Spring 2019 HAPI Seminar

Building Women’s Empowerment through Cross-Sector Collaboration in Urban Slums of Accra
Jessica Kritz JD & Jessica Bissett M.A.

Every urban slum creates challenges too complex for governments to resolve when working alone. The largest slum in Accra, Ghana, is no exception. In 2015, Old Fadama—known locally as Sodom and Gomorrah—was a government “no-go zone” due to the generally lawless environment. Public health issues—with frequent cholera outbreaks at the forefront—created a driving force for stakeholders to take action. It was in this context that cross-sector collaboration began. The Old Fadama collaboration began with three stakeholders. In four years, the collaboration has grown to 1,500 people. An African solution to African problems, this locally-designed process has become a network of collaborations, united by a shared vision and strategy to resolve Old Fadama’s complex challenges.

Orgasms for Sale -The Promise & Perils of Treatments for Female Sexual Desire Disorder
Cindy Pearson​, Executive Director of the National Women’s Health Network

Cindy Pearson is the National Women’s Health Network (NWHN) Executive Director, responsible for the organization’s overall direction and activities. She began at the NWHN as the Program Director and has, over the years, coordinated the internship program, managed the information clearinghouse, and directed NWHN’s program and policy work. A transplanted Californian, Cindy moved to the D.C. region after obtaining her Bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of California at San Diego and working as an abortion-rights organizer for Colorado NARAL. Before moving to D.C., Cindy worked in several capacities at Womancare, a Feminist Women’s Health Center. She is the president of the board of directors of Women’s Health Specialists in Northern California and the treasurer of the National Breast Cancer Coalition.

Overuse and Protecting Patients
Shannon Brownlee​ M.S., Senior Vice-President of the Lown Institute

We know a little about the scope of overuse, but we know next to nothing about the scope and severity of unnecessary toxicities that comes with it. How can we target unnecessary intervention when we don’t know how much unnecessary harm it causes? How can we decide which overused services to tackle first? 

The Diabetes Evidence Wars-1997 to 2019
Leonard Pogach MD

In 2018 there was an extraordinary public disagreement (covered by the WSJ, NYT, and NPR) between diabetes professional societies and the American College of Physicians (ACP) regarding A1c target levels for patients with Type 2 Diabetes. Have the “Evidence Wars”  harmed the public; will they end?

The seminar will explore the 20 year history of corporate, institutional and cultural factors that have led to extraordinary public disagreement over target glycemic values for patients with Type 2 Diabetes. The intersection of Power, Profits, and Publicity upon Public Health will be discussed. 

Dr. Leonard Pogach is an internist endocrinologist who has had a 38-year career with the Veterans Health Administration; 31 years  with the  Department of Veterans Affairs New Jersey Health Care System (VANJHCS) and seven years in Veterans Affairs Central Office. 

He has been the VA National Program Director for Diabetes and Endocrinology since 1991, and was also the National Director Medicine 2012-2017. He has been a leading advocate for advancing hypoglycemic safety as a public health problem;  implementing shared decision making for all Americans with diabetes, and measurement of overtreatment of all patients who are elderly or who have major comorbid illness. 

Dr. Leonard Pogach is a staunch advocate for major reform of diabetes performance measures, patient safety, and public health education related to diabetes.

The Opioid Crisis as a Crisis of Federalism
Gregory B. Heller JD

Some claim, not without reason, that the center of gravity for litigation against opioid manufacturers and distributors is in federal court in Ohio, where a massive Multi-District Lititgation has gathered hundreds of cases.  But there are also many hundreds of similar cases pending in State courts around the country.  Should the federal judicial system be in charge?  This echoes more general and more fundamental questions about the allocation of decision making between States and federal government when it comes to regulating how companies make, market, and sell drugs and medical devices.  Should the federal executive branch be in charge?  Consideration of this question includes a look at how opportunities for citizen engagement and policy advocacy often look different at the State and local level than they look at the federal level.

Gregory B. Heller has litigated numerous personal injury cases that have resulted in multimillion-dollar recoveries for his clients. Like the other members of the firm, he concentrates his practice in catastrophic personal injury litigation and health care law.

Mr. Heller, like all the members of Young Ricchiuti Caldwell & Heller, is a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum, a forum restricted to lawyers who have had primary responsibility in securing a recovery in excess of $1 million. The Martindale-Hubbell Legal Directory has given Mr. Heller its highest rating. He is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, Pennsylvania courts and the United States Patent and Trademark Office.  He received his undergraduate degree in physics from Williams College and his Juris Doctorate cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School, where he was managing editor of the Michigan Law Review and received several awards for legal scholarship.

