Seminar Series

The Health and the Public Interest Virtual Seminar Series

The Health and the Public Interest Seminar Series is a forum in which Georgetown students, faculty, and the general public engage with key leaders in healthcare research, policy, and advocacy. Seminar topics may include topics such as cross-cultural views of disease, cultural change and health, the medicalization of normal life, corporate shaping of discourse about illness, the regulation of medical products, placebo effects, symptom formation and healing, the high costs of drugs, creating new diseases, and the opioid epidemic.

The Seminar Series is open to prospective students, the Georgetown community, and interested members of the general public. The 75-minute-long virtual lectures are held on Wednesdays from 12pm to 1:15pm EST. Speakers usually present for 30 minutes to an hour leaving time for questions and discussion.

Fall 2024 Seminar Series Schedule

September 4 – Kenda Sutton-EL, Founder and Executive Director of Birth in Color, Birth in Color 

September 11 – Dr. Oliver Johnson, Managing Director for Global Health Institute at Georgetown, Reflecting on Ebola Ten Years On

September 18 – Dr. Christina Marea, PhD, MA, MSN, FACNM, Assistant Professor at the Georgetown School of Nursing, Operationalizing Reproductive Justice in Health Services Research and Policy To Address Perinatal Health Disparities

September 25 – Susan Molchan, MD, MA, Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University Medical Center. Mild Cognitive Impairment – Will We All Be Prescribed Drugs for Forgetting Our Keys?

October 2 – Peter Lurie, MD, MPH, President and Executive Director at Center for Science in the Public Interest, Advocacy Tools for Outsiders

October 9 – David Holtgrave, PhD, Professor at John Hopkins University, Translating Science into Public Health Policy: Reflections on Efforts to Address HIV and Substance Use

October 16 – Martha Lang, PhD, Constrained by Connection: Social Media, Peer Pressure, and Health Choices in the Face of Epidemics

October 23 – Charles Hillman, PhD, Associate Director for the Center of Cognitive & Brain Health, Physical Activity, Adiposity, and Brain Health in Children

October 30 – Daniel Craig McCool, PhD, Professor Emeritus at University of Utah, Water Justice for Native Americans

November 6 – Gigi Gronvall, PhD, Professor at John Hopkins University, Health Security for the Next Administration

November 13 – Sam Halabi, JD, Director of the Center for Transformational Health Law, The Second Death Valley for New Vaccines: Chikungunya, Mpox, and Neglected Diseases

November 20th – Christopher King, PhD, Dean of Georgetown University School of Health, The Paradigm Shift from Medical Care to Health Care: Lessons from the Field

December 4th – Adam Visconti, MD, MPH, Associate Professor of Family Medicine.