E152 What Happens When Data Collides with Lived Experience? with Dr. April Joy Damian, PhD

In this powerful episode of the Advancing Healthcare Innovation Show, host Michael Stamatinos welcomes Dr. April Joy Damian, a national voice in health equity, systems transformation, and trauma-informed care.

Dr. Damian currently serves as Vice President and Director of the Weitzman Institute, a national research, education, and policy center focused on advancing primary care innovation for underserved communities. She is also a Senior Scholar for Health Equity at AcademyHealth and holds a faculty position at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

The conversation weaves together Dr. Damian’s personal story and professional expertise—tracing a path from her upbringing as the daughter of immigrants in San Francisco to her national policy leadership today. With clarity and compassion, she explores the human cost of system failures, the power of community-rooted research, and the tension between statistical significance and lived experience.

Viewers will hear Dr. Damian share:

*A personal account of how her father’s struggles with mental health and isolation first sparked her interest in public health and systemic inequity

*A transformative moment during the Freddie Gray uprising in Baltimore that reframed her view on the urgency of research-to-policy translation

*How she led trauma-informed training across Baltimore's city workforce, culminating in a citywide policy mandate inspired by her doctoral work

*A powerful story about a 10-week youth resilience program, where restorative justice and mindfulness helped create unexpected community among students from very different backgrounds

*How the Weitzman Institute currently supports over 40,000 healthcare professionals at 1,200 health centers, reaching more than 2 million patients across the U.S., Puerto Rico, and Guam

*Her experience in national policy-making rooms and why creating space for community voices is essential—not just symbolic

*The most misunderstood aspects of health equity and why systems, not just individuals, must be held accountable

Chapters

00:00 – Introduction

02:00 – Growing up in San Francisco and early influences

06:00 – From Berkeley to Hopkins: academic formation and turning points

10:00 – Trauma-informed systems and the Baltimore uprising

15:00 – Youth healing, restorative justice, and unexpected belonging

21:00 – The national footprint and philosophy of the Weitzman Institute

26:00 – Bridging silos: research, education, policy, and clinical practice

32:00 – What really happens in policy-shaping rooms

36:00 – Leading with values: faith, community, and resilience

41:00 – A closing reflection on grief, therapy, and legacy

About Dr. April Joy Damian

Dr. Damian is a psychiatric epidemiologist and nationally recognized expert in health equity, social determinants of health, and mixed-methods research. She previously held leadership roles at the National Quality Forum, co-led the NIH RECOVER Initiative’s Health Equity Workgroup, and has been appointed to the National Academies’ Board on Children, Youth, and Families. She is a Truman Scholar, a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation award recipient, and an unwavering advocate for system-level change grounded in community voice.

🔗 Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/apriljoydamian/

🌐 Learn more: https://www.weitzmaninstitute.org/

About the Show

The Advancing Healthcare Innovation Show is hosted by Michael Stamatinos, a nationally recognized connector, strategist, and advocate for innovation with purpose. Each week, Michael interviews healthcare leaders who are driving meaningful change—highlighting stories of access, resilience, equity, and transformation.

The AHI Show started with the idea of wanting to highlight stories of what healthcare innovation truly looks like in action. Our mission, highlight real people who are really innovating within healthcare. Guests include healthcare entrepreneurs, providers, payers, and professionals from the investment community. We showcase little wins as well as valuable lessons learned from setbacks through these interviews. The real innovators in healthcare are often the ones in the trenches doing the work with razor-sharp focus. We find these innovators and bring their stories to light.

🔗 Michael’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelstamo

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