Ruth M. Parker, MD, MACP

Atlanta, GA

Professor of Medicine, Pediatrics and Public Health, Emory University

Represented: Patients, Caregivers, and Patient Advocates

Ruth M. Parker, MD, MACP, is a Professor of Medicine, Pediatrics, and Public Health at Emory University. For over two decades she has partnered with patients to help figure out how we better align health and health care demands, complexities, and information with the skills and abilities of everyone needing to know and understand how to get and use what they need for their health. An Associate of the National Research Council, she is recognized for research, educational, and advocacy efforts to advance health literacy, and views the lens of health literacy as foundational to understanding and promoting patient-centered research and care. She co-authored the Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults (TOFHLA) and the definition of health literacy used by Healthy People 2010, IOM, and NIH.

Parker served in leadership roles with professional societies including the AMA and ACP Foundation, consults with federal and state agencies regarding health literacy, and served on the IOM’s Health Literacy Committee and Roundtable. She received national awards including AAMC’s Silver Achievement Award, ACP’s Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Award, the American Medical Writers Association’s Walter C. Alvarez Award, FDA’s Advisory Committee Service Award, and the Doak National Health Literacy Champion Award.

Parker previously served as a member of the Advisory Panel on Communication and Dissemination Research.

Parker served as a member of the Advisory Panel on Clinical Effectiveness Decision Science from August 2017 to August 2020.