American Institute on Disparties in Public Health (AIDPH)

AIDPH believes it is our responsibility to address individual, institutional, and systemic barriers that keep communities from achieving optimal health across the lifespan. When marginalized communities can access dental care from providers who look like them, understand their needs, and support their culture, their health significantly improves. We advocate for healthcare workforce diversity using the lens of our core values to galvanize students, public health professionals, policymakers, and thought leaders to invest in health equity.

AIDPH operates at the intersection of health issues, communities, and systems change. Our framework reflects the belief that health disparities emerge where health systems, social drivers, and community experiences intersect. We recognize that issues like oral health, mental health, chronic disease, and women’s health are shaped by policy environments, care delivery structures, workforce capacity, and the lived experiences of the communities most affected.

Oral Health
Oral health is our central health issue, building on a decade of efforts to propel community-driven research, education, and advocacy that addresses access, affordability, and workforce capacity. Since our inception, AIDPH has advocated for a more holistic healthcare system that recognizes oral health is a key component of overall health. To this end, AIDPH has published research on the impact of oral health in relation to chronic disease, prevention technology, clinical practice, and cost savings. We leverage our research to equip the oral health and public health workforce to address health disparities with our advocacy and educational programming.

Women’s Health
Women’s health is a growing area of focus for AIDPH, informed by our established work related to pregnant veterans and women in oral health leadership. Building on this foundation, AIDPH is expanding our women’s health portfolio to examine the intersection of chronic disease and women’s health outcomes, empowering women within the public health workforce, and exploring underexamined connections between oral health and women’s health across the life course—including perimenopause and menopause. Through this work, AIDPH aims to contribute clinical practice, workforce education, and policy-informed strategies that advance women’s health in meaningful and sustainable ways.

Chronic Disease
Chronic disease is a longstanding focus area for AIDPH, grounded in our work examining the bidirectional relationship between oral health and conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, and stroke—particularly among veterans and other populations facing barriers to care. Through research, education, and advocacy, AIDPH has highlighted how oral health status both influences and reflects chronic disease management, prevention, and healthcare costs. Building on this foundation, AIDPH is expanding its chronic disease portfolio to strengthen public health infrastructure and support more coordinated policy strategies that address prevention, early intervention, and system-level gaps in chronic disease care.

Mental Health
Mental health is an emerging area of focus for AIDPH, informed by our work on the intersection of oral health and mental well-being. Our research with veterans has highlighted how mental health affects access to care, executive functioning, patient empowerment, and health outcomes. Building on these insights, AIDPH is expanding our mental health work to explore how public health systems can better integrate mental and oral health, while also addressing the mental health needs of the public health workforce itself. This includes examining strategies to support self-care, prevent burnout, and build resilience within a system under increasing strain.

Our Goals
1. Educate, activate, and mobilize a justice-oriented public health workforce.
2. Accelerate the application of public health scholarship through evidence-based practice and strategic partnerships.
3. Create research that propels innovative public health policy, access, and care delivery.
4. Equip the next generation of public health leaders in advancing justice, equity, and inclusion to eliminate health disparities.
5. Strategically enhance our internal resources to meet the evolving needs of the communities we serve.

About Our Work
Education and Leadership
Our educational and leadership programming, organized under the AIDPH Academy, is designed to catalyze personal and professional growth for students and professionals alike. From webinars and workshops to immersive fellowships to our annual Colloquium conference, our offerings are designed to embolden professionals throughout their careers and empower them with an intensive understanding of the social, political, and environmental determinants of oral health. Through our Empowering Transformation for Community Health (ETCH) learning framework, we transform professionals into active leaders and changemakers in dismantling health disparities.

Research and Impact
AIDPH’s mixed-methods qualitative and quantitative research is timely, action-based, and community-engaged. We grant policymakers, educators, clinicians and dental practices, and advocacy and affinity groups with practical context on some of the most pressing issues in dental health equity and impactful strategic recommendations for pushing the needle towards progress. We establish diverse stakeholder groups throughout the design, collection, and dissemination phases of our collaborative work, ensuring a comprehensive and inclusive approach.

Policy and Advocacy
AIDPH’s advocacy work amplifies the voices of underserved communities and pushes the public health community to improve access, quality, and affordability of healthcare. We engage stakeholders, tap into strategic partnerships, and draw on rigorous evidence to challenge systems that sustain disparities and confront longstanding inequities.

Forging a Better Future
The public health system is undergoing significant changes, and we have a long way to go in order to achieve true health justice. Help us chart a sustainable path forward and ring in another ten years of actionable systemic change by donating to AIDPH. Your gift will go towards supporting AIDPH operations— essential work in keeping our organization and mission afloat—and will allow us to expand our collective impact.