An exciting component of the ROUTES Program is the opportunity for Scholars to attend a domestic conference related to their research or the environmental health field. ROUTES Scholars Bolanle Akinsulire and Diandra Grinage, who work with ROUTES Co-Director Helen Suh to research air pollution in Boston, attended the 13th International Conference on Urban Health in April 1-4 in San Francisco. This year’s conference programming focused on Urban Health as it relates to place-based geographical issues.
Read on to hear about the experience in their own words!
Diandra Grinage
Through my participation in ROUTES, I was able to attend the 13th International Conference on Urban Health at the Hotel Nikko in San Francisco. I attended several presentations and many plenaries throughout the week hosted by leading experts from the World Health Organization, Novartis, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. A key theme that surfaced throughout the conference was the importance of scientific collaboration amongst scientists and between scientists and the communities, they conduct their research. Attending the conference has broadened my knowledge of the various research topics that exist in both the public and environmental health fields and has greatly increased my interest in urban health.
Bolanle Akinsulire
Through ROUTES, I was given a tremendous opportunity to attend the 13th International Conference on Urban Health in San Francisco California, which focused on place as a context for health. Attending this conference was enlightening, inspiring and humbling. There were various topics of discussion that I found intriguing, such as “Health Equity and Place Based-Interventions and Social Determinants of Health,” which examined how one’s social, family, and community networks affect their health. I was able to attend other presentations that highlighted how increased jobs improved health due to better housing and access, and how governance and policy leaders play an essential role in urban planning and urban design. I was also able to attend a special session conducted by a representative of the World Health Organization who spoke about “Urban HEART,” which is the organization’s equity assessment and response tool used to identify priority health inequities and response strategies. I feel that I gained a unique perspective from interacting with professionals, hearing about their research, and how they were able to craft their careers to explore different areas in public health. This conference heightened my interest in health and gave me insight on how to be a “game-changer” in the healthfield.
Conference attendance is an important feature of the ROUTES program. Visit our News page to find out what other events our Scholars have attended.