Desmond Banks, Ph.D., M.P.H. is a Health Policy Fellow at the National Black Caucus of State Legislators (NBCSL). Desmond has twenty years of public health experience in addressing social determinants of health, reducing health disparities and promoting health equity.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Desmond was recruited by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to support CDC’s Chief Health Equity Officer (CHEO) COVID-19 response team, where he informed practices designed to promote equitable access to COVID-19 vaccinations for racial and ethnic minorities. Desmond also informed evaluation efforts to assess the impact that CDC funding had on promoting equitable access nationwide, particularly among lower-income persons, Medicaid participants and rural residents.

Desmond is an expert on gendered racism and its impact upon the health and wellbeing of Black men. Desmond informs audiences nationwide on how to identify and reduce gendered racism in educational settings, the workplace, the criminal justice system and within local, state, and federal policy. 

Desmond holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia University in psychology, a Master of Public Health from the City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in public health policy from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.