Women's health a focus at Global Health Week 2013

October 11, 2013

The University of Chicago's Center for Global Health is hosting Global Health Week 2013, a three-day series of events from October 16-18 to promote awareness and highlight the importance of supporting global health in communities at home and abroad. Sessions include a keynote address by Ambassador Nancy Brinker from the Susan G. Komen Foundation; a panel discussion on "An Integrated Approach to Women's Health"; as well as a student-led global health research symposium and a global health career panel.

There is a critical need to improve health care and health-seeking habits among women, who are fundamental to the well-being and growth of communities worldwide. In many regions, stigmas associated with diseases such as cervical and breast cancers act as barriers to women seeking appropriate health care.

Keynote panelists will draw from their unique experiences to discuss their ongoing efforts to advance women's health, with a focus on breast and cervical cancer in the diverse communities they serve and the need for a well-integrated approach to successfully impact women's health.
 
Keynote event panelists include:

• Kenneth Alexander, MD, Professor and Chief of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Department of Pediatrics, Comer Children's Hospital
• Ambassador Nancy Brinker, Founder and Chair of Global Strategy, Susan G. Komen for the Cure
• Alicia Cook, Community Health Activist and Breast Cancer Survivor
• Doyin Oluwole, MD, MRCP, FRCP, Executive Director, Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon (PRRR)
• Gonzalo Perez, MD, Executive Director, RDMA Organization, Medical Affairs – Merck Vaccines
• Fred Ssewamala, PhD, Associate Professor of Social Work and International Affairs; Columbia University

The panel will be moderated by Funmi Olopade, MD, FACP, OON, Walter L. Palmer Distinguished Service Professor of Medicine and Human Genetics, Associate Dean for Global Health, Director, Center for Clinical Cancer Genetics and Global Health.

Global Health Week is being organized by the Center for Global Health and is co-sponsored by the International House at the University of Chicago and the Center for Interdisciplinary Inquiry and Innovation in Sexual and Reproductive Health (Ci3).