Events

2004 Minority Health Month

On October 3, 2002, the 107th Congress agreed to establish April as National Minority Health Month. The focus is to raise awareness of life threatening illnesses and access to affordable, culturally sensitive medical services. This is done by many organizations and institutions with activities, community programs, and conferences. In observance of 2004 Minority Health Month, the CHD hosted three visiting professors.

As a kick-off, Isabel Scarinci, PhD, MPH, MA from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, was invited as the first visiting professor. Dr. Scarinci holds several prominent positions at UAB, including Associate Professor in the Division of Preventive Medicine, Associate Scientist in the Comprehensive Cancer Center, and Community Service Co-Leader for the Minority Health and Research Center.

On March 18, 2004, Dr. Scarinci was the guest lecturer for the CHD/Preventive Medicine Joint Research Conference. The title of her presentation was "Primary and Secondary Prevention of Cervical Cancer in Latina Immigrants." Following this presentation, Dr. Scarinci presided over a session for key health professionals targeting outreach efforts for the Latino population. She led a discussion of Effective strategies for working with the Latino community in Memphis.
 

On March 30-31, 2004 the CHD hosted James Gavin, III, MD, PhD, President, Morehouse School of Medicine. Dr. Gavin’s impressive career includes Chairman, National Diabetes Education Program, Member, Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, Member, American Association of Academic Black Physicians, Former Senior Scientific Officer, Howard Hughes Medical Institute (Washington, D.C.), Past President, American Diabetes Association, and Lieutenant Commander, U.S. Public Health Service. Dr. Gavin has published over 180 articles and abstracts

In addition to a reception in his honor, Dr. Gavin presented the Alpha Omega Alpha lecture: "The Growing Impact of Health Disparities in the U.S.: The Urgent Challenge for Academia" and the CHD/Preventive Medicine Joint Research Conference: A Frontal Assault on Health Disparities: The Urgency for Prevention.
 

Our final visiting professor was David R. Williams, PhD, MPH, from the University of Michigan, where he serves as the Harold W. Cruse Collegiate professor of Sociology, a Senior Research Scientist at the Institute for Social Research, a Professor of Epidemiology in the School of Public Health, and a Faculty Associate in the Center for Afro-American and African Studies and the Program of Research on Black Americans. Dr. Williams, whose research has focused on social influences on health, has authored more than 100 articles in scientific journals. He also has been a member of Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences since 2001.

Researchers from the UTHSC, University of Memphis, State of Tennessee Office of Health, and other local organizations were invited to attend an early morning session with Dr. Williams. Participants had the opportunity to engage in dialogue about their specific research interests as they relate to trends and determinants of socioeconomic and racial differences in mental and physical health. Immediately after the first session, Dr. Williams was the guest lecturer at the CHD/Preventive Medicine Joint Research Conference. The title of his lecture was "Measuring Race in Health Research: Problems, Issues, and Directions".

Dr. Scarinci, Dr. Gavin, and Dr. Williams brought a wealth of knowledge to the UTHSC campus, as well as, fresh insight and national perspectives. Each visiting professor reviewed the CHD strategic foci and provided incisive feedback and direction. The door was also opened for possible future collaborations with other institutions working to reduce health disparities in the U.S.

2004 Black History Month

In celebration of Black History Month, the Center on Health Disparities hosted a viewing and discussion of Miss Evers’ Boys, a movie which is closely based on the true events of the infamous Tuskegee project, February 13, 2004.

The movie depicted the Tuskegee study, which began in 1932 and spanned four decades. An account of the events was given by one of the nurse coordinators through flashbacks that tell the story of the research experiment to study but not treat syphilis in the black men of Macon County, Alabama. The federally funded project began with the intent to treat the men, but when funds dried up, the project coordinators decided simply to document the course of the disease to discover if blacks responded to syphilis, as did whites.

The discussion of the impact and implications for present and future research in ethnic and minority populations was enlightening and thought provoking. Participants shared accounts of personal experiences with recruitment and retention, possible strategies, and the need continued dialogue on the sensitive issues surrounding inclusion of ethnic and minority populations in health research.