Friday, October 31, 2008
Individuals for Global Health Facebook group
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Y Public Health Nutrition
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Public Health & Human Rights - Dec. 5, 1-5pm
Dec 5, 2008 -- 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM
The New York Academy of Sciences, 7 World Trade Center, 250 Greenwich St. at Barclay St., 40th fl.
1/2 day symposium; pre-registration $25, on-site $35
Sponsored by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the New York Academy of Sciences
To register and for more information, please visit www.nyas.org/publichealth
For full agenda and speaker information, please download the brochure.
On December 10, 1948, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the first international recognition that human rights are absolute and inclusive of all, and that they should concern the entire international community. This doctrine has served as the foundation of international human rights law, and it continues to inspire international human rights treaties and declarations, regional conventions, and national constitutions.
Please join us as we examine the progress we have made in the 60 years since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights—and as we look ahead to navigating the roadblocks, contradictions, and challenges to public health and human rights at home and abroad.
Speakers include:
Joseph Amon, PhD, MSPH
Director, Health and Human Rights Division
Human Rights Watch
Chris Beyrer, MD, MPH
Director, Center for Public Health and Human Rights
Professor, Departments of Epidemiology and International Health
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Laurie Garrett
Senior Fellow for Global Health,
Council on Foreign Relations
Pulitzer Prize-winning author
Patricia Gatling, JD
Commissioner and Chair
New York City Commission on Human Rights
Michael J. Klag, MD, MPH
Dean, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Gara LaMarche
President and CEO
The Atlantic Philanthropies
Robert S. Lawrence, MD
Center for a Livable Future Professor
Director, Center for a Livable Future
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Leonard Rubenstein, JD
President
Physicians for Human Rights
Navanethem Pillay, SJD, LLM
High Commissioner for Human Rights
Office of the High Commission for Human Rights
Ellis Rubinstein
President and CEO
The New York Academy of Sciences
Ruth Wedgwood, JD
Edward B. Burling Professor of International
Law and Diplomacy Director, International Law and Organizations Program
Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
HIV Prevention debate: Oct. 24, 6-8pm
The NYU Master's Program in Global Public Health Presents
Rethinking HIV Prevention Strategy:
Debating What Works
A Conversations in Global Public Health panel discussion featuring:
Daniel Halperin, Ph.D.
Lecturer on International Health, Department of Global Health and Population, Harvard School of Public Health
Bill Easterly, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics, faculty affiliate of Africa House, Co-Director of Development Research Institute at New York University , Author of "The White Man's Burden: Why the West's Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good" (Penguin, 2006).
Helen Epstein, Ph.D.
Noted HIV/AIDS expert and public health researcher, author of "The Invisible Cure: Africa , the West and the Fight against AIDS" (Viking, 2007)
Since the eruption of the HIV pandemic over two decades ago, global public health experts have long advocated for a few major approaches in preventing the spread of the deadly disease. Billions of dollars have been poured into these efforts, led by multilateral organizations like the United Nations and financially backed by governments worldwide. Now, a group of researchers and scientists are saying that recent evidence shows that some of these long held prevention strategies just don't work very well. They're calling for a different approach to preventing HIV-AIDS in regions like Africa , and charge that health officials are wasting money pursuing approaches that are largely ineffective and unexamined. Organizations like UNAIDS counter that the impact of these programs is undeniable and can be seen directly in the worldwide decline of the HIV epidemic - which they say can be linked precisely to interventions such as condom distribution and HIV testing. What doesn't work and what would work better when it comes to preventing the spread of HIV, especially in Africa ? Join us for an exciting evening as our three panelists confront this pressing issue.
Friday, October 24th, 2008
6:00 8:00pm
Doors open at 5:30pm; Program begins promptly at 6:10pm
Tishman Auditorium at NYU's Vanderbilt Hall
40 Washington Square South , between MacDougal and Sullivan Streets
Free and open to the general public; light refreshments to follow
Visit www.nyu.edu/mph/events to RSVP and for more information
Speaker Biographies:
Daniel Halperin, M.S., Ph.D.
