HEALTHCARE

This group would welcome connections with any interested classmates.

Debbie Winn '73 and Stan Mark '73 met this past August with about 8 other classmates, most of whom came on board as a result of indicating interest during the reunion, to determine next steps for the ClassACT HR73 health focused group. Other group members, including board member Ron Dieckmann '73, welcomed the new participants. At the meeting, the group determined that the areas of interest were:

• Global Health
• Pandemic Issues and Vaccines
• Reproductive Issues
• Healthcare Inequities
• Mental Health
• Aging and Chronic Diseases

It was decided to create subgroups for each area of interest. Debbie and Stan are currently soliciting chairs for these groups--a task they hope to have accomplished by this fall.

Once leadership for each subgroup is established, anyone interested in joining one or more of the health focused working groups will be welcomed. Stay tuned for more information as plans and projects develop. If you are interested in becoming involved in one or more of these topic focused subgroups, please let us know at classacthr73@gmail.com.

CLASSACT LINKS TWO '73 GRADS FOR A JOINT HEALTHCARE PROJECT IN HAITI

Two ’73 Harvard doctors are bringing their nonprofit healthcare groups together for a physician training and software giveaway this summer in the country of Haiti. Dr. Ron Dieckmann and his California-based KidsCareEverywhere organization has joined forces through ClassACT with Dr. Dan Scoppetta and Grand Anse Surgery Project for the first-time exercise in the city of Jeremie, where the project is based. The project will be completely virtual and conducted with Zoom technology.

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CommUnity Cares

CommUnity Cares envisions a future where health and wellbeing are central to the Black American experience. By fusing medical education and access with cultural resonance, we are a gateway to consistent high, quality healthcare.

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THE COLE RESOURCE CENTER

The Cole Resource Center is an education and recovery community of peers and family members, dedicated to helping people affected by mental health challenges lead full and healthy lives.

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KIDS CARE EVERYWHERE

KCE is a California charity engaged in donating technology to the low income world. Our mission is saving children's lives and transforming community medical delivery systems, by empowerment of physicians with multi-media, state-of-the-art pediatric software, and through training of young professionals to become future global healthcare leaders.

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OSILIGI-HOPE FOUNDATION

The Osiligi-Hope Foundation recognizes the value of empowering females to assist their partners in addressing the challenges to their way of life and to contribute their knowledge, skill and perspective in shaping a well- balanced future which secures the best of their heritage with formal education and modern technology. The Foundation has championed female empowerment by speaking out against the practice of female circumcision and encouraging advanced education for young women.

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SALIH SELF DEVELOPMENT CENTER

The Salih Self-Development Center teaches area children vocational skills, they will be able to find jobs and learn self-sufficiency. It also provides necessities and medical supplies to the community. The Center already made progress towards a better future for Kumasi. Ibrahim Anyars Salih, the President and Founder of the Salih Self-Development Center, grew up in the Aboabo District of Kumasi and knows the challenges that face the children of Kumasi. He saw that children lacked vocational skills and education. He was fortunate to have the opportunity to come to the United States, but has never forgotten his friends who continue to face poverty in Ghana.

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STAYING ENGAGED AS WE AGE: A ROADMAP

December 11, 2024

To provide perspectives on developing strategies to stay engaged throughout adulthood, ClassACT HR73 presented a forum on Aging, Loneliness, and Isolation. The distinguished panel included Dr. Laura Carstensen, Professor of Psychology and the Fairleigh S. Dickinson Jr. Professor in Public Policy Director at the Stanford Center on Longevity; Dr. Robert J. Waldinger ’73, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and author of the best-selling The Good Life: Lessons from the World’s Longest Scientific Study of Happiness; and Dr. Prentiss Taylor ’73, a primary care physician practicing at Advocate Health Care in Metro Chicago. Dr. Vivian Lewis ’73, Professor Emerita and former Vice Provost at the University of Rochester Medical Center, moderated the discussion.

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ADDRESSING ANXIETY & DEPRESSION IN YOUNG ADULTS: LEVERAGING WHAT WORKS

March 1, 2023

ClassACT HR73 organized a discussion of this crisis and these promising opportunities. The forum was moderated by Deborah (Debbie) Winn, HR73, Ph.D., retired epidemiologist at the National Cancer Institute, who was joined by panelists Eugene V. Beresin, MD, MA, Executive Director of The Clay Center for Young Healthy Minds at Massachusetts General Hospital, Professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and senior educator in child and adolescent psychiatry at MGH; Mary Lyons-Hunter, PsyD, Unit Chief of Behavioral Health at the MGH Chelsea Health Care Center; and Lucy Ogbu-Nwobodo, MD, MS, MAS, Asst. Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco.

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HEALTH DISPARITIES AND THE COVID-19 VACCINE

May 20, 2021

ClassACT examined the impacts of the virus on racial and ethnic groups and among under-served populations across the globe and within the United States. Dr. Johnson Lightfoote ’73, Chair, Commission for Women and Diversity, American College of Radiology, and Dr. Deborah (Debbie) Winn ’73, Retired Acting Director, Division of Cancer Prevention, National Cancer Institute, co-moderated our distinguished panel, composed of leading experts on vaccine development, international health strategy and policy, and the elimination of racial health disparities: Dr. Uché Blackstock ’99, MD ’05, Founder and CEO of Advancing Health Equity; Dr. Kenneth Chien ’73, Distinguished Professor of the Swedish Research Council, Karolinska Institutet and Co-Founder of Moderna, Inc; and Nina Schwalbe ’88, Principal at Spark Street Advisors, a global health think tanks. 

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HEALTH DISPARITIES: LESSONS FROM COVID-19

July 30, 2020

This forum focused on lessons COVID-19 taught us about health disparities in America. Our distinguished panel was moderated by ClassACT Board Member Dr. Vivian Lewis '73, and featured experts in medicine, healthcare delivery and government policy: Dr. Mary Bassett '74, Dr. Prentiss Taylor '73, and Al Franken '73.

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WHY AM I SO CRANKY, SAD, AND WORRIED? MENTAL HEALTH IN THE AGE OF COVID-19

May 7, 2020

For its third ClassACT ZOOM Forum on Thursday, May 7, 2020, ClassACT HR73 assembled a remarkable group of  HR73 mental health professionals to share their insights about the effects of the pandemic on our mental health and to provide suggestions for effective coping strategies. Psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, and Zen priest Dr. Robert Waldinger '73 moderated a panel composed of child/adolescent/adult psychiatrist and adult psychoanalyst Patty Potter '73, recently retired school social worker Henrietta Wigglesworth Lodge '73.

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THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC WITH JONO QUICK

March 26, 2020

Global health security expert Dr. Jono Quick '73 shared his insights into the current pandemic during our first ClassACT Zoom Forum.

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Below, we highlight classmates and initiatives whose work fits into the category of Healthcare. Scroll through and see if you recognize anyone! And if you're interested in participating in any of the initiatives below, send us an email at classacthr73@gmail.com and we will connect you.