David R. Williams, Ph.D., M.P.H., will be the featured speaker at the 2016 Fairfield University Marion Peckham Egan School of Nursing and Health Studies Annual Lecture. The event will take place on Nov. 9 at 5:30 p.m. at the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts. Dr. Williams’ lecture, entitled “Social Inequalities in Health and What Can We Do About Them,” is sponsored by the McKeen Fund.
Williams’ lecture will provide an overview of the extensive and persistent socioeconomic, racial and ethnic disparities in healthcare. Drawing on scientific research, the presentation will focus on interventions within the healthcare system and interventions in factors such as housing, neighborhood conditions, economic well-being and investing in early childhood development, which can lead to improvements in health and reduced social inequities.
Dr. David Williams is the Florence and Laura Norman Professor of Public Health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Professor of African and African American Studies and Sociology at Harvard University. He is an internationally recognized authority on social influences on health, author of more than 400 scientific papers, and has been involved in the development of U.S. health policy at the national level.
Williams has served on the National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics and on eight committees for the National Academy of Medicine, including the committee that produced the Unequal Treatment report. In addition to holding positions in professional organizations, such as the American Sociological Association, the American Public Health Association, and Academy Health, Williams has also served as a member of the MacArthur Foundation’s Research Network on Socioeconomic Status and Health. He was the staff director of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Commission to Build a Healthier America and a key scientific advisor to the award-winning PBS film series, Unnatural Causes: Is inequality Making Us Sick?
A recipient of numerous honors and awards, Williams has been recognized as one of the top 10 Most Cited Social Scientists in the world and one of the World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds by Thompson Reuters.
The event is free and open to the public, but tickets are required.
Please call the Quick Center box office at (203) 254-4000, ext. 4010.
Media Contact: Susan Cipollaro, scipollaro@fairfield.edu, 203-254-4000, ext. 2726