Deciding she wanted to pursue a career in health care while still in high school, Natalie A. Solomon-Brimage joined the University of Pittsburgh, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Africana studies and a Bachelor of Science in psychology in 1999. She then completed graduate coursework at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health before returning to the University of Pittsburgh and achieving Master of Public Health in behavioral and community health sciences in 2006. Beginning her career as a research analyst with Health Systems Research in 2000, she worked her way through her graduate studies as a graduate student researcher before becoming a public health fellow at the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health in 2006 and a manager and analyst with ValueOptions, Inc. in 2007. In 2008, Ms. Solomon-Brimage became a public health analyst and contract officer representative for the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration’s Department of Health and Human Services in Rockville, Maryland. She additionally served as a program coordinator from 2008 to 2012 and as a project officer since 2012.
Her primary work is currently in the field of HIV/AIDS and helping people affected by and living with HIV/AIDS to get the care that they need. She has been published on the topic, with her most recent article, “Promising Practices and Factors Association with Enhancing Engagement and Retention in Quality HIV Care for Transgender Women of Color: Preliminary Findings from the HAB SPNS Initiative,” being published in the American Journal of Public Health in 2017. The author of a number of other works as well, including two articles on diabetes for the Minority International Research Training Program and the National Institutes of Health, she was asked to present “Securing Your Oxygen Mask First! Unspoken Cultural Norms Influencing Quality HIV Care for Women of Color” at two separate conferences in 2016. For her excellence, Ms. Solomon-Brimage was inducted into the VIP Women of the Year Circle by the National Association of Professional Women for 2015-16.
All throughout her career in health care, Ms. Solomon-Brimage has been managing her own chronic illness, endometriosis, a disease which is underdiagnosed and poorly researched. She is incredibly proud to have accomplished all she has while navigating the difficulties brought on by this chronic condition that has resulted in four surgeries and once forced her out of work for nearly half a year. Since 2020, she has served as the donor relations coordinator for Endo Black, Incorporated, an organization that advocates for women of color with endometriosis. She also runs a podcast with a sorority sister called, “Sippin’ T with Nat & Z,” and they are hoping to partner with American University to highlight health care challenges faced by Black women. Seeking to further her skills and knowledge, she obtained certification in diversity, equity and workplace inclusion in 2021 and is applying for the executive doctoral program in health leadership at the University of Carolina at Chapel Hill.