A Jan. 30-31 conference hosted by the University of Virginia Schools of Law, Nursing and Medicine will focus on the impact of racial and ethnic discrimination in driving public health disparities. 

“Healing Hate: A Public Health Perspective on Civil Rights in America” will bring together scholars, clinicians, policymakers and community leaders to take a public health approach in treating and reducing violence, disease and injury due to racism, hate speech, crimes and violence.

At the conclusion of the event, participants will announce a civil rights framework to combat health disparities, and generate and disseminate evidenced-based proposals and tools aimed at eliminating health disparities.

“Racism is a potent psychosocial stressor that is characterized by both social ostracism and blocked economic opportunity,” said conference organizer and law professor Dayna Bowen Matthew ’87, director of The Equity Center at UVA’s Democracy Initiative, a sponsor of the event. “Racism also has led to inequitable access to social, educational and material resources — resources that have both direct and indirect effects on health status. This conference is taking a data-driven approach to start addressing some of these problems.”

The conference is sponsored by the UVA Schools of Law, Nursing and Medicine; the UVA Library; the Center for Health Policy; ChangeLab Solutions; the Democracy Initiative’s Equity Center at UVA; the Virginia Journal of Social Policy & the Law; and the W. Montague Cobb/NMA Health Institute.

The conference is free and open to the public, but registration is required. Parking is available at the Law School in D2 and D3 lots. For events at Pinn Hall on Jan. 31, parking is available in the Health System South Garage, located at 380 Crispell Drive.

The conference lunches and dinner are currently sold out, but if registrants don’t show, meals will be made available. Please check in at the registration desk to be put on a meal waitlist.

Tentative Schedule

Register

Thursday, Jan. 30: Civil Rights Advocacy and Health Equity

Caplin Pavilion, School of Law, 580 Massie Road

9-9:15 a.m.

Welcome

• Risa Goluboff, Dean, Arnold H. Leon Professor of Law, Professor of History, University of Virginia School of Law

Keynote Introduction

• Dayna Bowen Matthew ’87, William L. Matheson and Robert M. Morgenthau Distinguished Professor of Law, F. Palmer Weber Research Professor of Civil Liberties and Human Rights, Professor of Public Health Sciences, University of Virginia School of Law; Director, The Equity Center, UVA Democracy Initiative

9:15-9:45 a.m.

Keynote | The Civil Rights of Health

• Angela P. Harris, Distinguished Professor of Law, University of California, Davis, School of Law

9:45-10:30 a.m.

Keynote Respondents | The Health Justice Movement

• Sarah de Guia, CEO, ChangeLab Solutions
• Kim Forde-Mazrui, Mortimer M. Caplin Professor of Law; Earle K. Shawe Professor of Employment Law; Director, Center for the Study of Race and Law, University of Virginia School of Law
• Alexander Tsesis, Raymond & Mary Simon Chair in Constitutional Law and Professor of Law, Loyola University School of Law
• Sidney D. Watson, Jane and Bruce Robert Professor; Director, Center for Health Law Studies; Center for International and Comparative Law; Saint Louis University School of Law
• Ruqaiijah Yearby, Professor; Co-Founder and Executive Director, Institute for Healing Justice and Equity; Saint Louis University School of Law
• Moderator: Dayna Bowen Matthew ’87, William L. Matheson and Robert M. Morgenthau Distinguished Professor of Law; F. Palmer Weber Research Professor of Civil Liberties and Human Rights; Professor of Public Health Sciences; Director, UVA Democracy Initiative’s Equity Center; University of Virginia School of Law

10:45 a.m.-Noon

Panel 1 | Civil Rights Violations in the Social Determinants of Health: Housing, Neighborhoods and the Environment

• Marianne Engelman-Lado, Lecturer, Yale School of Public Health and School of Forestry & Environmental Studies; Visiting Professor, Douglas Costle Chair in Environmental Law, Vermont Law School
• Jeffrey A. Fagan, Isidor and Seville Sulzbacher Professor of Law, Columbia Law School; Professor of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University
• Vernice Miller-Travis, Executive Vice President, Metropolitan Group
• Moderator: David Toscano ’86, Former Delegate, Virginia House of Delegates, 57th District

12:15-1:45 p.m.

Working Lunch | A Conversation About Civil Rights and Health Legislation in Virginia and in the Nation

• David Toscano ’86, Former Delegate, Virginia House of Delegates, 57th District
• B. Cameron Webb, M.D., Assistant Professor, University of Virginia School of Medicine
• Moderator: Dayna Bowen Matthew ’87, William L. Matheson and Robert M. Morgenthau Distinguished Professor of Law; F. Palmer Weber Research Professor of Civil Liberties and Human Rights; Professor of Public Health Sciences; Director, UVA Democracy Initiative’s Equity Center; University of Virginia School of Law

1:45-3 p.m.

