The Minority Student Caucus held its 38th annual Minority Health Conference last Friday and brought out numerous professionals in the field, including speaker Chandra Ford, a professor at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health.
Co-organizer of the event and second-year masters student, Marisa Martini, said the conference has changed both in increasing its attendance and its scope in the past year.
“We also have an on-campus group viewing and so that’s to expand the reach of the conference, since we are completely sold out here at the Friday Center and we didn’t want to stifle the growth of the conference,” Martini said.
Chancellor Carol Folt spoke about how the conference is one of the oldest student-led conferences on minority health and how it has grown since 1977 to include more people and a diverse range of conversations.
“As the field of public health continues to evolve and grow, this conference is a very important way to address health disparities and minority health issues in this state, across the nation and across the world,” said Folt.
Additionally, Folt said the theme of this year's conference is implemental in increasing discussions across different groups.
“This conference theme and focus, 'Systems of Power: Recalling Our Past, Restructuring Our Future,' is a very important opportunity for interdisciplinary discussion, engagement and emphasis on science and evidence-based decision making to help advance health equity,” she said.
Ford spoke about how both racism and the social political atmosphere affect public health.
