Her nonprofit works hard to keep us alive
By Busta Brown
You’ve heard the saying: Do you want the good news or bad news first? I asked Dr. Melicia C. Whitt-Glover why are so many of our black men getting sick and dying so young. She looked at me with a slight smile, and an expression of confidence in her eyes, and said, “There’s a Scripture that says our people perish for lack of knowledge. So one of the things we know is that in the black community, black men have about a seven- to nine- year shorter life span than white men.
“The good news is a lot of that is preventable. If you eat the right things, if you exercise, if you get the proper screenings, and follow the proper medical advice, then you’ll live healthier.” My response to Dr. Whitt-Glover was, “It sounds simple, so why aren’t we doing it”? Her response was plain and simple: “A lot of why we don’t do the right things, is we’re not aware of our health. We don’t know we have diabetes, we don’t know we have high blood pressure, enlarged prostates and other health issues.”
In 2009, Dr. Whitt-Glover decided to provide the black community with the tools they needed to take care of their health, so they can be around to take care of their families. She’s the founder, president and CEO of Gramercy Research Group. Gramercy Research Group is based out of Winston-Salem. The group combines faith, science and research to develop evidence-based programs that help individuals adopt and sustain healthy lifestyles. Gramercy Research Group provides services in the areas of planning, implementation and evaluation, dissemination, team management and training.
The name Gramercy is a combination of grace and mercy. Gramercy Research Group also has existing relationships with community- and faith-based organizations and community members in communities in 29 states.
Dr. Melicia Whitt-Glover earned a doctorate degree in public health/epidemiology from the University of South Carolina, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania. She received a Master of Arts and Bachelor of Arts in physical education, exercise and sports science from the UNC-Chapel Hill. She is a Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine.
Before founding Gramercy Research Group, Whitt-Glover served as executive director the Wake Forest University School of Medicine Collaborative to Strengthen Families and Neighborhoods, as director of outreach for the Maya Angelou Center for Research and Minority Health at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center and as an assistant professor of epidemiology and prevention at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, all in Winston-Salem. She also worked as an instructor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.
Go to on the Winstonsalem Chronicle YouTube channel to see my interview with Dr. Whitt-Glover, and learn about the programs Gramercy has, how you can benefit from them, and how she responded to one of favorite questions to ask my guest. To contact Dr. Melicia Whitt-Glover: mwhittglover@gramercyresearch.com or 336-293-8540.
