About

The purpose of the seminar series is to develop the fellows' leadership skills by exposing them to the key leaders from both private and public sectors. The series focuses on public health practice and public policy, with a specific focus on minority health policy. The seminar series is offered as a course within the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences entitled “Leadership in Minority Health Policy” (SBS 296) in the fall. The participants include the fellows, students from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and other Harvard graduate schools.

The sessions explore the public policy issues impacting the health status of minority and disadvantaged populations, with special emphasis on problem identification, policy formation, and development of leadership skills in the area of public health practice and policy. The Fellows and other attendees engage with both faculty members at Harvard and key minority health policy leaders from the public and private sectors. A major focus is to provide the participants with a variety of leadership styles, and career development strategies.

 

Current and Recent Seminars

Fall 2021

September 7, 2021

Christina Rosenthal, DDS, MA
Owner and CEO, Paradigm Dental Center, LLC; Founder and President, The 516 Foundation; Memphis, TN


September 14, 2021

Myechia Minter-Jordan, MD, MBA
President and CEO, CareQuest Institute for Oral Health


September 21, 2021

James Corbett, M.Div., JD
Principal
Initium Health


September 28, 2021

Kameron Matthews, MD, JD
Assistant Under Secretary for Health for Clinical Services and Chief Medical Officer
Veterans Health Administration


October 5, 2021

LaQuandra S. Nesbitt, MD, MPH
Director
Washington, DC Department of Health


October 12, 2021 

Joel Teitelbaum, JD, LLM
Associate Professor of Health Policy and of Law
Director, Hirsh Health Law and Policy Program
Co-Director, National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership
The George Washington University


October 19, 2021 

Juan Fernando Lopera
Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer
Beth Israel Lahey Health


November 2, 2021 

Manny Lopes, MBA
CEO of East Boston Neighborhood Health Center
Executive Vice president of Public Markets and Government Relations,
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts (effective Nov. 1, 2021)


November 9, 2021 

Aswita Tan-McGrory, MBA, MSPH
Administrative Director, the Mongan Institute
Director, The Disparities Solutions Center
Massachusetts General Hospital


November 16, 2021

Claude-Alix Jacob, MPH
Director, San Antonio Metropolitan Health District


November 23, 2021

Harriet Washington, MA
Author, Journalist


November 30, 2021

James O'Connell, MD
President
Boston Health Care for the Homeless


December 7, 2021 

Jeffrey Beard, JD
Regional Administrator
Region 1 - Boston Regional Office
Health Resources and Services Administration


December 14, 2021

Aranthan S. Jones, II, MPH
Chief Corporate Affairs and Communications Officer
Vanda Pharmaceuticals

 

Fall 2020

July 30, 2020

Progress/Peril in US Health Reform in the Covid19/BLM Era
John McDonough, DrPH, MPA
Professor of the Practice of Public Health
Director of Executive and Continuing Professional Education
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health


August 6, 2020

The Anatomy of Racial Disparities
Audra Meadows, M.D., M.P.H.
Director of Practice Quality and Innovation, Ambulatory Obstetrics Practice at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital;
Assistant Professor, Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, Harvard Medical School;
Leadership Team, Perinatal Neonatal Quality Improvement Network (PNQIN) of Massachusetts, Boston, MA


September 3, 2019

Course Introduction and Expectations
Alden Landry, MD, MPH
Assistant Professor, Emergency Medicine
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Assistant Dean, Office of Diversity Inclusion and Community Partnership
Associate Director and Advisor, Castle Society
Harvard Medical School


September 8, 2020

Orbiting the Hairball and Innovating Health
James Corbett, J.D., M.Div.
Principal, Initium Health, Denver, CO


September 15, 2020

The Power to Heal: The Case of Medicare and the Desegregation of Hospitals
David Barton Smith, Ph.D
Professor Emeritus, Health Administration and Health Policy, Temple University
Adjunct Research Professor, Health Policy and Management, Dornsife School of Public Health, Drexel University


September 22, 2020

Leading Change in a 21st Century Public Health Organization
LaQuandra S. Nesbitt, MD, MPH
Director
Washington, DC Department of Health


September 29, 2020

Medicine in the Streets: Three Decades Caring for Boston's Rough Sleepers
James O’Connell, MD
President
Boston Health Care for the Homeless


October 6, 2020

The Role of Health Systems: Leadership Through Crisis and Transformation
Tamarah Duperval-Brownlee, M.D., M.P.H., M.B.A.
Senior Vice President, Chief Community Impact Officer, Ascension Healthcare
President and CEO, Ascension Providence Health System, Washington, DC


October 13, 2020

Priorities in Reducing Black Infant Mortality
Stephen Keith, MD, MSPH
Medical Director, Syneos Health
Chief Business Development and Medical Officer, Evanston Technology Partners


October 20, 2020

“Race and Language: the Impact on the Quality of Healthcare”
Aswita Tan-McGrory, MBA, MSPH
Administrative Director, the Mongan Institute
Director, The Disparities Solutions Center
Massachusetts General Hospital


November 3, 2020

“Striving for Health Justice: The Role of Law in Creating and Remediating Health Injustice”
Joel Teitelbaum, JD, LLM
Associate Professor of Health Policy and of Law;
Director, Hirsh Health Law and Policy Program;
Co-Director, National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership, The George Washington University


November 10, 2020

“Public Health Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic in Cambridge”
Claude A. Jacob, MPH
Chief Public Health Officer
Cambridge Public Health Department


November 17, 2020

“Men's Health and Beyond: My Career in Public Service”
Jeffrey Beard, JD
Regional Administrator, Region 1 - Boston Regional Office, Health Resources and Services Administration


December 1, 2020

"Reflections: The Road to Becoming an Oral Physician"
Brian Swann, DDS, MPH
Chief of Oral Health, Cambridge Health Alliance
Assistant Professor, Harvard School of Dental Medicine


December 15, 2020

“Between Tocqueville, Heschel, Baldwin, Coltrane, Basquiat and Me: When Corporate Fires Attract More Attention than Any Other Cries for Help”
Aranthan S. Jones II, MPH
Chief Corporate Affairs and Communications Officer
Vanda Pharmaceuticals