Join the Center on the Developing Child for a discussion on Monday, December 11 (9 AM PT)   that will dive into the impact of racism on child development and lifelong health. Our panel of experts across various fields will bring their latest research, exploring how racism gets “under the skin” to impact children’s development as well as contributes to unequal access to opportunity in the places where children live, grow, play, and learn. Together, we’ll strategize on solutions that promote healthy child development and work to dismantle systemic barriers.

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Moderator:  Stephanie M. Curenton, PhD
Dr. Curenton is a professor in the Education Leadership and Policy Studies Department at Boston University Wheelock College of Education & Human Development and the director of the Center on the Ecology of Early Development (CEED).

Panelists:

Nathaniel Harnett, PhD
Dr. Harnett is Director of the Neurobiology of Affective and Traumatic Experiences Laboratory at McLean Hospital and an Assistant Professor in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Harnett’s research is focused on understanding the neurobiological mechanisms that mediate susceptibility to trauma and stress related disorders.

Mavis Sanders, PhD, MA
Dr. Sanders, senior research scholar of Black children and families at Child Trends, leads an applied research agenda that advances racial equity and social justice. Before joining Child Trends in 2021, Dr. Sanders served as a professor of education and affiliate professor in the doctoral program in language, literacy, and culture at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC).

Natalie Slopen, ScD
Dr. Slopen is an Assistant Professor of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. As a social epidemiologist, her research focuses on social and contextual factors that shape childhood development and inequities in health.

The environment and caregiving relationships in the early postnatal period are critical to an infant’s development, with implications for physical, social-emotional, and neurocognitive development. Premature and medically vulnerable infants hospitalized in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) are biologically and neurologically more vulnerable and go through many stressors including some degree of separation from their parents, an intrusive and unnatural environment, and painful and distressing procedures. their parents, in turn, experience higher rates of psychological distress and can face challenges in establishing an optimal relationship with their babies in this setting. In this talk, Dr. Givrad will point out some of the ways we can think about promoting premature and medically vulnerable infants’ wellbeing.

Soudabeh Givrad, MD is a perinatal and infant psychiatrist and an Assistant Professor in Clinical Psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medicine. She is the director of the Maternal-Infant Psychiatry Program at Weill Cornell Medicine and the Perinatal and Infant Psychiatry Fellowship. She has expertise in treating psychiatric disorders during pregnancy and the postpartum period and works with families of infants and young children in parent-infant psychotherapy when families face issues with attachment, bonding, medical traumas, or other regulatory disorders of infancy and early childhood.

Academically, she has been working on bringing increased attention to psychiatric disorders during pregnancy and the postpartum period, and to increase awareness of the critical importance of supporting families of young infants to optimize their development and bringing a continuum of care from pre-conception to age 3 for families. She has also been working on increasing training opportunities in perinatal and infant mental health for mental health clinicians.

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It is vital that healthcare systems be able to provide equitable, gender-affirming care for all patients. This month’s Hot Topics in Practice will use the lens of a rural care network to explore strategies that can radically improve care for trans and gender nonconforming people.

In this hour-long seminar, Beau Ohlgren, MSc, Jefferson County Transgender Support Group leader, and Jackie Levin, MS, RN, Patient Advocate and Transgender Care Navigator, will focus on gender-affirming care strategies implemented at Jefferson Healthcare. This rural care network has been a leader in exploring unique approaches for providing successful, equitable care to trans and gender nonconforming patients. Beau and Jackie will articulate reasons for the value of gender-inclusive care, with a special emphasis placed on inclusive care training for all staff. They’ll identify barriers within facilities that can affect trans and gender nonconforming patients and will help describe a path forward to compassionate care for all.

Register today to learn strategies that can increase supports for gender-affirming care in our health systems.

IMPORTANT NOTES ABOUT HOT TOPICS

Speaker slides are posted on our website the morning of the webinar. Each session is recorded and made available by the next day. Audio is available through computer or by phone. Closed captioning will also be available during the webinar.

Hot Topics in Practice is a monthly webinar hosted by the Northwest Center for Public Health Practice. Guest speakers from local, state, tribal, and national organizations present on current issues affecting public health practice.

Up to 1 CPH recertification credit may be earned by viewing this webinar. Visit the National Board of Public Health Examiners to learn more.