UCLA Center for Health Policy Research Director Ninez A. Ponce, PhD, MPP, has been elected to the National Academy of Medicine, one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine.

The National Academy of Medicine (NAM) today announced the election of 90 regular members and 10 international members during its annual meeting. Ponce, a professor and Fred W. & Pamela K. Wasserman Endowed Chair in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, is one of three UCLA faculty elected this year.

Throughout her career as a researcher and advocate, Ponce has tirelessly worked to promote data equity in public health and advance inclusion and representation in data to better address health disparities among underserved communities.

In announcing Ponce’s election, NAM noted her work “building the California Health Interview Survey as the model for state efforts to understand access to care and racial and ethnic inequities in health and health care.”

As principal investigator of the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS), Ponce has helped pioneer ways to democratize data and put it into the hands of the public in ways that inform, educate, and result in grassroots-driven policy change.

NAM added that Ponce’s research has “generated critical understanding of data equity to inform program and policy action addressing racial/ethnic health disparities, particularly for immigrant populations and Asian and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander populations.”

One of the founders of CHIS nearly 25 years ago, Ponce led the rationale and implementation of Asian ethnic oversamples and the cultural and linguistic adaptation of the CHIS in Chinese (Cantonese and Mandarin), Korean, Vietnamese, and Tagalog to capture participation from linguistically isolated communities that has served as a model for data collection among state and national agencies. CHIS is the largest population-based state health survey in the nation.

“It is a tremendous honor to be elected to the National Academy of Medicine and join an esteemed group that has shaped the field of health and health care,” says Ponce. “To me, this is a leadership call to action. We need data that is representative of every population and evidence-based analysis to inform effective policymaking, and I am committed to advancing the Academy’s vision of health for everyone, everywhere.”

Founded in 1970 as the Institute of Medicine, the National Academy of Medicine is one of three academies that make up the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in the United States. The National Academies are private, nonprofit institutions that work outside government to provide objective advice on matters of science, technology, and health. New NAM members are elected by current members through a process that recognizes individuals who have made major contributions to the advancement of the medical sciences, health care, and public health.

“I am deeply honored to welcome these extraordinary health and medicine leaders and researchers into the National Academy of Medicine,” said NAM President Dr. Victor J. Dzau. “Their demonstrated excellence in tackling public health challenges, leading major discoveries, improving health care, advancing health policy, and addressing health equity will critically strengthen our collective ability to tackle the most pressing health challenges of our time.”

Throughout her career, Ponce has received numerous awards recognizing her teaching, leadership in advancing data equity, and her commitment to community-engaged research, including the Elizabeth Fries Health Education Award from the CDC Foundation and the James F. and Sarah T. Fries Foundation; the Inclusive Voices Award from the American Association of Public Opinion Research (AAPOR); the AcademyHealth Impact Award; and the “People’s Researcher” award from Asian Health Services.

Ponce is an elected member of the National Academy of Social Insurance and has served on the Board of Scientific Counselors for the National Center for Health Statistics. She has contributed to committees for the National Academy of Medicine and the National Quality Forum, served as commissioner for the RWJF National Commission to Transform Public Health Data, and was a member of the data disaggregation committee for the White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders.

Ponce is on the board of directors for AcademyHealth; an associate editor for diversity, equity, and inclusion at JAMA Health Forum; and on the editorial boards of Milbank Quarterly, Health Services Research, and Health Affairs Scholar. Her portfolio includes more than 200 scientific publications and reports.

Ponce received her PhD in Health Services from UCLA, a Master of Public Policy from Harvard University, and a bachelor’s degree from UC Berkeley.