UMD to Host Capitol Hill Briefing on Health Equity

UMD to Host Capitol Hill Briefing on Health Equity

The University of Maryland (UMD) Division of Research, in collaboration with Congressman John P. Sarbanes and the Big Ten Academic Alliance, will host a Capitol Hill briefing focused on the topic of health equity and disparities research on Thursday, Sept. 8, 2016 at noon in the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, D.C. 

The panel discussion, titled, “Achieving Health Equity: From Disparities Research to Action,” will explore approaches to promoting health and preventing disease among vulnerable populations, including innovative community-based health interventions and public-private partnerships.

A health disparity is a particular type of health difference that is closely linked with social, economic, and/or environmental disadvantage. There is a growing body of scientific evidence demonstrating disparities in access to quality medical care and disparities in health status directly related to the neighborhood environment, housing, access to full-service grocery stores, and freedom from exposure to environmental toxins.

The panel will be moderated by Stephen B. Thomas, Ph.D., Director of the Maryland Center for Health Equity at the UMD School of Public Health, who will be joined by:

• J. Nadine Gracia, M.D., M.S.C.E., Deputy Assistant Secretary for Minority Health and Director, Office of Minority Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
• Eliseo Pérez-Stable, M.D., Director, National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, National Institutes of Health
• Julia Huggins, President of Cigna Healthcare Mid-Atlantic
• Margo Edmunds, Ph.D., Vice president, evidence generation and translation, Academy Health
• Kola Okuyemi, M.D., M.P.H., Professor, Dept. of Family Medicine and Community Health; Director, Program in Health Disparities Research, University of Minnesota

The briefing is part of the University of Maryland’s Research on the Hill series, which is aimed at raising awareness of research with great societal significance.

For more information and to register, please visit: http://healthequitybriefing.splashthat.com

August 23, 2016