Episode 42: Conversation with Dean Michelle A. Williams

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More than two years into the global pandemic, COVID-19 continues to impact the ways we work, live, and interact, and new variants of the virus continue to emerge. While the COVID pandemic has impacted everyone, health disparities and inequities have been magnified by the pandemic. What are the costs of these disparities from a public health standpoint? How are these costs amplified in the face of the pandemic?

Asia Society Hong Kong Center continues to bring you regular updates on the COVID-19 situation in Hong Kong, and around the world. We are pleased to host public health experts and internationally renowned specialists as they share the latest facts and evidence-based findings on the global pandemic. Over the past two years, this groundbreaking series has featured over 41 episodes and welcomed more than 250,000 online views.

In this episode, S. Alice Mong, Executive Director of Asia Society Hong Kong Center will host Dean Michelle A. Williams, Dean of the Faculty, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and Angelopoulos Professor in Public Health and International Development, to discuss health disparities and the Covid pandemic. What has been the impact to different ethnicities and genders? How has Covid amplified longstanding health inequities? How can we overcome these inequities on a regional and globally scale? What is the role of preventative health and wellness for health disparities? Beyond COVID, what are other threats to population health?

Dean Michelle A. Williams, SM ’88, ScD ’91, is Dean of the Faculty, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and Angelopoulos Professor in Public Health and International Development, a joint faculty appointment at the Harvard Chan School and Harvard Kennedy School. She is an internationally renowned epidemiologist and public health scientist, an award-winning educator, and a widely recognized academic leader. Prior to becoming Dean, she was Professor and Chair of the Department of Epidemiology at the Harvard Chan School and Program Leader of the Population Health and Health Disparities Research Programs at Harvard’s Clinical and Translational Sciences Center. Dean Williams previously had a distinguished career at the University of Washington School of Public Health. Her scientific work places special emphasis on the areas of reproductive, perinatal, pediatric, and molecular epidemiology. Dean Williams has published more than 500 scientific articles and was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2016. In 2020, she was awarded the Ellis Island Medal of Honor and recognized by PR Week as one of the top 50 health influencers of the year. The Dean has an undergraduate degree in biology and genetics from Princeton University, a master’s in civil engineering from Tufts University, and master’s and doctoral degrees in epidemiology from the Harvard Chan School.

The views and opinions expressed are those of the speakers and participants and, unless expressly stated to the contrary, do not reflect the opinion, position or official policy of Asia Society Hong Kong, its members, or its committees. Asia Society Hong Kong does not endorse or approve, and assumes no responsibility for the content of the information presented.