Denise Adams-Simms, MPH

Council Member

Mrs. Denise Adams-Simms has worked in a variety of managerial and leadership settings during her extensive career in health. Ms Adams-Simms is the former Executive Director for the San Diego Black Health Associates, Inc., a non-profit community based organization that promoted health and wellness to the African American community. She has served as a consultant for several community based organizations, specializing in program development, strategic planning, meeting facilitation and grant writing. From 1999 to 2008, Ms. Adams-Simms was the Executive Director of the California Black Health Network, Inc. (CBHN), a non-profit public health advocacy organization whose mission is to improve the health status of African Americans in California.

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During her tenure at CBHN, she administered several community based projects including the African American Tobacco Education Partnership (AATEP) and the Community Tobacco Education Project (CTEP). Mrs. Adams Simms was Co-Principal Investigator of a published multi-site community based research effort to document tobacco prevalence among African Americans. She also lead the Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH 2010) Sweet Heart Project initiative through a grant from the Centers for Disease Control Foundation and The California Endowment. The CBHN grant entitled “The Sweet Heart Project” was a 4-year initiative that focused on diabetes and cardiovascular disease prevention among African Americans in San Diego county.

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Mrs. Adams-Simms is a member of the African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council (AATCLC) and the American Public Health Association. She currently serves on The University of California Tobacco Related Disease Research Program (TRDRP) Scientific Advisory Committee and from 2014-2016 was a member of the State of California The Tobacco Education and Research Oversight Committee (TEROC) legislatively mandated advisory committee charged with overseeing the use of Proposition 99 tobacco tax revenues for tobacco control and prevention education.

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Ms. Adams-Simms has served on The California Medical Association Foundation Board of Directors; the California Pan Ethnic Health Network Board of Directors; and the Board of Directors for the California Center for Public Health Advocacy.

She holds a master’s Degree in Public Health from San Diego State University in Health Administration and Maternal and Child Health.