Marcine Pickron-Davis, PhD joined PCOM in 2017 and serves as the College's chief diversity and community relations
officer. Get to know more about Pickron-Davis and her work at PCOM.
As the chief diversity and community relations officer at PCOM my primary role is to advance the College's diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives at all three locations. This includes ensuring social justice, health equity, and cultural competency are at the forefront of our mission. This past summer, I was very proud to launch the 2025 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Strategic Plan. This plan is fully integrated into the overall 2025 plan for the College.
I also lead the President's Council on Equity, Inclusion and Justice. The Council, which convened in July 2020, includes faculty, staff and students representing the three locations. Under this Council, five unique work groups that include admissions, human resources, and academic affairs meet monthly with President Feldstein to make recommendations that advance diversity, equity and inclusion in policies and practices.
Prior to PCOM, I served as the chief community engagement and diversity officer at Widener University in Chester, Pennsylvania. After serving in that role for 12 years, I saw the announcement for a chief diversity and community relations officer at PCOM and it felt like a great next step in my career. I was excited to serve in a graduate, professional setting.
When I started this role, I noticed very quickly that there was a need to identify our external community. When I worked at Widener, our community was the immediate area of Chester, PA. In Philadelphia, Georgia, and South Georgia, I want to maximize our resources to ensure we are responding to the needs of the community, to the best of our abilities. Today, I am proud to share that we engage with nonprofit partners across the three locations that align with our mission to mitigate health inequities.
My team and I work hard to ensure that diversity is top of mind for PCOM faculty, staff and other community members. We see our role as shifting campus culture through education. We regularly host community conversations, interactive lectures, and reflection sessions to engage the campus in championing diversity, equity, and inclusion. We want to ensure that our core values become a part of programs where there may currently be a need. I think about a prospective new faculty member or student and what they see when they explore the PCOM website. Do they feel like they will belong at PCOM? I am pleased that DEI is now a central part of our mission because it reveals the core values of PCOM. Research has proven that diversity pushes teams to work at a higher level of excellence and we’re working hard to move PCOM from good to great.
As I've mentioned, incorporating DEI into all projects and initiatives can be challenging. This is something people have to work at to ensure that it is accomplished. One of my favorite things about PCOM are my colleagues who are committed to doing that work. These are colleagues who are champions for diversity and ambassadors for my department. They ensure they are incorporating DEI into the work and priorities of their department. Though they may not receive public acknowledgment for this work, they are committed to making PCOM a more inclusive space and we will all see the value of their work for years to come.
I am the parent of, what I like to call, two “only children”. I have been married to the same life partner for 35 years and we have two children—a son that is 31 years old and a daughter that is 18 years old. Often, people can't believe (and we chuckle about) the age gap between my two children!
For the past 125 years, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM) has trained thousands of highly competent, caring physicians, health practitioners and behavioral scientists who practice a “whole person” approach to care—treating people, not just symptoms. PCOM, a private, not-for-profit accredited institution of higher education, operates three campuses (PCOM, PCOM Georgia and PCOM South Georgia) and offers doctoral degrees in clinical psychology, educational psychology, osteopathic medicine, pharmacy, physical therapy, and school psychology. The college also offers graduate degrees in applied behavior analysis, applied positive psychology, biomedical sciences, forensic medicine, medical laboratory science, mental health counseling, physician assistant studies, and school psychology. PCOM students learn the importance of health promotion, research, education and service to the community. Through its community-based Healthcare Centers, PCOM provides care to medically underserved populations. For more information, visit pcom.edu or call 215-871-6100.
Brandon Lausch
Executive Director, Strategic Communications
Email: brandonla@pcom.edu
Office: 215-871-6312 | Cell:
717-371-0609
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