Community Grand Rounds on October 22

University of Michigan Professor to Discuss Health Equity

Professionals in medicine, allied health fields, social work, as well as government leaders and community members are invited to attend a free seminar, “Weathering and Health Inequity: Letting the Epigenome Out of the Bottle Without Losing Sight of the Structural Origins of Population Health.” The seminar features keynote speaker Arline T. Geronimus, ScD, on Tuesday, Oct. 22, from 1–3 p.m. in the Howard Performing Arts Center at Andrews University, located at 4160 E. Campus Circle Drive in Berrien Springs. The event is part of a three-year series titled “Community Grand Rounds: Healing the Trauma of Racism.”

A professor at the University of Michigan School of Public Health and Institute for Social Research and member of the National Academy of Medicine, Dr. Geronimus originated the concept of “weathering” to explain her observation that African American women’s health declines in early adulthood as a result of their cumulative exposure to socioeconomic disadvantage. This concept is now widely seen as critical to understanding the sources and mechanisms of racial and ethnic health inequity. During her presentation she will discuss weathering and the ways that structurally rooted biological and psychosocial processes shape health inequities in our society.

Community Grand Rounds is a collaborative effort between Spectrum Health Lakeland and The Todman Family Foundation. Preregistration for this event is required by visiting spectrumhealthlakeland.org/cgr.