Expertise and experience:
1. Advising and mentoring Amherst College students and young alumni who seek to explore and pursue careers in health.
2. Teaching (until December 2010 at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts, and as adjunct lecturer at UMassAmherst School of Public Health), mentoring, advising, dialogue, organizing, advocating, and experience to learn, practice, and pursue health in all its dimesnions. Has included courses on health disparities, and cultural and linguistic competence,
internships, independent study, research, seminars to build leadership capacity of young people and future public health work force.
3.
Synthesizing research on social determinants of health, resilience, traumatic childhood experiences, racism, chronic stress, and conditions for productive dialogue that will have a significant impact on future public health practice.
3. Translating this research into humane MCH and public health practice to improve the health of women and children, with systems that honor families, communities, and cultures.
4. Integrating cultural understanding and respect as a key strategy to end health disparities.
5. Changing the language of public health and medicine to better reflect our ideals and purpose.
6. Bringing multiple stakeholders together to untangle complex public health challenges and take collaborative action to solve them.

Service
1. Inspiring a new generation of leaders in public health and service through a wide range of local, national, and global opportunities.
2.
Until January 2011, consultation to individuals, communities, organizations to build capacity in the above, by
a) Inspiring keynotes, presentations, workshops.
b) Organizing forums to build essential but previously unlikely partnerships.
c) Serving as catalyst for intergenerational and cross-cultural dialogue.
c) Writing papers and grants.
3. Organization and facilitation of interactive meetings with broad stakeholder participation to unite diverse parties and spark action to create public health equity.

For more information, contact:
raaronson69@amherst.edu


"A smile is the light in the window of your face, which tells people that your heart is at home."
- Kolawole Bankole, M.D, M.S

Monday, May 18, 2009

Amherst Public Health Collaborative May 2009

By Richard Aronson

As the academic year winds down, it's time to celebrate the creation of the Amherst College Public Health Collaborative and to honor the graduating seniors who have played a leadership role in its founding and initial events: Jodie Simms, Annah Kuriakose, Romain Cames, Surya Kundu, and Katerina Byanova. Also, many thanks to the Amherst Career Center, the Center for Community Engagement, the Five-College Culture, Health, and Science Program, the University of Massachusetts Amherst Public Health Club, Tapestry Health, Holyoke Health Center, Teen Clinic at Wm. J. Dean Technical High School, Big Brothers Big Sisters Hampshire County, Providence Prenatal and Women's Health Center in Holyoke, and many others. We are delighted that Jamie Cohen '11, Keemi Ereme '11, Lili Ferguson '10, Ethan Balgley '12, and Sarah Schear '12 have already taken on a leadership role for the transition to next year.

Here is the Mission Statement of the Collaborative:
The Amherst College Public Health Collaborative (ACPHC) brings together college students, faculty, staff, alumni, community partners and health care providers in order to engage in and promote issues of public health and social justice in the Pioneer Valley. ACPHC seeks to create long-term partnerships between community organizations and students, create a resource network for students interested in the field and highlight the importance of public health in the wider community. By including all relevant stakeholders, ACPHC aims to positively affect the health of the people living in the Pioneer valley, as well as to deepen the relationships between college students and local community by meaningfully engaging students in community health projects and by providing a means for students to apply classroom knowledge to the world they live in.

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