Dr. Yolandra Hancock is a native of New Orleans, Louisiana, Dr. Hancock’s background includes degrees from the David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California – Los Angeles (UCLA) and John Hopkins, Bloomberg School of Public Health. She completed her medical residency at the acclaimed Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California, where she gained considerable knowledge and experience while working with some of the nation’s leading physicians and clinicians.
Her journey to providing quality health care to youth would bring her back east to the Nation’s Capital at Children’s National Medical Center, where she served as one of 108 doctors specializing in Pediatrics. As Associate Director of the Center’s Obesity Institute, she deepened her engagement with family health and wellness issues on a national scope while serving communities across the Washington, DC Metropolitan Region. She would later go onto become an Associate Assistant Professor of Public Health at George Washington University School of Public Health where you can still find her today as one of the school’s leading lecturers.
With over 14 years of medical clinical experience, Dr. Hancock would eventually discover her calling to provide care and guidance to those who needed her help most: youth and families residing in often under-served urban communities. That pivotal moment came from the loss of a patient who at age 14 stood at 4’ 11” and weighed nearly 300 pounds. Despite her efforts as an early medical care provider, Dr. Hancock learned by reading a local newspaper article 4 years later, that her patient would succumb to the disease obesity at the early age of 18. This regrettable incident cemented in Dr. Hancock’s mind the conviction to do all that she can to reduce childhood obesity for youth living in primarily urban and under-served communities.
Today, as the Medical Director of CRC Health & Wellness Group and the Founder of Delta Health & Wellness Consulting, Dr. Yolandra Hancock continues to be a tireless advocate for public health reform, education and fighting childhood obesity. She is a sought-after health & wellness expert appearing on national talk shows hosted by the likes of CNN news anchor, Anderson Cooper, serving on the scientific medical advisory board of IDLife Corporate Life and leading community health initiatives with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Washington, among many other activities in the health & wellness arena.
Whether as a diehard New Orleans Saints fan who still frequents the storm ravished region providing pro-bono medical services, a Zumba instructor, mother of a young daughter, or highly regarded pediatrician, her personal life reflects her desire to give back to others. Through her work, she bridges the generational health gap often found in families of color, providing personalized medical care with measured understanding and goal-oriented treatment that empower her young patients’ battle with obesity, track their progress and achieve a healthy and productive lifestyle.
Most recently, Dr. Hancock, in her first attempt, applied and was awarded a multi-year grant from the National Institute of Health (NIH) to further her work in Childhood Obesity Prevention and Care. The grant will underwrite the development and deployment of a breakthrough Digital Obesity Management Tool (OBT) that will allow adolescent patients to track their treatment plan progress and results in real time while providing virtual alerts to authorized medical care providers. Integration of the OBT in the day-to-day activities of patients can result in a seamless behavioral shift over a defined period, leading to better dietary, fitness and mental health habits.
