Othelia W. Pryor received a Ph.D. from Michigan State University in Measurement and Quantitative Methods and a Master’s in Public Health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She was the founder of the Michigan Minority Health Coalition, a statewide advocacy consortium dedicated to improving the health of underserved communities. Dr. Pryor was a Project Senior Manager for the Office for Health Equity and Inclusion (OHEI) at the University of Michigan where she developed summer academic programs for students preparing for entry into medical school. She currently serves as a consultant for the Center for Health Disparities Innovations and Studies at Eastern Michigan University. Their work involves improving the lives of disadvantaged populations by reducing racial and ethnic health disparities.

Dr. Pryor developed the Advancing Medicine with Equity Series (AMES) curriculum which provides health equity training for physicians, residents, staff, and medical students. This course equips attendees with an equity lens towards dismantling systematic inequities that contribute, support, and maintain disparate health outcomes among vulnerable populations. 

Dr. Pryor received the first annual John B. Waller Jr. Health Equity Award from the former Michigan Department of Community Health. The Michigan Legislative Black Caucus awarded her two State of Michigan Seals for innovative approaches to investigating minority health issues. She was an inaugural member and first Co-Chair of the six State Region V National Partnership to End Health Disparities Board, sanctioned by the federal Office of Minority Health.