Dr. ClarLynda Williams-DeVane
Dr. Williams-DeVane serves as the Chief Deputy Secretary for Operational Excellence for NCDHHS and is a health disparity informaticist. Dr. Williams-DeVane previously served various other roles in the department including Senior Deputy Director for the Division of Public Health, the Deputy State Health Official for North Carolina, the North Carolina State Registrar, and the Director of the State Center for Health Statistics.
Dr. Williams-DeVane is a fierce believer in health equity and the elimination of health disparities. Dr. Williams-DeVane’s research focused on the development of inclusive data infrastructure that anyone can access and understand towards the elimination of health disparities. She believes that it requires diverse voices from various backgrounds to solve complex problems like health disparities. She has spent a significant portion of her career thinking about reciprocal data literacy where community members, particularly those from historically marginalized populations (HMPs) , can teach data practitioners how to better visualize and communicate about data and data practitioners teach community leaders and members about data as a tool for understanding and decision making.
Dr. Williams-DeVane is now responsible for the Operational infrastructure of NCDHHS including Human Resources, the DHHS Data Office, Budget and Finance, the Office of the Controller, Property and Construction, Information Technology, the Office of Strategy and Performance, the Office of Procurements, Contracts, and Grants, and the Office of the Internal Auditor.
Before joining the department, Dr. Williams-DeVane served as the founding chair of the Data Science and Bioinformatics Department at Fisk University and as an associate professor of Bioinformatics at NC Central University. Dr. Williams-DeVane earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics from North Carolina Central University and PhD in Bioinformatics from North Carolina State University. She also completed a Postdoctoral fellowship at the US Environmental Protection Agency and a Building Interdisciplinary Careers in Women’s Health (BIRCWH) fellowship in OB Gyn at Duke University School of Medicine.
Dr. Williams-DeVane is the proud wife of a middle school administrator and mom of two amazing boys. She enjoys volunteering on several non-profit boards including Tri It for Life, an organization that supports women into healthy, empowered lifestyles through the sport of triathlon and several organizations that support her sons’ love of baseball.