Jeffrey Baker, MD, PhD
Professor of Pediatrics and the Practice of History
Director, Trent Center for Bioethics, Humanities, and History of Medicine
Duke University School of Medicine
He / Him / His
John Schelp, MPA
Community Activist
He / Him / His
Your health—including your chance of exposure to environmental toxins—has a great deal to do with the neighborhood where you live. We all know about the social determinants of health, but what accounts for the social determinants? Using examples drawn from their projects on Duke’s local community, the speakers will discuss why history is essential to understand the roots of health disparities. The session will also illustrate how understanding the forces driving structural inequities can empower effective community activism.
About the Speakers:
Jeff Baker directs the Trent Center for Bioethics, Humanities, and History of Medicine at Duke University School of Medicine. With a background in both pediatrics and medical history, Dr. Baker has given many lectures on the history of Duke’s health system and its surrounding community. With support from a Bass Connections grant, during 2018-19, he collaborated with Durham’s Bull City 150 Project and a team of Duke students to produce an exhibition, “Documenting Durham’s Health History: Understanding the Roots of Disparities in the City of Medicine.”
John Schelp worked with the Peace Corps and USAID in Congo for seven years and was an elections observer with Jimmy Carter in Liberia. He’s served as president of the Old West Durham Neighborhood Association, History museum advisory board, Pauli Murray steering committee, president of the NC Peace Corps Association, chair of the UNC-Greensboro Parent Council, vice-president of the NAACP-Durham branch, and the Mayor’s Sesquicentennial Commission. He currently serves as president of the People’s Alliance Fund. John has a BA from St Lawrence University, a Masters in Public Administration from UNC-Chapel Hill, and has worked at National Institutes of Health for more than 30 years. (Opinions expressed are his alone.)
Friday, September 10, 12:00-1:15 pm Eastern
*VIRTUAL ONLY*
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