Dr. Gary Puckrein, President and CEO of the National Minority Quality Forum, a not-for-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to ensuring that high-risk racial and ethnic populations receive optimal health care. His organization assembles and presents data essential to policy makers as they work to plan a more equitable distribution of health care and the benefits of clinical trials. Dr. Puckrein talks of health disparities, how far we have come and the challenges we face today as well as a vision for the future. Dr. Puckrein, has a PhD in American Colonial History from Brown University, and has lectured and taught at Roger Williams College, Brown University, Connecticut College, and Rutgers University where he was a tenured faculty member. He has been a visiting fellow at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, and a visiting professor at Princeton University. He was publisher of American Visions, the country’s leading African American art and culture magazine. Dr. Puckrein also created and launched Minority Health Today, which serves the needs of clinicians practicing in minority communities.