Prior to joining the faculty of the Harvard School of Public Health, Dr. Halperin served for over five years as the Senior HIV Prevention and Behavior Change Advisor at the US Agency for International Development. Dr. Halperin has conducted epidemiological and ethnographic research for over thirty years on a number of health and sociocultural issues in Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa and other developing regions. Since completing his doctoral training in medical and cultural anthropology at the University of California , Berkeley in 1995, his work has mainly focused on the heterosexual transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. He has had extensive involvement in the design, management and evaluation of prevention, care and other HIV-AIDS programs, and continues to be actively engaged in collaborative endeavors with UNAIDS, WHO, CDC, UNICEF, Gates Foundation and other international partners in developing and disseminating policy-setting technical consultations, guidance documents, etc.
Most of Dr. Halperin's research and scientific publications (including in leading journals such as The Lancet, British Medical Journal, AIDS, and Science) have dealt with some of the previously more neglected HIV co-factors, such as concurrent sexual partner networks, lack of male circumcision, "dry sex" practices, alcohol use, and heterosexual anal intercourse. He has conducted field research and consultations over the years in a number of countries, including Brazil , South Africa , Botswana , Zimbabwe , Mozambique , Haiti , the Dominican Republic , Peru and in various inner-city U.S. communities, and has an extensive background working with at-risk youth, particularly socially disadvantaged young men.
Bill Easterly, Ph.D.
William Easterly is Professor of Economics at New York University , joint with Africa House, and Co-Director of NYU’s Development Research Institute. He is a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research. He is also a non-resident Fellow of the Center for Global Development in Washington DC and Visiting Fellow at Brookings during the academic year 2007-2008. William Easterly received his Ph.D. in Economics at MIT. He was born in West Virginia and is the 8th most famous native of Bowling Green , Ohio , where he grew up. He spent sixteen years as a Research Economist at the World Bank. He is on the board of the anti-malaria philanthropy, Nets for Life. He is the author of The White Man’s Burden: How the West’s Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good (Penguin, 2006), The Elusive Quest for Growth: Economists' Adventures and Misadventures in the Tropics (MIT, 2001), 3 other co-edited books, and 59 articles in refereed economics journals. His work has been discussed in media outlets like the Lehrer Newshour, National Public Radio, the BBC, the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, the Economist, the New Yorker, Forbes, Business Week, the Financial Times, the Times of London, the Guardian, and the Christian Science Monitor. Foreign Policy magazine inexplicably named him one of the world’s Top 100 Public Intellectuals in 2008. Easterly's areas of expertise are the determinants of long-run economic growth, the political economy of development, and the effectiveness of foreign aid. He has worked in most areas of the developing world, most heavily in Africa, Latin America, and Russia . Easterly is an associate editor of the Quarterly Journal of Economics, the Journal of Economic Growth, and of the Journal of Development Economics.
Helen Epstein, M.Sc, Ph.D.
Helen Epstein is a molecular biologist by training. In the early 1990s she worked at Makerere University in Uganda . She was until recently visiting scholar at the Center for Health and Wellbeing at Princeton University in the US and is currently working for Human Rights Watch. She has written extensively about public health issues in developing countries. Her public health-related articles have been published in both academic journals and popular magazines such as The New York Review of Books, The New York Times Magazine, and Granta. Dr. Epstein earned a PhD from Cambridge University , UK , and an MSc from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. She is the author of The Invisible Cure: Africa, the West and the Fight against AIDS, (Viking Books, New York , 2007).
This event made possible in part by the generous support of the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation
Health Care: Obama & McCain - Friday 10/24, 7-9pm
Come attend a panel discussion of experts comparing McCain's vs. Obama's health care policies. This event is free and open to the public.
NYU Kimmel Center Room 802 (Student Life)
60 Washington Square South
New York, 10012
Friday, October 24th
Time: 7PM-9PM
WHAT THE NEXT PRESIDENT WILL FACE
*Controlling spiraling costs of health insurance
*Expanding access to health coverage
*Reining in growth in Medicare and Medicaid budgets
*Modernizing record keeping and tracking treatment outcomes
How health care costs have increased since the last presidential election
THE UNINSURED
2004: 43.5 million
2008: 45.7 million
(2007 sample)
5 percent increase in uninsured people
U.S. HEALTH CARE SPENDING
2004: $1.9 trillion (15.9 percent of GDP)
2008: $2.4 trillion (projected)
(16.6 percent of GDP)
29 percent increase in spending
MEDICARE COSTS
2004: $309.3 billion
2008: $460.7 billion (projected)
49 percent increase in spending
Listed below are the panelists:
Minalkumar Pate,l MD, MPH
CEO, Care Management International Inc.
