VCU news

By Brian McNeill

A symposium at Virginia Commonwealth University will explore the topic of health disparities, both globally and locally, and will feature discussions on universal health coverage, food insecurity, obesity, and mental and behavioral health.

The VCU Global Health Symposium on Health Disparities will be held Friday, April 1, from 9 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. in the Larrick Student Center, Court End Ballroom A, 900 Turpin St.

The symposium will bring together students and professionals in the health sciences and people from the Richmond area to draw attention to global health challenges that also affect local communities, organizers said.

The symposium is being presented by the VCU Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program in the Department of Psychology in the College of Humanities and Sciences. The program, which is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, brings accomplished professionals from selected developing countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, the Middle East and Europe to VCU and 15 other U.S. universities at a midpoint in their careers for a year of study and related practical professional experiences.

“Our hope is that the symposium will increase participants’ knowledge about a broad range of global health issues with a particular focus on the causes and consequences of disparities in access to and provision of health care services,” said program coordinator J. Randy Koch, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Department of Psychology and the Center for the Study of Tobacco Products.

The symposium aims to raise awareness and discuss global health issues that create health disparities, the underlying determinants of these health disparities with a focus on health equity, and potential pathways and pitfalls for establishing health equity.

The event will be free and open to the public, though preregistration is required. To register, and to find the full agenda and list of participants, visithttp://wp.vcu.edu/globalhealth/.