Lecture Series

Columbia Science Health Equity Lecture Series 

This lecture series is part of the recommendations made by the CUIMC Task Force for Addressing Structural Racism and aims to increase the focus on racial/ethnic health disparities and solutions research, as well as training/nurturing future researchers for this work. This series brings together distinguished scientists and scholars from within the Columbia community and from other institutions whose work focuses on key aspects of health inequity.

Past Lectures

"Approaches to Healing the Wounds of Violence and Racial Trauma” with John A. Rich, MD, MPH

April 21, 2021

Speaker

John A. Rich, MD, MPH, Professor of Health Management and Policy, Center for Nonviolence and Social Justice,

Video recording 

“Effects of Dietary Sugars on Metabolic, Gut and Brain Developmental Outcomes: The Good the Bad and the Ugly” with Michael Goran, PhD

March 31, 2023

Speaker:

Michael Goran, PhD, Program Director For Diabetes and Obesity at The Saban Research Institute, Professor Of Pediatrics, Keck School Of Medicine Of University of Southern California

Co-sponsored by: The CUIMC Office for Faculty Professional Development, Diversity and Inclusion and the Mailman School of Public Health Department of Epidemiology.

"Genetics/Genomics and Social Determinants: Collision or Collaboration?"

November 17, 2021

Panelists

  • Sandra Soo-Jin Lee, PhD, Chief, Division of Ethics, Professor of Medical Humanities and Ethics 
  • David B. Goldstein, PhD, John E. Borne Professor of Medical and Surgical Research (in Genetics and Development) (in the Institute for Genomic Medicine and Neurology), Professor of Medical Sciences (in Medicine) 
  • Jennifer J. Manly, PhD, Professor of Neuropsychology (in Neurology, the Gertrude H. Sergievsky Center and the Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain)  

Moderator

Anne L. Taylor, MD , John Lindenbaum Professor of Medicine at CUMC , Senior Vice President for Faculty Affairs and Career Development at CUMC, Vice Dean for Academic Affairs  

Video recording 

"Health Equity Requires Action" with Kim Rhoads, MD, MPH

April 28, 2023

Speaker:

Kim Rhoads, MD, MPH, Associate Professor of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, School of Medicine, University Of California, San Francisco

Co-sponsored by: The CUIMC Office for Faculty Professional Development, Diversity and Inclusion and the Mailman School of Public Health Department of Epidemiology.

"Heterogeneity of Breast Cancer Genomes: Going Beyond Therapy to Prevention" with Olufunmilayo I. Olopade, MD, FACP

April 12, 2022

Speaker:

Walter L. Palmer Distinguished Service Professor of Medicine and Human Genetics, Director, Center for Clinical Cancer Genetics and Global Health, The University of Chicago Medicine

Video recording 

"Innovation for Equity: Fostering a More Democratic and Just Scientific Enterprise"

September 23, 2021

Speaker

Alondra Nelson, PhD, Harold F. Linder Professor at the Institute for Advanced Study; Deputy Director for Science and Society for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy

Co-sponsored by: the Columbia University Department of Medical Humanities and Ethics, the Columbia University Health Equity Lecture Series and the CUIMC Office of Faculty Professional Development, Diversity & Inclusion.

Video recording 

“Leveraging Hip Hop for Public Health: Development and Implementation of a Novel Health Literacy Model for African American Youth” with Olajide Williams, MD

March 15, 2022

Speaker:

Olajide Williams, MD, Professor of Neurology, Associate Dean of Community Research and Engagement, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons

Video recording 

“Make No Assumptions: Reducing Health Care Disparities for People with Disability” with Lisa Iezzoni, MD, MSc

April 27, 2022

Speaker

Lisa Iezzoni, MD, MSc, Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School 

Video recording 

Closed captioning 

“Maternal Mortality - New York”

June 7, 2022

Speakers

  • Mary D’Alton, MD, Willard C. Rappleye Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Chair, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons
  • Dena Goffman, MD, Ellen Jacobson Levine and Eugene Jacobson Professor of Women's Health (in Obstetrics and Gynecology) at the Columbia University Medical Center, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons
  • Lisa Nathan, MD, Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Columbia University Medical Center, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons 

Video recording

“National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities Research Framework" with Eliseo Perez-Stable, MD

January 26, 2021

Inaugural lecture 

Speaker

Eliseo Perez-Stable, MD, Director of the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Dr. Perez-Stable is the recipient of the 2021 Excellence in Advancing Health Equity Research Award from the Offfice of Faculty Professional Development, Diversity and Inclusion at CUIMC. 

Video recording 

"Race, Place, and COVID-19 Sex Disparities" with Sarah S. Richardson, PhD

May 25, 2022

Speaker:

Sarah S. Richardson, PhD, Professor of the History of Science and of Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality, Director, The GenderSci Lab, Harvard University

Video recording 

“Racism as a Fundamental Cause of Chronic Disease: The Center for Chronic Disease Reduction and Equity Promotion Across Minnesota (C2DREAM)”

November 4, 2022

Speakers:

  • Michele Allen, MD, MS, Associate Professor, Department of Family Medicine, Community Health and Endowed Chair of Health Equity Research, University of Minnesota Medical School
  • Tongtan Chantarat, PhD, MPH, Research Scientist, Center for Antiracism Research for Health Equity, University of Minnesota School of Public Health 

Sponsored by: The Mailman School of Public Health, Chronic Disease Epidemiology Seminars

Video recording 

“Spatial Epidemiology and the Science of Place in Shaping Health Equity”

March 9, 2021

Panelists

  • Joan A. Casey, PhD, Assistant Professor of Environmental Health Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health
  • Dustin T. Duncan, ScD, ScM, Associate Professor of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health
  • Katherine M.  Keyes, PhD, MPH, Associate Professor of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health
  • Christopher N. Morrison, PhD, MPH, Assistant Professor of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health
  • Andrew G. Rundle, DrPH, MPH, Associate Professor of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health 

Moderator

Charles Branas, PhD, Anna Cheskis Gelman and Murray Charles Gelman Professor of Epidemiology, Chair, Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health

Video recording

“The Art, Science, and Rewards of Community Engagement”

September 21, 2021

 Panelists

  •  Alejandra N. Aguirre, DrPH, MPH  , Assistant Director, Community Engagement , Irving Institute for Clinical and Translational Research , Columbia University Irving Medical Center
  • Elizabeth Gross Cohn, RN, PhD, Adjunct Associate Research Scientist in the Irving Institute for Clinical and Translational Research, Columbia University Irving Medical Center
  • Lena L. Green, DSW, LCSW, CLC, Executive Director, The Hope Center 
  • Sidney H. Hankerson, MD, MBA, Associate Professor of Psychiatry at CUMC, Associate Director, Community Engagement, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons
  • Fern Hertzberg, MSW, Executive Director, ARC XVI Fort Washington, Inc.
  • Jewel Jones, MSEd, Associate Director of Compliance and Diversity, Deputy Title IX Coordinator, Hostos Community College, CUNY
  • Glenn McMillan, Community Health Worker, Columbia Wellness Center
  • Rachel C. Shelton, ScD, MPH, Associate Professor of Sociomedical Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health
  • Olajide A. Williams, MD, Professor of Neurology, Associate Dean for Community Research, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons

Moderators

  • Rafael A. Lantigua, MD, Professor of Medicine at CUMC , Associate Dean for Community Service, Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons
  • Muredach P. Reilly, MBBCH, MSCE, Florence and Herbert Irving Professor of Medicine, Director, Irving Institute for Clinical and Translational Research, Associate Dean for Clinical and Translational Research, Columbia University Irving Medical Center

Video recording 

"The Impact of Social Determinants on Biology in Health Disparities"

December 14, 2021

Speakers:

  • Daniel W. Belsky, PhD, Assistant Professor of Epidemiology (in the Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center), Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University Irving Medical Center
  • Melissa Boneta Davis, PhD, Associate Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology Research in Surgery, Weill Cornell Medicine
  • Ervin R. Fox, MD, MPH, Professor of Medicine, Medical Director of the Clinical Noninvasive Laboratory, School of Medicine, The University of Mississippi Medical Center
  • Jasmine A. McDonald, PhD, Assistant Professor of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University Irving Medical Center
  • Jacquelyn Taylor, PhD, Helen F. Petit Professor of Nursing, Founder and Executive Director, Center for Research on People of Color, School of Nursing, Columbia University Irving Medical Center

Moderator

Kevin Gardner, MD, PhD, Professor of Pathology and Cell Biology, Senior Vice Chair of Pathology and Cell Biology, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University Irving Medical Center

Video recording 

Please visit the Calendar of Events for upcoming program dates. 

For more information, please email: Office_Acad_Affairs@cumc.columbia.edu 

Perspectives on History and Health

This series brings eminent Columbia University historians to the CUIMC community to frame our context of contemporary events and pathways to equity in the United States. 

Sponsored by: the offices of Diversity & Multicultural Affairs (VP&S); Diversity & Cultural Affairs (SoN); Access, Equity and Inclusion (CDM); and Faculty Professional Development, Diversity & Inclusion; and Operations (CUIMC).

Past Lectures

"A Discussion About the Historical Roots of Asian Exclusion and Anti-Asian Racism" with Mae Ngai

November 11, 2021

Speaker

Mae Ngai, PhD , Lung Family Professor of Asian American Studies and, Professor of History, Author of The Chinese Question

Moderator

Sandra Soo-jin Lee, PhD, Professor of Medical Humanities and Ethics, Chief, Division of Ethics

Video recording

"In Pursuit of Equity" A conversation with Christopher Brown and Eric Foner

February 26, 2021

Speakers

Christopher L. Brown, DPhil, Professor of History

Eric Foner, PhD, DeWitt Clinton Professor Emeritus of History

Please visit the Calendar of Events for upcoming program dates. 

For more information, please email: Office_Acad_Affairs@cumc.columbia.edu