhD in Health Policy and Management from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.