FIU-RCMI 2020 Health Equity Syposium

Over 100 researchers and community members attended the FIU-RCMI 2020 Health Equity Symposium. The FIU-RCMI Health Equity Symposium fostered an environment that encouraged the development of new collaborations and facilitated networking with experts on the front lines of achieving health equity in South Florida.

Dr. Eric Wagner, PI of the FIU-RCMI and Dr. Tomàs Guilarte, Dean of the Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work provided the welcoming remarks to open the FIU-RCMI 2020 Health Equity Symposium.

Dr. Victoria Behar-Zusman, Professor at the School of Nursing and Health Studies at University of Miami and PI for the Center for Latino Health Research Opportunities (CLaRO), served as the keynote speaker for the conference. Dr. Behar-Zusman shared her work in a presentation entitled, “Leveraging Strength to Promote Wellbeing in Minority Families Affected by Maternal Mental Disorders, Substance Use, and HIV.”

Rafael de la Portilla, MS, Senior Partnership Specialist at the US Census Bureau, presented “Working Towards Health Equity in Our Local Communities Through the 2020 Census.”

The ACE Project team attended the FIU-RCMI 2020 Health Equity Symposium. ACE Project Principal Investigators, Drs. Elisa Trucco and Matthew Sutherland, provided a presentation on their community events and school partnerships to educate students, school personnel, and parents on the consequences of vaping/e-cigarette use. ACE Project staff, Nasreen Hidmi, Brigitte Madan, Benjelene Sutherland, and graduate student, Katharine Crooks managed an information table during the event.

Barbara M. Kubilus, MPA, Chief Operating Officer of the Project Access Foundation, delivered a presentation entitled “The Triple Effect – Comprehensive HIV Prevention.” Ms. Kubilus stressed the importance of outreach to targeted high-risk communities with disproportionately higher prevalence of HIV. Furthermore, she discussed the significance of the collaboration between university and community organizations.

Dr. Adriana Campa, Core Leader of the FIU-RCMI Community Engagement Core, recognized the 2020 FIU-RCMI Community Research Enhancement Grant Awards. This seed funding has been designed to establish long-term relationships with community-based organizations in order to address their health-related concerns and to promote participation in research.