Nicole Del Castillo, MD, MPH
Nicole Del Castillo, MD, MPH
Director of the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
University of Iowa's Carver College of Medicine
Nicole Del Castillo, MD, MPH, is currently the Director of the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the University of Iowa’s Carver College of Medicine. She has been involved in various leadership positions locally in Illinois and Iowa and nationally through the American Psychiatric Association (APA) and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatrists (AACAP). Dr. Del Castillo is the secretary of the Reede Scholars, Inc; a nonprofit organization focused on Health Equity. Her research and health policy efforts have helped reduce disparities that prevent underserved populations from receiving needed health services by eliminating the barriers of stigma, enhancing education, and improving access. She mentors and advises students, especially from backgrounds underreported in medicine. As Director of the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the Carver College of Medicine at the University of Iowa, Dr. Del Castillo is involved in helping support students, faculty, staff, and trainees (residents/fellows/Post-Doctoral researchers), implementing programs that increase culturally responsive care (through DEI training, professional development programs, DEI resources), and diversity and inclusion education and enrichment program/conferences. Over the past year, Dr. Del Castillo has been involved in implementing a policy around the “Management of Discriminatory Disruptive Behavior” that occurs within our health care enterprise. In addition to the policy, Dr. Del Castillo has been involved in an educational workshop for students, faculty, and staff on “what to say” when they experience discriminatory disruptive behavior. This policy and workshop are intended to help support students, faculty, and staff and create a culture of inclusion. Due to her previous leadership in the Student National Medical Association (SNMA) and the Minority Association of Pre-Health Students (MAPS), Dr. Del Castillo has been directly involved in supporting eight student organizations at the CCOM and serves as faculty advisor for Latino Medical Student Association, MAPS, SNMA, Mixed Race in Medicine, and White Coat 4 Black Lives. She also manages the diversity data and website for the CCOM’s Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Dr. Del Castillo received her B.S. degree in Chemistry from the University of Illinois and her M.D. from Southern Illinois University School of Medicine. She completed her General Psychiatry Residency and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship at the University of Iowa (2009-2014), a M.P.H. from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (2016) and the Commonwealth Fund Fellowship in Minority Health Policy at Harvard University (2016).