Inaugural Garth N. Graham Distinguished Lectureship Award spotlights trailblazers who are advancing health equity

By Diane Smith-Pinckney

HSC Sign

The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth (HSC) is joining the Satcher Health Leadership Institute at Morehouse School of Medicine (SHLI), and YouTube in celebrating the first recipient of the Garth N. Graham Distinguished Lectureship Award.

The inaugural award honors Garth N. Graham, M.D., M.P.H., Director and Global Head of Healthcare and Public Health at YouTube. Dr. Graham, a cardiologist and public health expert, has led a number of national efforts addressing health disparities and social determinants of health.

Dr. Graham has dedicated his career to improving the lives of minority and underserved communities – a focus that also drives much of the work underway at HSC.

“We are honored to be part of the team bringing global attention to the issue of health equity,” said HSC Fort Worth President Dr. Michael R. Williams. “We are a values-based institution of higher learning. Serving others first is part of our values and a driving force in our efforts to bridge health disparities through education, research, and community outreach.”

The award spotlights trail blazers who are creating and advancing health equity. The first recipient of the Distinguished Lectureship Award is Dr. David R. Williams, whose research on the social influences on health is helping public health experts and health professionals the complex ways in which socioeconomic status, race, stress, racism, health behavior, and religion can affect a person’s health.

Dr. Williams is chair of the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He is an international expert who has appeared in national news reports as well as the BBC and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. His 2017 TED Talk, How racism makes us sick, has had more than 1.6 million views.

SHLI and HSC will host the inaugural Distinguished Lectureship on Friday, Oct. 8, 2021 12:00PM – 1:30PM EST via Zoom. Registration is free and participants can sign up in advance by visiting: https://bit.ly/3hDqgPj

The Lectureship will include a Ted-Talk style presentation from Dr. David R. Williams, as he discusses his pathway toward becoming the Health Equity Champion he is today, followed by Garth’s Table Talk featuring SHLI’s Executive Director, Daniel E. Dawes, J.D. interviewing Dr. Garth N. Graham regarding the changing health equity landscape in these challenging and unprecedented times.

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