Irwin Redlener, MD
Professor of Population and Family Health
Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health; President, Children's Health Fund, Senior Advisor for Doctors for Obama
Eric Adler, MD
Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Assistant Professor of Medicine and Cardiology
Niketa Sheth, MPA
Senior Strategic Planner
NYU Langone Medical Center
Jamalia L. Brashears, MPA
Senior Consultant
Ernst & Young, LLP, Health Sciences and Advisory Services
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Friday, October 24th: After-Midterms Social at Slate
Slate is at 54 West 21st Street, closest to 6th avenue. Map!
For questions or to RSVP, email PublicHealthStudentGroup@
All are welcome! Hope to see you there!
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Jacob Zuma - Oct. 24, 5:00-6:30pm
Jacob Zuma President of the African National Congress
WHERE: 60 Washington Square South, Kimmel RM 914
Jacob Zuma became involved in politics in his country at a very early age, joining the African National Congress in 1959. In 1963 he was convicted of conspiring to overthrow the government, and was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment, which he served on Robben Island with Nelson Mandela and other notable ANC leaders. After his release he continued his work with the liberation movement both in the country and later while in exile. Jacob Zuma was elected in 2007 as the President of the African National Congress after serving in its National Executive committee for 30 years. He is a very popular politician in South Africa, and most expect him to win the upcoming national elections to become the next President of South Africa.
Please RSVP on or before October 23rd, 2008
For questions: africa.house@nyu.edu
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Dinner and a Documentary

Friday October 17th 6-8pm. Dinner and a Documentary
Featuring the first episode in the Unnatural Causes series: Is Inequality Making us Sick?

Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Conceptions of Social Policy in Latin America - Oct. 24, 12:00-1:30pm
UNIVERSALISM VS. TARGETING
Dr. José Antonio Ocampo, Columbia University
Friday, October 24, 2008
12:00 – 1:30 pm
The Puck Building, 295 Lafayette St, 2nd Floor, New York, NY
José Antonio Ocampo will look at the debate on universalism vs.
targeting in social policies in Latin America – for example, whether
to provide universal access to health care or to target only the most
vulnerable populations for such services. Dr. Ocampo will examine how
social rights and the welfare state are conceptualized in industrial
countries, and he will analyze how these ideas informed social
policies in Latin America (on things like health care, education and
Social Security) during the era of state-led industrialization.
Professor Ocampo will use this framework to analyze the emphasis on
targeting that spread during market-oriented reforms in the 1990s. He
will explain the recent return of visions of universalism in social
policy and provide evidence of its strong redistributive effects, but
also its higher fiscal costs.
José Antonio Ocampo, PhD, a Colombian citizen, has been a Professor in
the School of International and Public Affairs and Fellow of the
Committee on Global Thought at Columbia University since July 2007.
From 1998 to 2007 he served as the United Nations
Undersecretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs and, prior to
that, as Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Latin
America and the Caribbean ( ECLAC).
Dr. Ocampo has received a number of personal honors and distinctions,
including the 2008 Leontief Prize for Advancing the Frontiers of
Economic Thought and the 1988 "Alejandro Angel Escobar" National
Science Award of Colombia. He is author or editor of over 35 books,
has directed over 20 institutional reports, and has published over 200
scholarly articles on macroeconomic theory and policy, international
financial issues, economic development, international trade, and
Colombian and Latin American economic history.
A light lunch will be served, and RSVPs are required.
Please RSVP online at http://wagner.nyu.edu/events by Wednesday,
October 22, 2008.
This event is part of the Democratic Governance and Sustainable
Development in Latin America series co-sponsored by NYU Wagner's
Research Center for Leadership in Action, the NYU Wagner Office of
International Programs, the NYU Center for Latin American and
Caribbean Studies, the NYU Center for Global Affairs, the NYU Latino
Studies Program, the Bickel and Brewer Latino Institute for Human
Rights, and the Alliance of Latino and Latin American Students. For
information, email amunoz@nyu.edu .
