Dr. Rodney Hood is an honor graduate from Northeastern University School of Pharmacy in Boston earning a B.S. degree in Pharmacy then enrolled at the UCSF Graduate School of Pharmacology and Toxicology Doctorate program for a year before transferring to the UCSD School of Medicine where he received his M.D. degree. He then completed his internship and residency in Internal Medicine at UCSD University Hospital becoming a Diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine and is a Fellow in the American College of Physicians (FACP).
His passion for medicine has been expressed through his decades long membership in the National Medical Association (NMA) serving as the chairman of the NMA board before being elected as the 101st President of the NMA. He has received many prestigious awards including being honored by UCSD Alumni Award for Excellence as the Outstanding Alumni for Professional Achievement in 2003, the CMA Foundation Adarsh S. Mahal, M.D., Access to Health Care and Disparities Award, and the AMA Foundation Pride in the Profession Award.
Over the past 30 years Dr. Hood has researched and lectured extensively on the historic aspects of race, ethnicity, genetics, and racism in medicine and the impact on today’s health inequities. He currently serves on several foundation boards that are focused on solutions to eliminate health inequities including the Multicultural Health Foundation in San Diego, the Alliance Healthcare Foundation which is a philanthropic foundation financially supporting non-profit organizations serving underserved communities in Imperial and San Diego Counties, past chair and current board member of the W. Montague Cobb/NMA Health Institute, and serves on the Editorial Board for the Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities.
In March 2020, Dr. Hood spearheaded the formation of the COVID-19 Equity Task Force in San Diego, then helped establish the NMA COVID-19 Vaccine Task Force focused on vaccine hesitancy found in Black communities. He served as Tri-Chair for the San Diego County COVID-19 Clinical Vaccine Advisory Work Group and was appointed by the California Governor Gavin Newsome as a member of the California Scientific Vaccine Safety Review Workgroup and the Western States (Nevada, Oregon, Washington, and California) Scientific Vaccine Workgroup to evaluate and render independent recommendations for FDA authorized or approved vaccines.
He remains socially active with membership in the Alpha Pi Alpha and Sigma Pi Phi Boule fraternities.