21PHirst Signature Webinar Series
About
The 21PHirst Signature Series is an annual webinar, seminar, and talk initiative that virtually connects various thought leaders from New Jersey, across the United States, and around the world with the Rutgers School of Public Health community.
The series - developed to support the school’s core foundational areas of education, research, and community engagement - is guided by the principles of social justice and health equity, which inform the initiative’s annual theme.
Recent Speakers
Reproductive Justice (2023-2024)
Jennifer Reich, PhD, Professor, University of Colorado Denver
Watch Dr. Jennifer Reich's talk: Public Health, Abortion Access, and the Meanings of Personal Choice in the COVID Era
March 28, 2024
Dr. Reich examined the intersections between vaccine refusal and abortion politics. Drawing on more than 15 years of research on vaccine refusal, Dr. Reich explored how vaccine opponents draw on anti-abortion discourse to undermine confidence in immunization and public health programs.
Diana Greene Foster, PhD, Professor, University of California, San Francisco, 2023 MacArthur "Genius" Fellow
Consequences of the End of Roe: Lessons from the Turnaway Study
January 25, 2024
Dr. Foster described what is known about the change in access to abortion that resulted from the end of a federally protected right to abortion. Additionally, the consequences for people who are unable to access abortion based on findings from the UCSF Turnaway Study are detailed. Professor Diana Greene Foster concluded by describing the challenges of studying the consequences of abortion bans post-Dobbs.
Khiara Bridges, JD, PhD, Professor of Law, UC Berkeley School of Law
Race in the Roberts Court: Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization
November 9, 2023
UC Berkeley School of Law professor, Khiara M. Bridges, used the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Center, reversing Roe v. Wade, to discuss the Court's impoverished conceptualization of what “counts” as racism against people of color and how it is a strategy that the Court deploys to accomplish regressive ends.
Contact
For additional information or questions related to the series, contact the Office for Marketing and Communication.
Environmental Justice (2022-2023)
Debra Furr-Holden, PhD, Dean and Professor, NYU College of Global Public Health
Shawn M. LaTourette, Commissioner of Environmental Protection New Jersey
Melissa Miles, MA, Executive Director, New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance
Leah Thomas, Eco-communicator and Environmentalist, Green Girl Leah
COVID-19 Lessons Learned (2021-2022)
Oxiris Barbot, MD, Pediatrician; Former Commissioner, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
Watch Dr. Oxiris Barbot's talk:
Operationalizing Health Equity During a Crisis
Pamela Fessler, Former NPR News Correspondent; Author, Carville’s Cure: Leprosy, Stigma, and the Fight for Justice
Jonathan Holloway, PhD, President and Professor, Rutgers University.
Watch Dr. Jonathan Holloway's talk:
Mapping Value: Structural Racism and Health Consequences
Laura Magaña, PhD, MS, President & CEO, Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health.
Watch Dr. Laura Magaña talk:
Dismantling Racism in Academic Public Health: An ASPPH Framework
Paschal Nwako, PhD, MPH, Health Officer, Camden County, New Jersey.
Watch Dr. Paschal Nwako's talk:
Poor Health Outcomes Among Minorities During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Is this a surprise?
Barbara Rimer, DrPH, MPH, Distinguished Professor and Dean, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health.
Watch Dr. Barbara Rimer's talk:
Ending Racism from Inside a School of Public Health
André Sayegh , MA, Politician and Mayor, Paterson, New Jersey.
Watch André Sayegh's talk:
A 94% Vaccination Rate: Here’s How We Did it in Paterson
Jacquelyn Y. Taylor, PhD, PNP-BC, FAHA, FAAN, Helen F. Pettit Professor of Nursing, Columbia University School of Nursing
2020-2021
Linda Alexander, EdD, Chair, Diversity, and Inclusion Section, Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health
Amanda Graham, PhD, Chief of Innovations, Truth Initiative.
Watch Dr. Amanda Graham's talk:
Tobacco Cessation During a Pandemic
Thomas LaVeist, PhD, Dean and Weatherhead Presidential Chair, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine at Tulane University.
Watch Dr. Thomas LaVeist's talk:
From Exposure to Vaccination: The Role of Structural Racism in COVID-19Inequities
Judith Persichilli, RN, BSN, MA, Commissioner, New Jersey Department of Health
Whitney Pennington Rodgers, Journalist and Media Personality.
Watch Whitney Pennington Rodgers' talk:
Ali Rowhani-Rahbar, PhD, Bartley Dobb Professor for the Study and Prevention of Violence, University of Washington.
Watch Dr. Ali Rowhan-Rahbar's talk:
2019-2020
Till Bärnighausen, PhD, ScD, Alexander von Humboldt University Professor, Director of the Heidelberg Institute of Global Health, University of Heidelberg, Germany
Katherine Eban, Author and Journalist, Bottle of Lies