The Perfect Public Health Storm – PEPFAR and the HIV Pandemic
Greg Pappas MD PhD

Dr. Greg Pappas, Associate Director for National Surveillance, Center for Biologicals Evaluation and Research, FDA/DHHS, will present his view of the US response to the global HIV epidemic based on the roles he played over the period of a decade, based on theoretical perspectives on public policy and globalization.

Lucile Adams-Campbell PhD​

Lucile Adams-Campbell PhD is the Associate Director for Minority Health and Health Disparities Research, Associate Dean for Community Health & Outreach, and Professor of Oncology at Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown University Medical Center. She is also the Program Director of the Master’s in Epidemiology Program, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Georgetown University.

She received a B.S. in Biology and a M.S. in Biomedical Science from Drexel University in Philadelphia, PA, and received her PhD in Epidemiology from the Graduate School of Public Health at the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Adams-Campbell has received numerous awards and honors including the election to the National Academy of Medicine, and the Induction into the D.C. Hall of Fame for her research focus on Health Disparities as well as gold medallions awarded from both of her alma maters – the University of Pittsburgh and Drexel University, for outstanding contributions to the field of public health and health sciences.

Dr. Adams-Campbell currently serves on the National Academy of Medicine’s National Cancer Policy Forum and the Board of Scientific Counselors of the National Human Genome Research Institute. He is currently the Council Chair of American Association for Cancer Research’s Women in Cancer Research (WICR).

Dr. Adams-Campbell’s areas of research focus on addressing health disparities with particular emphasis on cancers that disproportionately impact African-Americans. His research focuses on lifestyle interventions including physical activity, energy balance, obesity, metabolic syndrome, and oral health among minority and underserved populations. She has considerable expertise in cohort studies including the Women’s Health Initiative and the Black Women’s Health Study (which follows a cohort of African American women to gather epidemiological data on health risks and disease development). She also oversees the Capital Breast Care Center (CBCC), a community-based patient navigation program. Dr. Adams-Campbell is the Principal Investigator of a Center of Excellence for Health Disparities that focuses on metabolic syndrome and breast cancer risk in an exercise intervention clinical trial.  She has more than 200 peer reviewed publications.

Multiplex Cancer Care: Intersections of Various Therapeutic Systems, Patient Interest and Government Regulation
Jeffrey White MD, Director, Office of Cancer Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Cancer care has never been homogenous, except perhaps in select circumstances and settings. Many factors play into the kinds of health care environments that cancer patients experience. Around the world various therapeutic paradigms (e.g. Western biomedicine, functional medicine, naturopathy, Asian traditional medicine systems, etc.) are interacting with each other, with patients and with society at large. I will discuss some aspects of these interactions in the US, and internationally, largely from the perspective of gathering objective evidence about these therapies and their solo or combined use.

Adverse Childhood Experiences and Toxic Stress – A Developmental Approach to Understanding the Social Determinants of Health
Elizabeth Cilenti MD

Dr. Elizabeth Cilenti received her medical degree at Indiana University and completed a combined Internal Medicine and Pediatrics residency at Indiana University. Following completion of residency she worked for four years providing primary care to children and adults at Unity Health Care in Washington, D.C., where she served as an assistant site medical director and the director of Pediatrics.  She completed her Master of Public Health at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in the Health and Social Behavior field of study with a concentration in Maternal and Child Health while working part time at Partners Urgent Care. Her professional interests include preventative care, caring for children with developmental and behavioral concerns and the improvement of healthcare quality, patient safety and medical education.

Medicaid and the Role of the Costs
Sara Rosenbaum JD

The talk will examine the role of judicial policy in shaping Medicaid over more than 5 decades.  Particular focus will be given to the current high-level legal debate over Medicaid’s future as a privately enforceable legal entitlement.

Sara Rosenbaum JD is the Harold and Jane Hirsh Professor of Health Law and Policy and Founding Chair of the Department of Health Policy at the Milken Institute School of Public Health, George Washington University. She also holds professorships in the Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration and the Schools of Law and Medicine and Health Sciences. A graduate of Wesleyan University and Boston University Law School, Professor Rosenbaum has devoted her career to issues of health justice for populations who are medically underserved as a result of race, poverty, disability, or cultural exclusion. An honored teacher and scholar, a highly popular speaker, and a widely-read writer on many aspects of health law and policy, Professor Rosenbaum has emphasized public engagement as a core element of her professional life, providing public service to six Presidential Administrations and nineteen Congresses.  She is best known for her work on national health reform, Medicaid and private insurance, Medicaid managed care, health care access for medically underserved communities and populations, and civil rights and health care.