Monday, April 19, 2010

A Walk to Beautiful Movie Screening- This Wed (4/21) from 8-9 pm in Kent 424

Exciting news! This Wednesday, April 21st, in Kent 424 at 8 pm, Saving Mothers will be hosting a movie screening of A Walk to Beautiful, a documentary about Ethiopian women whose lives have been affected by obstetric fistula. Obstetric fistula is a severe medical condition resulting from failed childbirth: a hole develops between the bladder and vagina, causing profound emotional and medical consequences.

The World Health Organization has called fistula "the single most dramatic aftermath of neglected childbirth," and more than two million women in the world suffer from this condition, most of them in areas lacking access to adequate medical care.

Women suffering from this condition become incontinent, leak urine uncontrollably, develop irreparable nerve damage in the feet and legs, and are often forced into shame and social isolation in their communities.

A Walk to Beautiful documents the inspiring lives of five Ethiopian women suffering from obstetric fistula, and their medical journeys to the Addis Ababa Hospital, where they hope to find a cure, a new life, and to reclaim their dignity.

Also, one of the filmmakers will be coming to speak to us at the screening. We hope to see you all there at what promises to be a very informative event!

More information about the documentary can be found at: http://www.walktobeautiful.com/

For those of you unaware, Saving Mothers is a nonprofit aimed at improving women's health in the developing world, founded by recent post-bac graduate and future UCSF 1st year, Nichole Young-Lin.

Friday, April 2, 2010

HIV an Infectious Diseases Among Incarcerated Populations

Hey SJM,

Below is some preliminary info about a FGHHR event (Forum on Global Health and Human Rights) that one of our fellow postbacs, Danielle Beiling, has been coordinating along with a student from the Mailman School of Public Health. More details will follow if you are interested in attending!


April 28th 3:00 – 5:00pm

Hammer Library at the Columbia Medical Center

The event will consist of a panel of experts who will speak about HIV risks in presently and formerly incarcerated populations. It is not surprising that those within correctional facilities are faced with unique risks in this aspect, but there are special considerations even post-release. The panelists will address these risks associated with these different phases of the individuals' institutionalized trajectory.


Panelists:

Dr. Robert E. Fullilove, EdD is the Associate Dean for Community and Minority Affairs and Professor of Clinical Sociomedical Sciences at the Mailman School of Public Health of Columbia University. He currently co-directs the Community Research Group at the New York State Psychiatric Institute and Columbia University. He is also the co-director (along with Mindy Thompson Fullilove, MD) of the MPH degree program, Urbanism and the Built Environment in the department of Sociomedical Sciences at the Mailman School of Public Health. Dr Fullilove has published numerous articles on minority health with a particular focus on HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases

Dr. Miguel Muñoz-Laboy, Dr.P.H. is an Associate Professor of Sociomedical Sciences at the Mailman School of Public Health of Columbia University and the Director of the DrPH program for Sociomedical Sciences. His research has focused on the cultural and structural dimensions of HIV and sexual health-related risks among a number of different ethnic and sexual minority urban populations, including formerly incarcerated Latino men.

Pamela Valera, Ph.D., M.S.W., is a postdoctoral research fellow of the Division of Community Collaboration and Implementation Science, Department of Epidemiology and Population Health at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Dr. Valera is a trained community social worker and HIV prevention researcher. Her work has focused on social health inequalities, particularly along the lines of class, gender and culture among non-identified Black men who have sex with men and women (MSMW) and incarcerated populations