Dr. Banks is the inaugural Public Policy Research Institute (PPRI) fellow at NBCSL. Desmond has worked as an epidemiologist within CDC’s Office of Minority Health and Health Equity. Desmond Banks served on CDC’s Chief Health Equity Officer (CHEO) COVID-19 response team, where he informed practices designed to promote equitable access to COVID-19 vaccinations and therapeutics for racial and ethnic minorities. Desmond also informed evaluation efforts to assess the impact that CDC funding had on promoting equitable access nationwide, particularly among lower-income persons, Medicaid participants and rural residents.

Desmond holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia University in psychology, a Master of Public Health from the City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in public health policy from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.