On October 16, 2020, our Director Dr. Nancy Schoenberg shared the following message regarding acknowledging Native Peoples and Place:
Dear Colleagues,
This week, we have commemorated Indigenous People's Day. As noted by the Smithsonian Institution, “Generations of Native people throughout the Western Hemisphere have protested Columbus Day.
As part of CHET’s speaker series, Dr. Edith Williams will be providing a virtual research talk, “"Lupus Out Loud: Journey Into a Health Disparity” Tuesday September 29th from 11:00-12:00 via Zoom. You can register here: http://bit.ly/CHET_EVENT
Greetings,
We are delighted to attach our first CHET newsletter. Inside, you will find information about our activities and perspectives, new Core Faculty members, and upcoming events. It is more essential than ever to come together to transform climates, policies, and practices through innovative research and training.
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Aug. 27, 2020) — The American Academy of Nursing has selected three University of Kentucky College of Nursing faculty members, Camille Burnett, Lovoria Williams and Sharon Lock, to be inducted into its 2020 class of Academy Fellows.
Congratulations to Dr. Danelle Stevens Watkins, Assistant Vice President for Research in Diversity and Inclusion, Director of Graduate Studies in the UK College of Education, and CHET Core Faculty member for being chosen to lead the newly established UNITE Research Priority Area.
Racism is a public health threat that undermines health equity. We re-commit to our anti-racist research and training mission and collectively maintain that the egregious injustices perpetrated against Black people--historical and current-did not arise nor will they cease overnight. We have been working to raise the visibility of the goal of health equity through numerous other means-- our training, research, and community outreach.
You can read our full statement at the link below.
The University of Kentucky—Washington University Diabetes Research Center released a call for Collaborative Pilot & Feasibility Awards. Grants of up to $40,000 for one year will be awarded.
Grants must be submitted to Dr. Philip Kern (philipkern@uky.edu) by 5pm on September 11, 2020. The anticipated funding start date is December 1, 2020.
On June 23rd from 11:30am-12:30pm Dr. Jennifer Gomez of Wayne State University will host a webinar, “Anti-Black Violence & The University: How Institutional Courage Can Pave The Way For True Equality in Academia”
Jennifer Gomez, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at the Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute for Child & Family Development at Wayne State University
You can join the meeting here: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82612841714?pwd=TFRyekdSSS9IZGc3OFN0cC9Ib1BlZz09 Meeting ID: 826 1284 1714 Password: 223199
Read more here: https://www.kentucky.com/opinion/linda-blackford/article243393036.html#storylink=cpy
BY LINDA BLACKFORD
Not long after coronavirus appeared on our shores, we learned about its capricious nature, sometimes manifesting as a head cold, sometimes as a lethal disease. As the count went up, public health experts soon reported that a disproportionate number of the worst COVID-19 deaths were in the Black community.
For example, Blacks make up 13 percent of the U.S. population and 23 percent of reported deaths.
We would like to congratulate our former graduate research assistant Myles Moody for earning his PhD in Sociology and accepting a tenure-track assistant professor appointment in the Sociology Department at the University of Alabama-Birmingham!
Several CHET representatives recently wrote an Op-Ed for the Lexington Herald Leader addressing the disproportionate burden of COVID-19 among the Black population in Lexington. The article, “Racism, injustice are ‘pre-existing conditions’ that lead to racial disparity in COVID-19 cases” can be read online at https://www.kentucky.com/opinion/op-ed/article242404396.html and will be available in print Monday May 4th.
CHET is pleased to announce a call for applications to the Students Participating as Ambassadors for Research in Kentucky (SPARK) program. SPARK is a dynamic collaboration between the Center for Health Equity Transformation (CHET) and the Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS) for undergraduate students interested in developing research expertise and projects in health equity.
The Department of Psychology is hosting Devin Banks, MS for a talk entitled, "Addressing Health Disparities in Substance Use: Cultural and Methodological Considerations." Devin Banks is a doctoral candidate in Clinical Psychology from Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis and focuses on the prevention of disparities related to substance use and sexual risk behavior among the socio-demographically disadvantaged.
The Center for Health Equity Transformation welcomes applications for a graduate research assistantship focused on innovative, transdisciplinary and impactful health equities research. CHET’s focal research involves preventing and improving outcomes from cancer, substance use, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes/obesity in vulnerable, traditionally underserved populations. Graduate students from all disciplines, including social sciences, public health, biomedical informatics, health policy, and others, are welcome.
CHET is hosting Dr. Samuel K. Roberts as part of the Year of Equity sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences (https://equity.as.uky.edu/) Dr. Roberts is a writer and scholar of African-American and public health history and politics.
On March 6th at 2:0pm Dr. Roberts will be giving a talk entitled, “Drugs, Politics, and Pariahs: Or, How to Think Historically About Race and Harm Reduction in an Opioid Epidemic” in the Senate Chamber of the Gatton Student Center.
Dr.
Dr. John Lyons, Professor in the Department of Health Management and Policy and director of the Center for Innovation in Population Health (IPH), joined UK in September of 2019 with his team from the University of Chicago. The goal of IPH is "...to integrate the public and private sectors – researchers, health care organizations, government agencies, and communities – in a comprehensive program that will reduce health disparities for all Kentuckians."
We welcome Dr.
CHET will be hosting visiting doctoral candidate Jessica Thompson, M.Ed., for a talk February 13th entitled, "Contextualizing Cardiovascular Disease among Rural Appalachian Women: What Methods Should We Use?"
Ms. Thompson is a PhD candidate in the Department of Behavioral and Community Health Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health.
The University of Kentucky Anthropology Graduate Student Association will present its 19th Annual Distinguished Lecture Series featuring Khiara M. Bridges, Ph.D., J.D. Friday February 7, 2020 at 4:30pm in the Jacobs Science Building Room 121.
"In this talk, Bridges will draw from her previous work with poor, pregnant women of color to discuss how class and race interact with - and alter - one another in the lives of wealthier, pregnant women of color in the United States."
Admission is free and the event will be followed by a catered reception.
"Current policies that include restrictions on the sale of menthol flavored tobacco and nicotine products are less likely to reach those that would benefit from them the most, according to new research from the University of Kentucky’s College of Medicine published in Health Promotion Practice Jan. 7.
The research led by Shyanika Rose, assistant professor in the Department of Behavioral Science, examined local policies across the nation that restricted flavored tobacco products to see how they reached at-risk populations including youth, people of color, LGBTQ and low-income groups.
