VP & Chief Health Equity Officer, Nemours Children’s Health

Rachel J. Thornton, MD, PhD is Vice President and Chief Health Equity Officer at Nemours Children’s Health where she leads work on health equity strategy to support the organization’s vision to create the healthiest generations of children. With hospitals in the Delaware Valley and Central Florida, Nemours Children’s Health is one of the largest integrated pediatric health systems in the United States. Dr. Thornton has committed her career to health equity research and practice, including organizational transformation.

Prior to joining Nemours Children’s, Dr. Thornton was Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and the Inaugural Executive Director for Clinical Services in the Johns Hopkins Medicine Office of Population Health where she led population health management services and community health. A practicing primary care pediatrician, Dr. Thornton served as a Health Policy advisor at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development from 2011-2013. As a nationally recognized innovator in health equity research and practice, she served as a member of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine study committee on Shaping Summertime Experiences, Opportunities to Promote Healthy Development and Well-Being for Children and Youth and as a member of the Strategy Group on COVID and Rental Evictions.

Dr. Thornton received a B.A. from New York University, an M.D. from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and a PhD in Health Policy and Management from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. After residency, she completed fellowship training in general academic pediatrics.