Events planned for National Public Health Week

Grand Valley's Public Health Society and the Department of Public Health will celebrate National Public Health Week April 2-8 with on-campus events and speakers.

This year's theme is "Healthiest Nation 2030: Changing Our Future Together." Information will be shared through events and webinars on a variety of topics, including the effects of injury and violence on health, ways to prevent disease transmission and how to advocate for everyone's right to a healthy life.

Abdul El-Sayed, a Detroit-area physician, epidemiologist and public health expert, will give a keynote address April 5, from noon-1 p.m. on the Pew Grand Rapids Campus.

El-Sayed graduated from the University of Michigan in 2007, and delivered the student commencement speech alongside former President Bill Clinton. He became a Rhodes Scholar, earning a doctorate from Oxford University and a medical degree from Columbia University. As a public health professor, he became an internationally recognized expert in health policy and health inequalities.

At age 30, El-Sayed became the youngest health official of a major American city when he rebuilt Detroit's Health Department after it was privatized during the city's bankruptcy. As health director, he was responsible for the health and safety of more than 670,000 people.

NPHW events include:

Monday, April 2

1-3 p.m.: A keynote address from U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams. 

Tuesday, April 3

1-2 p.m.: Webinar: Exploring the Environmental Health Playbook: Safe Drinking Water, Healthy Housing and Clean Air. 

Presenters include: Surili Sutaria Patel, deputy director of the Center for Public Health Policy; Tom Nelter, chemicals policy director for the Environmental Defense Fund; Amanda Reddy, executive director of the National Center for Healthy Housing; Lyndsay Moseley Alexander, vice president and director of the American Lung Association's Healthy Air Campaign

2-4 p.m.: MPH Table Chat. Meet Ranelle Brew, Master of Public Health program director, in the Kirkhof Center lobby on the Allendale Campus. Learn more about public health and the GVSU-MPH program.

5-7 p.m.: Midwest Interprofessional Practice, Education and Research Center Health Expo; Grand River Room in the Kirkhof Center. This year's theme is "8 Dimensions of Student Wellness."

Wednesday, April 4

2-3 p.m.: National Public Health Week Twitter Chat - #NPHWchat. Follow NPHW on Twitter. Use the official hashtag #NPHWchat and tag @NPHW in responses.

Thursday, April 5

noon-1 p.m.: Keynote speaker Dr. Abdul El-Sayed will discuss the continuing importance of public health in communities. This event is free and open to the public. DeVos 109 Building D on the Pew Grand Rapids Campus. Light snacks will be provided. Register to attend here. Watch via live stream here.

1-3 p.m.: NPHW Student Day; held at the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University, featuring American Public Health Association Executive Director Georges Benjamin and Milken Institute School of Public Health Dean Lynn Goldman, for a conversation in front of a live audience about the future of public health and the skills and competencies that current students need. Students from around the country can join via Twitter. Follow @NPHW.

5-6 p.m.: Sexual Assault Panel by Promoting Interprofessional Education for Students (PIPES); Hager Auditorium (CHS 119). This event is free and open to Grand Rapids area undergraduate or graduate students enrolled in a health-related academic program, as well as faculty and staff members. Food and beverages will be provided. RSVP here.

For more information about National Public Health Week.