Two faculty members from the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior – Clinical Assistant Professor Alaa Elnajjar, M.D., and Clinical Assistant Professor Thamara Davis, M.D. – have been selected for DEI Champion Awards from Lifespan Physician Group for their contributions to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

An attending psychiatrist at Bradley Hospital, Alaa Elnajjar teaches cultural humility, culturally competent interview methods, and therapy techniques for youth from diverse backgrounds to trainees in Brown's Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship and Triple Board Residency. She also leads an annual workshop on culturally responsive clinical practice at the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.  

"As an immigrant physician, it is such an honor to receive the DEI Champion LPG Academic Award and to work in a health care system that fosters and celebrates diversity and inclusion," Elnajjar said. "That environment maintains a culture of well-being and confidence among the different communities we serve at Lifespan and all the medical trainees we teach at Brown."

Thamara Davis is lead psychiatrist at the Children’s Partial Hospital Program at Bradley Hospital. Within the program, she has led several initiatives that address cultural dimensions of treatment. She has also worked to incorporate culturally responsive therapeutic and supervision skills into curricula for trainees and faculty. Davis is bilingual and bicultural.

"It is an honor to be selected for this award," she said. "I could not accept it without mentioning the many amazing people I have worked with side by side in all these initiatives. I could not have carried out any of these projects without the openness, creativity, support and often the grit from many of my colleagues from the psychiatry, psychology and social work departments. I feel very fortunate to work with such an amazing group of healthcare professionals."

Lifespan Physician Group consists of more than 870 healthcare providers across such areas as psychiatry and behavioral health, women’s medicine, urgent care, and specialty services.