Warren J. Ferguson, MD

Director
About Me:
I have dedicated my career as a clinician, educator, researcher, and leader to improving health equity in the United States. Nearly 20 years ago, I first became aware of the scope of incarceration in the U.S. and the disproportionate imprisonment of persons of color and concluded that mass incarceration is a root cause of health disparities and committed myself to improving health outcomes for criminal justice-involved populations.
Biography:

Dr. Warren J. Ferguson is Professor and Senior Vice Chair of the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health and Director of Academic Programs, Health, and Criminal Justice Program at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. A family physician by training, Dr. Ferguson has maintained an active practice in 2 Massachusetts Community Health Centers as a dimension of his academic career. Dr. Ferguson has developed expertise and has written on practice issues with culturally diverse populations and on teaching methods aimed at improving cultural competency. He has helped to lead quality improvement collaboratives and implementation research focused on achieving health equity, particularly for patients with diabetes and opioid use disorder. In addition, his work has focused on improving the care of incarcerated persons, having implemented and studied community reentry strategies for individuals released from jails and prisons. He is the founder of the Academic Consortium on Criminal Justice Health and the Academic and Health Policy Conference on Correctional Health. Dr. Ferguson has received recognition and awards for his work in these capacities. Most recently, he received the Andy Nichols Award for Social Justice from the National AHEC Organization in 2014 and the inaugural Chancellor’s Award for Advancing Institutional Excellence in Diversity from the University of Massachusetts Medical School in 2010. He was named Massachusetts Family Physician of the Year in 1998 and in 1990 received the Director’s Award from the U.S. Public Health Service.

Education:

University of Massachusetts, AmherstB.S., Summa cum laude1977
Boston University School of MedicineM.D.1981
Maine-Dartmouth Family Medicine ResidencyResidency in Family Medicine1984
Email: warren.ferguson@umassmemorial.org