Global Health Equity Panel

July 19, 2022 | 9:00 AM – 10:30 AM

Online

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In recognition of Nelson Mandela Day, the NCI Global Health Interest Group (NCI-GHIG) hosted a panel discussion on diversity, equity, and inclusion in global health. The session provided opportunities to engage in meaningful dialogue with four global health experts from Africa, Asia, and Latin America whose work focuses on achieving global health equity. Discussions focused on actions that the broader public health community and early career scientists can take to enhance equity and justice in global health research and practice. The session included a facilitated discussion and Q&A.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Panelists

Arachu Castro, Ph.D., M.P.H., is the Samuel Z. Stone Chair of Public Health in Latin America and Director of the Collaborative Group for Health Equity in Latin America at Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. She conducts research on health equity and social inequalities, women’s health and reproduction, and early childhood development in contexts of poverty. She is a medical anthropologist trained in public health.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Evelyn Gitau, M.Sc., Ph.D., combines a record of more than 18 years of medical research with a commitment to cultivating a new generation of researchers throughout Africa committed to solving health challenges. She is the Director of Research Capacity Strengthening and Interim Director of Research at the African Population and Health Research Center. Under her direction, the APHRC continues to expand opportunities across the continent for African scholars to become research leaders. She sits on numerous advisory boards for organizations advancing the agenda of research and evidence generation in Africa. These include the University of Oxford (MSc International Health and Tropical Medicine), the Crick-Africa Network, and the Lemelson Foundation.

 

 

Laetitia Rispel, M.Sc., Ph.D., is a professor of Public Health at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in Johannesburg, South Africa, where she holds a Research Chair on the Health Workforce as part of the South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChI). Her research interests are in human resources for health (also known as the health workforce) and the performance of the health care system. Professor Rispel has extensive and wide-ranging experience in research, teaching, and health leadership in different settings. She has published extensively on different aspects of health policy and the transformation of the South African health system. In addition to supervising postgraduate students at Wits University, Laetitia is known for her transformation efforts and her mentoring of other African scholars, particularly black women leaders. Laetitia Rispel has won several national and international awards, including a prestigious Senior Africa Oxford Fellowship. She was president of the World Federation of Public Health Associations from 2018 to 2020 and was the first woman from Africa, and the third in the more than 50-year history of the Federation elected to this prestigious position. 

 

 

Ravi Kannan, M.S., M.Ch., is a surgical oncologist and the Director of the Cachar Cancer Hospital and Research Centre in Silchar, Assam. He received his M.B.B.S. from Kilpauk Medical College, Chennai; his M.S. (General Surgery) from the Maulana Azad Medical College, Delhi, and his M.Ch. (Surgical Oncology) from the Cancer Institute, Adyar. After his training, he worked in the Surgical Oncology Department at Adyar.