Dr. Karen Aletha Maybank (Born April 24, 1974 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania) is an American physician, with family roots in Antigua. She is board certified in both pediatrics and preventive medicine/public health. Currently, Dr. Maybank is an Assistant Commissioner at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
Dr. Maybank holds a Bachelor of Arts from Johns Hopkins University, a Medical Degree from Temple University School of Medicine, and a Master of Public Health from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. She is a founding board member of the Artemis Medical Society, an international mentoring, networking, and advocacy organization of over 2,500 Black female physicians.
In 2012, she co-founded “We Are Doc McStuffins,” a movement created by African American female physicians who were inspired by the Disney Junior character Doc McStuffins. Her professional and volunteer lives reflect her passion to improve the quality of health in various communities – in New York City, nationally, and abroad. Her areas of expertise include preventive medicine, food and fitness, maternal and child health, cancer, HIV/AIDS, community health, and health inequities.
Dr. Maybank served on two medical mission trips to Haïti in 2010. She assisted with the post-earthquake relief efforts and provided direct health care to child survivors. Dr. Maybank created the blog, On Call in the City (www.oncallinthecity.com), in an effort to make health an accessible topic “wherever one lives, works, plays, and prays”.
Dr. Maybank has a bi-weekly column, Doctor’s Orders, on the website of EBONY magazine. The column was established for Dr. Maybank to share her health expertise with the African American community-at-large. Her other writings can be found on Huffington Post and On Call in the City. She has been honored by the National Coalition of 100 Black Men, The Network Journal 40 Under 40, the Hip Hop Loves Foundation, and NV Magazine’s Movers and Shakers 2010, and others.
In July 2013, she was a guest speaker at the ESSENCE Festival Empowerment Experience Panel in New Orleans, Louisiana.