Hear from the biggest names in public health and beyond. Stay tuned for more information on this year’s notable speakers. An exciting program is coming your way.
Loretta Ross
Opening General Session - APHA at 150: Celebrating the Past & Inventing the Future
Sunday, Nov. 6 | 11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Loretta J. Ross is a Professor at Smith College in the Program for the Study of Women and Gender, where she teaches courses on white supremacy, human rights, and Calling in the Call Out culture. Loretta also is a recipient of a MacArthur Fellow, Class of 2022, for her work as an advocate of Reproductive Justice and Human Rights.
Ross was the National Coordinator of the SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective (2005-2012) and co-created the theory of Reproductive Justice. She was National Co-Director of the April 25, 2004, March for Women’s Lives in Washington D.C., the largest protest march in U.S. history. She founded the National Center for Human Rights Education (NCHRE) in Atlanta, Georgia, launched the Women of Color Program for the National Organization for Women (NOW), and was the national program director of the National Black Women’s Health Project. One of the first African American women to direct a rape crisis center, Loretta was the third Executive Director of the D.C. Rape Crisis Center.
Reproductive Health, Rights & Justice: Before, During and Beyond
Monday, Nov. 7 | 10:30-12 p.m.
Elephant in the womb: Reproductive justice, human rights and the legal landscape in the post-Roe world
Monday, Nov. 7 | 4:30 – 6 p.m.
Theodore M. Brown, PhD
Monday General Session – 150 Years of Public Health History
Monday, Nov. 7 | 8:30-10 a.m.
Theodore M. Brown is Professor Emeritus of History and Public Health Sciences at the University of Rochester. His publications include work on the history of U.S. and international public health and the history of U.S. health policy. He has long served as History Editor of the American Journal of Public Health. Among other publications, in 2012 (with Georges Benjamin and Susan Ladwig) he published The Quest for Health Reform: A Satirical History, and in 2019 (with Marcos Cueto and Elizabeth Fee) he published The World Health Organization: A History.
Abdul El-Sayed, MD, DPhil
Advocacy, Activism and Public Health: Making Good Trouble
Sunday, Nov. 6 | 2:30 - 4 p.m.
Live Podcast Taping - From the Outside In: What Public Health Gets Right (and Wrong) About Racial Equity, Public Communication, and Politics with New York Times Journalist Jane Coaston
Sunday, Nov. 6 | 6 - 7 p.m.
Dr. Abdul El-Sayed is a physician, epidemiologist, educator, author, speaker, and podcast host. He is the host of “America Dissected,” a podcast by Crooked Media, which goes beyond the headlines to explore what really matters for our health. Dr. El-Sayed is a Senior Fellow at the FXB Center for Health & Human Rights at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health and a Scholar-in-Residence at Wayne State University and American University. In 2020, he served as a national surrogate for both Sen Bernie Sanders in the Democratic Primary, and Vice President Joe Biden and Sen Kamala Harris in the general election. He was the youngest health official in a major US city when he was appointed Health Director in the City of Detroit, charged with rebuilding the City’s health department after it was privatized during municipal bankruptcy. Abdul holds a doctorate in Public Health from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar, as well as a medical degree from Columbia University, where he was a Medical Scientist Training Program Fellow and a Soros New Americans Fellow.
Larry O. Gostin, JD, LL.D
Monday General Session – 150 Years of Public Health History
Monday, Nov. 7 | 8:30-10 a.m.
Lawrence O. Gostin is University Professor, Georgetown University’s highest academic rank, and Founding O’Neill Chair in Global Health Law. He directs the World Health Organization Center on National and Global Health Law. He is working with WHO on the global COVID-19 response, including impacts on the health workforce and international migration. Gostin is Global Health editor, Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
Evelynn Hammonds, Ph.D.
Monday General Session – 150 Years of Public Health History
Monday, Nov. 7 | 8:30-10 a.m.
Evelynn M. Hammonds is the Barbara Gutmann Rosenkrantz Professor of the History of Science and of African and African American Studies at Harvard University. Prior to joining the faculty at Harvard, Hammonds taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where she was the founding director of the Center for the Study of Diversity in Science, Technology and Medicine. Her scholarly interests include the history of scientific, medical, and sociopolitical concepts of race, the history of disease and public health, gender in science and medicine, and African-American history. She is the author of “Childhood's Deadly Scourge: The Campaign to Control Diphtheria in New York City, 1880-1930” and many scholarly articles.
Howard Koh, MD, MPH
Closing General Session - Building Public Health Capacity Through an Ethical Lens to Address Social Challenges
Wednesday, Nov. 9 | 2:30 - 4 p.m.
Dr. Howard K. Koh is the Harvey V. Fineberg Professor of the Practice of Public Health Leadership at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the Harvard Kennedy School. He previously served as the 14th Assistant Secretary for Health for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2009-2014) after being nominated by President Barack Obama, and as Commissioner of Public Health for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (1997-2003) after being appointed by Governor William Weld. A graduate of Yale College and the Yale University School of Medicine, he trained at Boston City Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, earned board certifications in four medical fields, has been Principal Investigator of research grants totaling $27M, published more than 300 articles in the medical and public health literature and has received over 70 awards, including six honorary doctorate degrees.
Nancy Krieger, PhD
Closing General Session - Building Public Health Capacity Through an Ethical Lens to Address Social Challenges
Wednesday, Nov. 9 | 2:30 - 4 p.m.
Nancy Krieger is Professor of Social Epidemiology, American Cancer Society Clinical Research Professor, and Director of the Interdisciplinary Concentration on Women, Gender, and Health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She is an internationally recognized social epidemiologist, ISI highly cited scientist, with a background in biochemistry, philosophy of science, and history of public health, & co-founder and chair of the APHA Spirit of 1848 Caucus, focused on social justice & public health.
Lisa Lee, PhD, MA
Closing General Session - Building Public Health Capacity Through an Ethical Lens to Address Social Challenges
Wednesday, Nov. 9 | 2:30 - 4 p.m.
Lisa M Lee, PhD, MA, MS is associate vice president for research and innovation and professor of public health at Virginia Tech. She is an epidemiologist, bioethicist, and ethics educator. For over 25 years, Lee served in state, federal, and international public health, including several leadership roles at CDC and chief of bioethics at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. In the Obama administration, she served as executive director of the presidential bioethics commission.
Mike Stobbe, DrPH
Monday General Session – 150 Years of Public Health History
Monday, Nov. 7 | 8:30-10 a.m.
Mike Stobbe is a national medical writer for The Associated Press and is based in New York City. He covers the CDC and writes on a range of health and medical topics. He has a doctorate in public health policy and administration from the University of North Carolina. He has won several awards for his work, and is author of the book Surgeon General’s Warning: How Politics Crippled the Nation’s Doctor (University of California Press, 2014).