Derien A. Braxton, MD, MPH

Derien Braxton, MD, MPH, joined the Health Foundation’s Board of Trustees in 2026. He is a physician, public health scholar, and academic with over three decades of experience spanning emergency medicine, health education, and community health practice. He brings to his work a deep commitment to evidence-based practice, health equity, and the preparation of skilled, compassionate healthcare professionals.

He currently serves as Assistant Professor of Physician Assistant Studies at St. Bonaventure University, where he was a founding faculty member of the Physician Assistant Studies program within the School of Health Professions. In this role, he serves as Pharmacology Course Director, teaches Clinical Medicine, and provides academic advising and institutional committee service, including contributions to accreditation, curriculum development, and student progression. In addition, he has held faculty appointments in the university’s Master of Public Health and undergraduate Health Sciences programs.

Dr. Braxton earned his medical degree from Windsor University School of Medicine and his master’s degree in public health from Liberty University School of Public Health, building on a clinical foundation that began in prehospital emergency medicine in the early 1990s. His training and practice have encompassed advanced cardiac life support, infectious disease prevention, epidemiology, biostatistics, and health policy — reflecting a consistently broad and integrative approach to medicine and public health.

Dr. Braxton has held faculty appointments at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine and multiple colleges across Alabama and New York, directed continuing medical education programming, provided expert medical consultation to legal professionals, and contributed to public health initiatives at both the community and county levels. His scholarship includes peer-reviewed publication, public health presentations, and invited lectures at academic and professional conferences.

He is an active member of the American Public Health Association, the Infectious Diseases Society of America, and the National Environmental Health Association, and has served in leadership roles with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and on the Alabama Board of Health’s EMS and Trauma Protocol Subcommittee.