Ranna Parekh, MD, joined MD Anderson as the chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer in May 2022. Previously, she served in a variety of DEI roles including inaugural chief diversity and inclusion officer of the American College of Cardiology and, and deputy medical director and director of the minority fellowship program at the American Psychiatric Association. Dr. Parekh is a child, adolescent and adult psychiatrist. She has also practiced at the Massachusetts General Hospital and McLean Hospital/Harvard Medical School and was the inaugural director/co-founder of the MGH Department of Psychiatry’s Center for Diversity.

Dr. Parekh is co-author of the e-book, Overcoming Prejudice in the Workplace (Harvard Health Publishers, 2012). She is also editor of the Massachusetts General Hospital Textbook on Diversity and Cultural Sensitivity (Springer Publishers, 2013), and co-editor of Cultural Sensitivity in Child and Adolescent Mental Health (MGH Academy Press, 2016); Stigma and Prejudice: Touchstones in Understanding Diversity (Springer Publishers, 2016); and Cultural Psychiatry with Children, Adolescents and Families (American Psychiatric Press, 2021).

Dr. Parekh has led training sessions and lectured locally, nationally and internationally on topics including diversity, healthcare disparities, microaggressions, cultural psychiatry, facilitative mediation, collaborative negotiations, child and adolescent psychiatry, addictions and psychopharmacology. She has lived, studied and worked around the world including Japan, France, Poland, New Zealand and Australia. Dr. Parekh earned a Master of Public Health degree from Harvard University, and she is a graduate of the adult psychiatry and child fellowship residency training programs at Massachusetts General Hospital and McLean Hospital/Harvard Medical School. She also holds degrees from Wayne State University (Doctor of Medicine, Bachelor of Science in biology, Bachelor of Arts in chemistry and a Bachelor of Arts in black studies). Dr. Parekh holds or has held academic appointments at Massachusetts General Hospital, George Washington University Medical School and Morehouse School of Medicine.