Saturday, October 4, 2008
World Hunger Year - World Food Day event, Oct. 16
Thursday October 16, 2008
Step Up To The Plate: Ending the Food Crisis
An event hosted by WHY (World Hunger Year) at the Great Hall of Cooper Union (just around the corner on 7 E. 7th St. at the intersection with 3rd Ave.) As U.S. food pantries face long lines and empty shelves while food riots rock the globe, it is clear that we are in the midst of a food crisis at home and abroad. The crisis is long in the making, yet even as it hits both headlines and wallets, it has been largely ignored by the current administration and the presidential candidates. In response, food, farm, labor, and justice organizations from across the US are joining together to call on our leaders to address the roots of the problem. Join WHY and their partners at the historic Great Hall of Cooper Union for the national launch of an urgent Call to Action to end the food crisis. Learn about the real causes and solutions to the crisis from special guests! For more information visit their facebook group: http://www.new.facebook.com/home.php#/event.php?eid=34839015619
Oxfam America's Public Health Specialist @ NYU - Oct. 15, 7-9pm
Join Dr. Miriam Aschkenasy, Oxfam America's Public Health Specialist, as she discusses DEWS an innovative humanitarian aid pilot project in southern Ethiopia.
Hear a first-hand account about public health, disaster risk reduction, and insights gained over the past several years working in Africa and Asia. Learn about the issues, progress, and the challenges that lie ahead for humanitarian response.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2008
7:00 - 9:00 PM
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY - WASHINGTON SQUARE PARK
5 WASHINGTON PLACE, ROOM 101
A light supper will be served. RSVP by October 10 and for more information, please contact Maryna Lansky marynalansky@hotmail.com or (212) 962-0098.
Nutrition Education Network meeting - Nov. 19, 9am-12pm
**NYCNEN'S UPCOMING MEETINGS & EVENTS**
Food Justice and the Rising Cost of Food
November 19, 2008, 9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.
Location: Gay Men's Health Crisis
The Tisch Building Room 405/410
119 West 24th St. (Below 6/7 Ave)
Child Nutrition Reauthorization
January 22, 2009, 9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.
Location: Gay Men's Health Crisis
The Tisch Building Room 405/410
119 West 24th St. (Below 6/7 Ave)
International Sustainability Development from NYC to the World
March 18, 2009, 9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.
Location: Gay Men's Health Crisis
The Tisch Building Room 405/410
119 West 24th St. (Below 6/7 Ave)
Nutrition Education in the Farmer's Market
May 19, 2009, 5:30 p.m.-8:00 p.m.
Location: Gay Men's Health Crisis
The Tisch Building Room 405/410
119 West 24th St. (Below 6/7 Ave)
Stay tuned for more details.
If you are interested in volunteering in any of these events, please contact Kirsten Corda at nycnenadmin@gmail.com.
Association of Nutrition Services Agencies
We have new videos highlighting scenes from our Africa partner sites:
All four ANSA videos are also available on YouTube at
www.youtube.com/ansanutrition
http://www.ansanutrition.org/global/
1) “Nutrition Education Plan in South Africa” – Kelly lays out the
large-scale health-related nutrition education plan for Ikamva Labantu.
2) South Africa Health and Nutrition Integration” – Mala and Barbara
from Ikamva Labantu review the strategic plans to fully integrate
health-related nutrition into all sectors of the organization to address
care and prevention to ensure sustainable development for the individuals,
families and communities they serve.
3) Songs from the Road
Sisters of the Planet screening @ Mercy Corps Action Center to End World Hunger
Jeffrey Sachs @ NYU - Oct. 8
Wednesday, October 8
7:00pm
Jurrow Lecture Hall
Silver Center, 100 Washington Sq East
No RSVP required but seating will be first come, first served.
Jeffrey Sachs--twice named one of the "100 most influential people in the world" by Time Magazine--will be at NYU on Wednesday, October 8, to bring together issues of politics, culture, global health, economics, and sustainable development as he assesses the current trajectory of global economic problems and presents possible solutions for the future. Dr. Sachs is currently Director of the Earth Institute, Quetelet Professor of Sustainable Development, and a Professor of Health Policy and Management at Columbia University. Additionally, he serves as Special Advisor to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon. From 2002 to 2006, he was the Director of the United Nations Millennium Project and has dedicated much of his professional career to the alleviation of extreme poverty and the development of environmental sustainability. He has authored two New York Times bestsellers: The End of Poverty and Common Wealth.
A book signing will follow the lecture.
