On Thursday, March 25, 2021, Physicians for Human Rights hosted a discussion on the role that structural racism and systemic inequities play in health outcomes among communities of color and solutions to build systems that prioritize the health of these communities in vaccination distribution and in the public health system going forward.
The conversation was moderated by Olugbenga Ogedegbe, MD, MPH, director of the Institute for Excellence in Health Equity at NYU Langone Health, the Dr. Adolph and Margaret Berger professor of medicine, and director of the Division of Health and Behavior in the Department of Population Health at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine. He is a member of the National Academy of Medicine.
Featured panelists:
- Giselle Corbie-Smith, MD, MSc is the founder and director of the University of North Carolina School of Medicine’s Center for Health Equity Research, a Kenan Distinguished Professor in the departments of social medicine and medicine, and a professor of internal medicine. She is a member of the National Academy of Medicine.
- Monik C. Jiménez, ScD, SM, FAHA is an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, a course director at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and an associate epidemiologist in the department of medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She is the principal investigator of the Harvard Liberation Lab study INdividuals Speak: Incarcerated during the COVID-19 Epidemic (INSIDE), which examines the lived experience of those incarcerated or detained during COVID-19.
- Eric Ward is executive director of Western States Center, senior fellow with the Southern Poverty Law Center and Race Forward, and co-chair for The Proteus Fund. He is a nationally recognized expert on the relationship between authoritarian movements, hate violence, and preserving inclusive democracy. In his 30+-year civil rights career, he has worked with community groups, government and business leaders, human rights advocates, and philanthropy as an organizer, director, program officer, consultant, and board member.