Rachel J. Thornton, MD, PhD is Vice President, Chief Health Equity Officer at Nemours Children’s Health where she leads diversity, equity, inclusion, and health equity strategy. She leads the organization’s first Equity Roadmap, supporting Nemours Children’s vision to create the healthiest generations of children. With hospitals in the Delaware Valley and Central Florida, Nemours Children’s 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. 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 (2019) and as a member of the Strategy Group on COVID and Rental Evictions (2022). 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.