Partners in Health @ NYU - Oct. 14
Health as a Human Right:
The Partners in Health Approach
featuring:
Joia Mukherjee, M.D., M.P.H.
Medical Director, Partners In Health
Assistant Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Edward M. Cardoza, M.A.
Vice President for Development, Partners In Health
Tuesday, October 14th, 2008
NYU Kimmel Center, 60 Washington Square South, NYC
6pm
2007 marked the 20th anniversary of the founding of Partners In Health, the Boston-based organization renowned for its pioneering work to bring high-quality medical care to destitute communities. To mark the occasion, Partners In Health has partnered with the NYU Master's
Program in Global Public Health to mount another striking portrayal of its work an exhibit of striking photographs depicting the clinics and communities where the organization has forged partnerships with patients and local health workers to combat epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis, hunger and poverty. To commemorate the anniversary of PIH and the exhibit here at NYU, two important members of Partners In Health's committed leadership will join us for an evening presentation with a reception to follow in the downstairs gallery currently hosting the exhibit.
From the barren hills of Haiti, to the shantytowns of Peru, from the villages of rural Rwanda to the streets of downtown Boston, these photographs illuminate how communities that suffer the most glaring health, social, and economic disparities in the world can be revived when the individuals living in them have access to health, social and economic support, and training. If a picture is worth a thousand words, these images are worth millions for what they have to say about human dignity in the face of intolerable suffering and criminal indifference, about solidarity, and ultimately about hope.
Tuesday, October 14th, 2008
NYU Kimmel Center, 60 Washington Square South, NYC
6:00pm - Presentations: NYU Kimmel Center Solarium, 4th Floor
7:30pm - Reception: NYU Kimmel Commuter Lounge Gallery, 2nd Floor
Free and open to the general public
Visit www.nyu.edu/mph/events to RSVP and for more information
Speaker Biographies:
Joia Mukherjee, MD, MPH
Joia Mukherjee, MD, MPH is an expert in the scale up of treatment for complex disease in poor countries. As Medical Director of Partners In Health, she has overseen the expansion of successful HIV/AIDS treatment programs to eight hospitals in Haiti and six clinics in rural Rwanda, as well as the scale up of treatment programs for multi-drug resistant tuberculosis nationwide in Peru and to 14 states in the Russian Federation. In 2006, Dr. Mukherjee served as Editor-in-Chief for the 2nd edition of Partners In Health's Community-Based Treatment of HIV in Resource Poor Settings, the leading publication of its kind for health care professionals
worldwide. She is also a respected voice in global health policy, and in 2006 was a leading contributor to new World Health Organization standards for treating HIV positive children in poor settings and for management of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis. She is a sought after
teacher and speaker at a wide range of venues around the world, having lectured at universities and major medical conferences in 14 countries. She is also an extensively published and well-respected researcher, who is currently principal investigator on three studies
examining various aspects of her work in Haiti. Dr. Mukherjee received her MD from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis in 1992, followed by clinical training in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at the University of Minnesota Hospital and Clinic from 1992 to 1994 and at Massachusetts General Hospital from 1995 to 1997. She was a Fellow
in Infectious Disease at Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital from 1997 to 2001. In 1998, she received the Fellow in Training Award from the Infectious Disease Society of America. She received her Masters in Public Health from the Harvard
School of Public Health in 2001. She is board certified in Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, and Infectious Disease.
Edward M. Cardoza, M.A.
Mr. Edward M. Cardoza holds a Master of Arts in Ministry from Saint John's Seminary School of Theology and a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from Saint John's Seminary College of Liberal Arts. While in the seminary, Mr. Cardoza served in the Office of AIDS Ministry and the chaplaincy office at Massachusetts General Hospital. During this time, he also attended the University of Lisbon in Lisbon, Portugal where he studied Portuguese and worked with refugees from East Timor. After graduating from the seminary college, he worked as a development
researcher at Tufts University. In 1998, Mr. Cardoza became a development researcher at the Harvard Medical School, and later the director of development research at the Appalachian Mountain Club in 2000. In December 2002, he was recruited by Partners In Health to
become the director of development. He is currently fundraising for Partners In Health's programs in Boston, Haiti, Russia, Peru, Rwanda, Mexico and Guatemala.
This event made possible in part by the generous support of the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation
-also check out the book Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder