GWSPH Faculty Testify on Racism as a Public Health Crisis


November 5, 2020

Milken Institute School of Public Health, Sumner M. Redstone Global Center for Prevention and Wellness

On Thursday, November 5, 2020, several members of the Milken Institute School of Public Health testified before the DC Council in support of a resolution to declare racism as a public health crisis in the District. The proposed resolution would denounce racism in all its forms and declare racism as a public health crisis, promoting a lens of racial equity through all policies approved by the District of Columbia Council and enhance educational efforts aimed at understanding, addressing and dismantling racism and how it affects the delivery of human and social services, economic development and public safety.

Remarks at the public roundtable were provided by: Amanda Castel, MD MPH - Professor, Department of Epidemiology; William Dietz, MD PhD - Director of the Sumner M. Redstone Global Center for Prevention and Wellness; Wendy Ellis, DrPH - Assistant Professor and Director of the Center for Community Resilience; Carlos Rodriguez-Diaz, PhD - Associate Professor, Department of Prevention and Community Health; and Amita Vyas, PhD, MHS - Associate Professor and Director of the Maternal and Child Health Program in the Department of Prevention and Community Health.

Watch the archived hearing here.