To give you a taste of the inspiring lectures and discussions we have in store this weekend at our first ever hilltop, here are some quick blurbs on our keynote speakers:
Dr. Rishi Rattan: “Haiti in the Time of Cholera: The United Nations, Environmental Responsibility, and the Deadliest Cholera Epidemic of Modern Times”
Rishi Rattan is Advocacy Chair for Physicians for Haiti, a non-profit organization focused on collaborative, sustainable continuing medical education for Haitian physicians, nurses, and dentists. Dr. Rattan advises governments of Haiti and its allies on building a national water infrastructure in Haiti. He also provides technical expertise to the United Nations on its role and responsibility to improve Haiti’s water security. His briefings are used to revise UN medical screening, waste, and sanitation protocols. His findings have been published in various collections and presented internationally. He is completing his surgical training in Boston.
Perry Dougherty: “Cultivating Resilience for Sustainable Service”
Perry Dougherty is the Associate Director of Still Harbor. She has a background in corporate training and development as well as non-profit management. In her previous professional roles, she has designed organization-wide retreats, external communications, and mission-building materials, and served an important role for internal capacity buildings. In each of her roles, Perry brings an informed perspective on pedagogy, which she studied at Washington University in St. Louis in receiving her bachelor’s degree in Social Thought and Analysis with a specialization in the Sociology of Education. Perry has a personal interest in the intersection of spirituality and creative writing as well as a passion for community engagement.
Dr. David Egilman and Dr. Hiba Salih: “Power and Health: Who Has It, Who Needs It and How We Change It”
David Egilman, MD, MPH, is a clinical professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the Brown University Alpert Medical School. He is the founder and chair of the board of the Massachusetts-based non-profit, Global Health through Education Training and Service, an organization dedicated to improving health in developing countries through innovations in education and service. Dr. Egilman has published widely on issues of occupational health and safety, including the corporate corruption of science in the asbestos, beryllium, pharmaceutical, and other industries. He is frequently asked to serve as an expert witness by both plaintiffs and defendants in toxic tort and other litigation.
Dr. Hiba Salih, MD, MPH, is a physician from Khartoum, Sudan. She has worked in many countries in North Africa and the Middle East, and first began working with GHETS in 2011 through a GHETS-funded mini-grant project implemented in South Sudan. The project assisted community health workers in South Sudan on maternal and child health issues through song, dance, and drama. She will be working with GHETS on implementing community-oriented primary care models and developing family medicine curricula with GHETS partners in Africa and the Middle East.
Dr. Michael Rich: “Global Health and the Secret Sauce for Health System Strengthening”
Michael Rich, MD, MPH, has led Partners In Health’s first African project since 2005. In rural Rwanda he has overseen the overhaul of an abandoned hospital site into a fully functioning one. Dr. Rich is also a leader in the global effort to control MDR-TB. The primary author of DOTS-Plus at a Glance: Protocols and Guidelines for the Treatment and Management of Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis, he is a Member of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Green Light Committee Working Group on DOTS-Plus for MDR-TB, which gives access to preferentially low-priced second-line drugs to treat MDR-TB and technical support to the countries applying for those drugs. Dr. Rich also served as Editor-in-Chief for the WHO’s new standards for care and treatment of the disease in 2006.
And here is more information about our breakout session speakers:
Julia Doucet, RN: “Reaching Out to the Hard to Reach: Outreach at the Open Door Clinic”
Julia Doucet is a Case Manager and Outreach Nurse. She runs health outreach clinics throughout Addison County, especially targeting migrant farm workers. Her clinics include vaccination clinics, basic health screenings, and dental screenings. She is conversational in Spanish and has lived and worked in Mexico and Central America.
Susan Schoenfeld: “Tuberculosis: A Local Perspective on a Global Health Issue”
Susan Schoenfeld is the Deputy State Epidemiologist at the Vermont Department of Health. She has worked as an infectious disease epidemiologist since 1989, focusing on issues such as food-borne disease outbreak investigations, surveillance for vaccine-preventable diseases, and public health response to emerging infectious disease and emergency preparedness issues. Susan has been Vermont’s TB Program Manager since 2005 and Refugee Health Coordinator since 2008. She is a registered nurse, and has a Master of Science in Public Health degree from the University of Massachusetts. She is a Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Vermont.