Panel 2 | Social Determinants of Health: Education, Immigration, LGBTQ+, Religious and Civil Rights

• Hussam Ayloush, Executive Director, Council on American-Islamic Relations California
• Paul C. Harris, Assistant Professor, Curry School of Education and Human Development, University of Virginia
• Craig Konnoth, Associate Professor of Law, University of Colorado, Boulder
• Luis Oyola, Community Organizer, Immigrant Advocacy Program, Legal Aid Justice Center
• Moderator: Gloria Rockhold, Community Engagement Manager, Albemarle County Public Schools

3:15-4:45 p.m.

Workshop | Advancing Civil Rights and Health Equity: Putting Policy Into Practice

• Sabrina Adler, Program Director and Senior Attorney, ChangeLab Solutions
• Sarah de Guia, CEO, ChangeLab Solutions
• Alexis Etow, Senior Attorney, ChangeLab Solutions
• Angela P. Harris, Distinguished Professor of Law, University of California, Davis, School of Law
• Pratima Musburger, Program Director and Senior Attorney, ChangeLab Solutions

5-7 p.m.

Dinner at the Law School

Friday, Jan. 31: The Health Professions and Civil Rights Policy

Pinn Hall Conference Center Auditorium, School of Medicine, 1340 Jefferson Park Ave.

9-9:15 a.m.

Welcome

• David S. Wilkes, M.D., Dean, University of Virginia School of Medicine

Introduction of Drs. Kinney and Pinn

• Susan Kools, Madge M. Jones Professor in Nursing, Associate Dean for Diversity and Inclusion, University of Virginia School of Nursing

9:15-9:30 a.m.

Reflections on Healing Hate

• John W. Kinney, Professor of Theology; Director, Center for African American Pentecostalism and Leadership Development, Virginia Union University

9:30-10 a.m.

Keynote

• Vivian Pinn, M.D., Inaugural Director, Office of Research on Women’s Health, National Institutes of Health; Senior Scientist Emerita, National Institutes of Health

10:05-11:05 a.m.

Panel 1 | Guns, Violence and Mental Health

• Rahn K. Bailey, M.D., Assistant Dean of Clinical Education, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science; Chief Medical Officer, Kedren Community Health Center; Chair, Board of Directors, W. Montague Cobb/NMA Health Institute
• Gregory Jackson Jr., National Advocacy Director, Community Justice Action Fund
• Kathryn Laughon, Associate Professor, University of Virginia School of Nursing
• Derecka Purnell, Human Rights Lawyer, Writer and Activist
• Robert Winn, M.D., Director, Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center
• Moderator: B. Cameron Webb, M.D., Assistant Professor, University of Virginia School of Medicine

11:10 a.m.-12:10 p.m.

Panel 2 | Maternal and Infant Mortality Disparities

• Derek A. Chapman, Associate Professor, Department of Family Medicine and Population Health; Interim Director, Center on Society and Health; Virginia Commonwealth University
• Jordan B. Hylton, Assistant Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Virginia Commonwealth University
• Kirsten Olsen, Program Manager, CenteringPregnancy, VCU Health
• Shale Wong, M.D., Professor, Pediatrics-General Pediatrics; Director, Eugene S. Farley, Jr. Heath Policy Center; Vice Chair for Policy and Advocacy, Department of Pediatrics; University of Colorado School of Medicine
• Moderator: Rose Blackburne, M.D., Executive Medical Director, Pharmaceutical Product Development

12:20-1:20 p.m.

2020 MLK UVA Health System Awards Lunch

1:20-1:50 p.m.

Keynote 

• M. Norman Oliver, M.D., State Health Commissioner, Virginia Department of Health

2-3 p.m.

Panel 3 | School Discipline Disparities

• Katrina Debnam, Assistant Professor of Nursing, School of Nursing and Curry School of Education & Human Development, University of Virginia
• Eric Irizarry, Principal, Charlottesville High School
• T. Denise Johnson, Supervisor of Equity and Inclusion, Charlottesville City Schools
• Seanna Leath, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Virginia
• Jason Okonofua, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley
• Moderator: Sophie Trawalter, Associate Professor of Public Policy and Psychology, University of Virginia Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy

3:10-4:40 p.m.

Workshop | Clinicians’ Role in Putting Policy Into Practice: Advancing Civil Rights as a Health Determinant in the Health Care System

• Sabrina Adler, Program Director and Senior Attorney, ChangeLab Solutions
• Shale Wong, M.D., Professor, Pediatrics-General Pediatrics; Director, Eugene S. Farley, Jr. Heath Policy Center; Vice Chair for Policy and Advocacy, Department of Pediatrics; University of Colorado School of Medicine

4:40-5 p.m.

Conference Closing | Overview and Next Steps

• Randall C. Morgan Jr., M.D., Executive Director, W. Montague Cobb/NMA Health Institute
• Dayna Bowen Matthew ’87 will call the convening to a close with a call to action for the future.

Related News

• “The Civil Rights of Health,” with Angela P. Harris, Distinguished Professor of Law, University of California, Davis, School of Law