Dr. Coulter will describe how sexual violence inequities for sexual and gender minorities (e.g., lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender people) change from childhood through young adulthood.  He will also describe what interventions exist, and opportunities for future research to enhance the field.

This talk will explore:

• Existing national and local disparities in chronic disease risk factors and outcomes for Black populations

• The Color of COVID-19 and how COVID and structural racism has magnified the existing inequities in Black populations

• Local data on COVID-19 disparities for Black populations and the work of the Black Equity Coalition

• Beyond COVID- where does this landscape take us in the future?

Learning Objectives:

1. Understand existing health disparities for African Americans as it relates to chronic disease nationally and locally

2. Understand existing health disparities for African Americans as it relates to COVID-19 outcomes nationally and locally

3. Discuss the efforts of the Black Equity Coalition (BEC) in understanding and reducing the impact for Black populations in Allegheny County

Structural racism is the main determinant of racial/ethnic disparities in health. I will identify pathways by which structural racism results in socially-disadvantaged vs. socially-advantaged groups having less access to health promoting resources related to goods and services and greater exposure to health damaging environments. As an essential pillar of health alongside nutrition and physical activity, I will leverage what researchers know about the science of sleep (including endogenuos and exogenous modulators within both an historical and sociopolitical context) along with its implications for a wide range of mental and physical health outcomes to illustrate how structural racism likely manifests into health disparities. Interventions and potential solutions (including innovative research approaches) will be discussed.

Our regional data regarding infant mortality, asthma, and youth violence among others highlight that the opportunities to achieve health and thriving are not equitably distributed in our country with Black, Latinx and other communities of color experiencing a disproportionate burden of health inequities.  Using the example of The Pittsburgh Study, a longitudinal, community-partnered intervention study focused on child and youth thriving, this presentation will describe strategies for integrating community-partnered approaches into child and adolescent health research with the goal of achieving greater health equity.  Community leadership and development, developmentally and culturally responsive interventions that are co-created with community members, and data accessibility are among strategies that may help promote child health and thriving.

Learning Objectives:

1. Describe a strengths-based, community-partnered approach to defining child thriving

2. Elucidate two practices to promote 'research with' rather than 'on' communities

3. Identify three strategies for integrating community partners into research to promote health equity

In her talk, Dr. Alegria will explore health and mental health disparities for ethnic/racial minority and immigrant groups, including key statistical data and factors that contribute to health disparities. Emphasis will be placed on major obstacles confronted by ethnic/racial minority populations in healthcare and what can be done to offer optimal care. To illustrate the opportunities to intervene throughout the life cycle, Dr. Alegria will share findings and lessons learned from three multi-method projects aiming to improve behavioral health/health outcomes among distinct age groups: 1) adolescents (12-17 years old); 2) adults (18-65 years old); and 3) older adults (60 years and older). Dr. Alegria will explore the impact of cultural context, minority status and setting on health outcomes for these unique groups. She will propose priority areas for research and policy to promote health equity.

Realizing the promise of providing the right dose, of the right treatment, to the right patient requires broadening the conception of precision medicine. While often it is equated with genomic medicine, the precision medicine principles of personalization, precision, and individualization can be applied to other forms of health intervention such as behavior change and public health. In fact, there is a long tradition of using similar information from research participants in health communications. In this presentation, Dr. Griffith will make this argument and use examples from his work integrating precision medicine and individually-tailored health communications to change behavior and control the weight of middle-aged and older African American men. He will argue that the promise of precision medicine is not only in genomics, but also in creating interventions that refine efforts to mitigate how racism and other social determinants of health affect specific populations like African American men. 

The National Institutes of Health, National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) published a new strategic vision for the future of human genomics in October 2020. The theme of this 2020 vision, The Forefront of Genomics, reflects NHGRI's critical role in providing responsible stewardship of the field of human genomics, especially as genomic methods and approaches become increasingly disseminated throughout biomedicine. The strategic vision features a set of guiding principles and values including “Maximize the usability of genomics for all members of the public, including the ability to access genomics in healthcare”.   In this talk,  Vence Bonham will examine the strategic vision for genomics and its importance in the implementation of genomic medicine across the life span to improve health and reduce the burden of disease.

Learning Objectives:

1. Understand how the use of genomics can influence concepts of health, disease, responsibility, identity, family, and community

2. Examine the interrelationships between genomics and the social and environmental factors that influence human health

3. Identify the strategies to increase the diversity of the genomic workforce.

There are persistent racial inequities in maternal health in the US where Black people are 2-3 times as likely to die of pregnancy-related causes and more likely to experience health related complications during and after pregnancy compared to white people. These deaths and pregnancy complications are preventable, pointing to systems and structures that contribute to adverse health but also the glaring racial inequities. These racial inequities are a result of a long history of oppression and structural racism that shapes life opportunities, experiences, and ultimately health. This includes the policies that shape opportunities, institutional practices in area of health and healthcare as well as the daily, chronic experiences of racism, sexism and other forms of oppression that send Black birthing people on a trajectory of adverse in the context of pregnancy and beyond.

Learning Objectives:

1. Understand inequities in maternal health (including mortality and morbidity)

2. Understand the relationship between racism, oppression and maternal health