Heather Neuwirth: “Linking Social Entrepreneurship and Global Health”
After graduating from Middlebury College in 2008 with a degree in English and American Literatures and Italian, Heather lived as an interpreter and worker on WWOOF vineyards and farms in Italy and spent two years teaching middle school in Milwaukee. Realizing that her passion came from supporting opportunities and education for youth outside of the classroom, she served as the Director of the 2011 World Youth Peace Summit. Heather also volunteers as a member of the Grab the Torch 30/30 Leadership Council and as a volunteer counselor at The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp. This year, she returns to Middlebury as the Associate Director of Operations and Development of the Center for Social Entrepreneurship.
Pamela Berenbaum: “Data: The Devil’s in the Details”
Pam Berenbaum has a master’s degree in health policy and management from the Harvard School of Public Health. She spent ten years working as an epidemiologist for the Vermont Department of Health, specializing in infectious disease surveillance and all-hazards emergency planning. At Middlebury College she has taught courses in public health policy and disaster public health. She has also held a long list of volunteer positions including member and chair of the Board of Directors of WomenSafe, Inc., school board member, Spanish-speaking driver for the Open Door Clinic, treasurer of Addison County Havurah, and Girl Scout Leader.
Charlie MacCormack: “Professional Development in a Growing Field: Marketing Yourself in Global Health”
Charlie is a 1962 graduate of Middlebury with extensive experience in development work. In addition to his work with Middlebury, he currently serves as executive chair of the Millennium Development Goal Health Alliance, a private entity created to support United Nations Special Envoy Ray Chambers and other world leaders in achieving the UN’s “Every Woman, Every Child” health goals for newborns, children, and women. He is also a senior fellow at InterAction and a number of other think tanks, helping to create a series of summits on how private entities can better contribute to global health and development.
Dr. Kacy McKinney: “Research’s Role in Development Work: Using Narratives and Information in Global Health”
Dr. McKinney is a Geography professor who recently received her PhD from the University of Washington in Seattle. This semester she is teaching Food Geographies and Geographic Perspectives on International Development. She is particularly interested in rural poverty and how that intersects with environmental concerns and development work.
John Sayles: “Gleaning Good Health: Produce in the U.S. Charitable Food System”
John Sayles has been CEO at the Vermont Foodbank since March 2009, after serving ten years in leadership positions at the State Agency of Natural Resources and the Department of Public Service. John chairs the Feeding America Policy Engagement and Advocacy Committee which develops national policy direction for more than 200 food banks nationwide. He was presented the 2012 Dick Goebel Public Service Award by Feeding America for contributions in public policy development. He is a graduate of the University of Baltimore School of Law and Frostburg State University.
Jessie Cronan: “Sparking Sustainable Change at a Community Level”
Jessie joined the Gardens for Health team in June 2013, as GHI’s Executive Director. Jessie came to Gardens for Health with a range of experiences in international development broadly, and in Africa specifically. As a Princeton-in-Africa fellow with the Tanzanian Children’s Fund in 2007-08, Jessie spent 18 months living and working in rural Tanzania to improve the educational outcomes of primary school students. While pursuing her Master’s Degree in Public Policy, Jessie worked as a consultant with the Aceh Women’s League–an Indonesian NGO dedicated to promoting women’s political empowerment–and with the Network of Women Leaders–a group of public and private sector leaders in the Horn of Africa. Most recently, Jessie worked as the Strategy and New Business Development Coordinator with TechnoServe, an NGO dedicated to finding business solutions to poverty, in Swaziland. Jessie has a Bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and a Master’s degree from the Harvard Kennedy School.
Abe Collins: “Agriculture Management for Topsoil Formation, Environmental Security, and Human Health”
Abe Collins is a cattle grazier, the president of Collins Grazing, and a co-founder of the Soil Carbon Coalition.