Edith M. Williams brings a rich combination of research expertise and demonstrated ability to bring researchers and community members together to elevate the role of science in achieving health equity. She currently serves as the Founding Director of the Office of Health Equity Research and is appointed as the Dean’s Associate Professor of Health Equity Research, with a primary academic appointment in Public Health Sciences and secondary appointment within the Division of Arthritis, Immunology, and Rheumatology at the University of Rochester Medical Center. Previously, she was appointed as an Associate Professor within the Department of Public Health Sciences and Division of Rheumatology and Immunolgy at the Medical University of South Carolina, and served as Deputy Director for Research and Sustainability for the Institute for Partnerships to Eliminate Health Disparities at the University of South Carolina. She received her B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and her M.S. and Ph.D. from the State University of New York at Buffalo. She has a robust research portfolio that includes a Pfizer fellowship in Health Disparities, National Institute for Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Disorders (NIAMS)/NIH Mentored Research Scientist Career Development Award (K01), and National Institute for Nursing Research (NINR)/NIH R01 to examine whether a new, culturally tailored peer mentoring intervention improves disease self-management, indicators of disease activity, and quality of life in African American women with SLE. Edith Williams has received numerous recognitions including recognition as a Research Innovator and Eminent Scholar by the Medical University of South Carolina College of Medicine. Dr. Williams serves as a consultant in the areas of research to address lupus healthcare disparities, mentoring, diversity and inclusion. She is the current diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) Associate Editor of Arthritis & Rheumatology and standing member of the NIH Community Influences on Health Behavior (CIHB) study section. Edith’s community service activities include having served on a number of non-profit and community boards, and she was invited to serve as Steering Committee Co-Chair for the Lupus Research Alliance (LRA) and Lupus Therapeutics (LT) sponsored Project CHANGE.