Fall Events Focus on Twin Epidemics of Racism and COVID-19
In a recent Columbia Mailman School course on COVID-19, Robert Fullilove, Associate Dean for Community and Minority Affairs, observed that the coronavirus pandemic has devastated communities of color in the United States disproportionate to white people, due to a centuries-long history of discrimination. Beginning this fall, a full program of events at the School will examine the twin epidemics of COVID-19 and health disparities, along with other current issues in public health.
The Dean’s Grand Rounds on the Future of Public Health will explore the devastating consequences of our country’s absence of a public health system responsible for protecting and elevating health for all. The first event on September 17 will feature Dean Linda P. Fried in conversation with Oxiris Barbot, former Commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and Wes Moore, chief executive officer of Robin Hood, a non-profit that works to lift families out of poverty in New York City. Other upcoming speakers include Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and Howard Zucker, Commissioner of Health for New York State.
Faculty and staff will also take part in a collective reading and discussion on the Ibram X. Kendi’s bestselling book How to be an Anti-Racist beginning in October. The One Book, One School initiative is led by Raygine DiAquoi, assistant dean of Diversity, Culture, and Inclusion, and is part of a series of events and activities designed to help the School become a truly anti-racist institution. These include discussion groups, trainings, workshops, and more.
The Dean’s Chronic Disease Seminar Series will highlight topics related to COVID-19 and beyond, including vaccination, and psychosocial pathways and disease patterns in despair. The series, hosted by Jeremiah Barondess, professor of epidemiology, will begin with an event on September 24 with James W. Curran, Dean of the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University, and Dean Fried.
Departments are organizing their own events. Biostatistics is hosting a series of expert webinars, beginning with a September 10 talk by Thomas Jaki, a statistician on the U.K. RECOVERY platform trial for COVID-19, as part of their fall speaker series. On September 14 and 21, participants in the Environmental Health Sciences PrIMER program for underserved and minority undergraduates will present their work. Health Policy and Management is organizing a webinar on hospital management during pandemic crisis and, in collaboration with Career Services, a virtual fair for students interested in careers in hospital management. The Sociomedical Sciences Food for Thought series will focus on structural racism, and the Sophie and Alex Rosner Seminar Series on Health, History, and Social Justice will feature progressive voices in government, labor, academia, and beyond. Other departments and centers will be announcing their own events.