Announcement
March 7, 2012

2012 Lucille Austin Lecture
Presented by Dr. Shiriki Kumanyika '69


Obesity, Societies, and Population Health: What Shall We Do About Food?

Food, an essential element in the lives of every living being, has become a complex web of policy issues and challenges that are at the core of numerous other population health and social welfare issues. In this talk Dr. Kumanyika will highlight the nature of food issues as they relate to obesity and other aspects of health in the US and globally, health disparities experienced by socially disadvantaged populations, community development, and environmental impact.

CUSSW alumna Shiriki Kumanyika '69, PhD, MPH, is Professor of Epidemiology in the Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology and in the Nutrition Section of the Department of Pediatrics, and Associate Dean for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine. She is founder and chair of the African American Collaborative Obesity Research Network (AACORN), a national network that seeks to improve the quality, quantity, and effective translation of research on obesity and related issues in African American communities. Dr. Kumanyika has extensive experience in advisory roles related to public health and nutrition policy. In the international sphere, Dr. Kumanyika has served on the World Cancer Research Fund Expert Panel on Food, Nutrition and the Prevention of Cancer, chaired or co-chaired several World Health Organization (WHO) panels on nutrition and obesity issues, and co-chairs the London based International Obesity Task Force.

The Lucille N. Austin Visiting Scholars Program was established to honor the contributions of Lucille N. Austin an esteemed member of the CUSSW faculty for more than 30 years. This Program has been made possible, in part, by a generous contribution in memory of Jane R. Heimerdinger and a grant by the Kenworthy-Swift Foundation.

RSVP for the event here.

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About CUSSW (www.socialwork.columbia.edu)
For 112 years, the Columbia University School of Social Work has been a leader in the education of professionals for careers in practice, policy, and administration. Located in New York City, the School offers a master’s and a doctoral program which are nationally and internationally recognized for their excellence. With a signature curriculum that features multidisciplinary courses taught by leading scholars and practitioners and rich field education, CUSSW continues to be at the forefront of clinical and community practice, social policy, and social enterprise administration education, research and innovation in the 21st Century.