CCHE hosted the 8th Annual Health Equity Leadership Institute (HELI) in collaboration with our colleagues at the University of Maryland College Park Center for Health Equity, June 11-15, 2018.
The Institute aims to support junior investigators conducting health equity research to help them attain tenure track academic appointments. It is intentionally designed to foster professional networking for participating scholars and to create a collaborative learning environment for Institute alumni, scholars and faculty.
The 2018 HELI Scholar Cohort included 24 researchers; 8 from UW-Madison, 2 from Milwaukee, and 14 from across the country. The Scholars convened for 5 days of intensive programming at UW Memorial Union and had the opportunity to meet and engage with local health equity experts and special guests. Dr. Karriem Watson, Director of Community-Engaged Research, UI Cancer Center, University of Illinois at Chicago, shared an energizing keynote address at the UW Welcome Reception at Tripp Commons on Tuesday, June 12th. Dr. Carl Hill, Director of the Office of Special Populations in the National Institute on Aging at the NIH provided a closing keynote address on Friday, June 15th.
HELI 2018 included more interdisciplinary engagement across the UW-Madison campus than ever before. The exceptional lineup of expert instructors included: Dr. Nichelle Cobb from the Health Sciences IRB, Dr. Amanda Eggen and Dr. Noelle LoConte from the Carbone Cancer Center, Ms. Gina Green-Harris from the Center for Community Engagement and Health Partnerships, Dr. David Pate from the Institute for Research on Poverty, Ms. Danielle Yancey from the Native American Center for Health Professions, and many others! Invaluable community contributions came from Mr. Dean Seneca, Director of the Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Epidemiology Center, Ms. Brenda Gonzalez, Diversity Manager at Agrace, and Mr. Al Castro and Ms. Mirtha Sosa Pacheco from the United Community Center in Milwaukee. See the full HELI 2018 instructor list here.
Our team was especially excited to welcome five HELI alumni back to Madison to serve as instructors: Dr. Carmen Valdez (HELI ’12), Dr. Olayinka Shiyanbola (HELI ‘14), Dr. Michelle Johnson-Jennings (HELI ’11), Dr. Tisha Felder (HELI ’11) and Dr. Charles Rogers (HELI ‘16).
Special thanks to HELI’s primary funder and biggest supporter, SMPH Dean Bob Golden. Without Dean Golden’s support, and the commitment of UW-ICTR leaders Dr. Marc Drezner and Dr. Allan Brasier, HELI would not be looking ahead to its 10 year anniversary in 2020! Additional sponsorship and support for HELI 2018 was provided by a UW Division of Diversity, Equity & Educational Achievement Innovation grant and support through the National Research Mentoring Network (NRMN).
HELI NEWS!
Check out the online coverage & pictures of HELI 2018 via the #HELI2018 hashtag on Twitter, the multiple local news stories – UW SMPH, Wisconsin State Journal, Wisconsin Health News, Wisconsin Business.com – and Dr. Dorothy Edwards’ Channel 3 TV interviews!
HELI 2019
The dates for the next HELI are June 17-21, 2019 in Madison, WI.