Until We Are All Equal: Advancing Equal Partnerships

The USC Institute on Inequalities in Global Health invites you to join us for the second of our 5th anniversary event series as we explore what it means to build equal partnerships in global health. This virtual panel discussion “Until We Are All Equal: Advancing Equal Partnerships,” will take place on Wednesday, October 2, at 9:00 am PDT/12:00 pm EDT/6:00 pm CEST.

We know that creating and sustaining equal partnerships requires long-term commitment to collaboration and decision making. With our partners, we at the USC Institute on Inequalities in Global Health are excited to jumpstart a conversation on how to build effective partnerships that seek to disrupt historical global health power imbalances. This one-hour virtual panel will reflect on what becomes possible when people and institutions commit to partnering and collaborating effectively across disciplines and geographies. Building sustainable, equitable partnerships, no matter the partner, is core to effective and meaningful global health research, policy, and education. Please join us to discuss the concepts, tools, and methods of equal partnership in global health, and practical approaches to collaboration.

The conversation will begin with an introduction from IIGH Director Sofia Gruskin and will be moderated by IIGH Director of Academic Programs Taylor Burkholder. 

The webinar is hosted by the USC Institute on Inequalities in Global Health.

Please join us on Wednesday, October 2, at 9:00 am PDT/12:00 pm EDT/6:00 pm CEST.

Speakers:

Alice Lakati is an epidemiologist and public health expert with more than 20 years of distinguished performance. She is the pioneer and Director of Research and Community Extension at Amref International University, affiliate of Amref Health Africa. She has led design and implementation of research and evaluations in multiple countries across Africa. She has taught in private and public Universities in Kenya, Uganda, and Ethiopia. She has served on various expert committees including the 2005 World Health Organization committee to review Safe Water Guidelines. At Amref International University, she has served in several capacities including acting Vice-Chancellor, founding Dean, School of Public Health, and Graduate School. She is recognized as a dynamic, strategic leader and mentor of many young scholars. Her academic qualifications include a PhD in Epidemiology and a Master of Applied Epidemiology. She is passionate about education, public health nutrition, community health and the impact of climate change on health.

Chris Collins joined Friends of the Global Fight in 2016 and serves as its President & CEO. He leads the organization’s efforts to engage U.S. decision makers on the lifesaving work of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the importance of expanding global health investment. At Friends he has written widely on the connection between disease-focused programs and broader health goals. Previously, as Chief of the Community Mobilization Division at UNAIDS, he helped make the case for investment in civil society as an essential part of the AIDS response. As Vice President and Director of Public Policy at amfAR, he defended global AIDS research and program funding and worked to advance domestic HIV policy and global key populations programming. He authored the monograph that inspired the effort to create the first comprehensive U.S. National HIV/AIDS Strategy, then coordinated the successful advocacy push to establish the Strategy, leading to important policy reforms. He helped develop and manage the International Treatment Preparedness Coalition (ITPC) Missing the Target series of reports on global HIV treatment scale up which received international attention. He co-founded and served as Executive Director at AVAC, an internationally recognized HIV research and prevention advocacy group. As appropriations staff to Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) in the late 1990s, he designed the first legislation to provide incentives for development and delivery of vaccines against HIV, tuberculosis and malaria, a bill that helped advance the global dialogue on tackling major infectious diseases. 

Sharmila Mhatre’s expertise in health and economic justice is founded on over 20 years of experience leading, designing and managing multi-sectoral investments alongside governments, donors, and civil society in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas. From 2016 to 2022 she served as the Deputy Director and then the A/Director of the Public Health Program at the Open Society Foundations dedicated to supporting advocacy efforts to advance health and human rights in over 40 countries. Before joining Open Society, she led the Governance for Equity in Health Systems program at the International Development Research Centre for over a decade. She has cultivated numerous high-impact partnerships with a diverse range of stakeholders addressing the structural barriers to health and economic justice worldwide. Earlier in her career, she worked and lived in Asia and Africa as a researcher with a Southern-led NGO, CIET, collaborating closely with local governments and civil society to strengthen their health systems, specifically in areas of primary health care, HIV/AIDS prevention, gender-based violence, and economic inclusion. Currently, she is an independent consultant, advisor, and lecturer. She also serves as an Advisory Council Member of Global Health 50/50, continuing her commitment to advancing equity for a more just and caring world.

Sharon Fonn is a full professor in the School of Public Health at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa and a Visiting Professor at the School of Public Health and Community Medicine at the University of Gothenburg Sweden. She has been the Head of the School of Public Health and Acting Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand. She currently co-leads the Consortium of Advanced Research Training in Africa (CARTA), and is a past president of the Association of Schools of Public Health in Africa (ASPHA) and was a panel member of the Market Inquiry into the private health care sector for the Competition Commission of South Africa (2014-19). Her areas of expertise include: Research capacity development, Gender and rights; Women’s Health; Policy development and implementation; Health systems research; Research methods training; National and international multi country studies and Curriculum development. She has worked in various research related capacities with a number of international agencies including TDR/WHO; RHR/WHO; World Bank; UNFPA; DfID; SIDA; and NIH.

Moderator:

Taylor Burkholder is an assistant professor of clinical emergency medicine and the Director of Academic Programs at the USC Institute on Inequalities in Global Health. He received a bachelor’s in business administration from Georgetown University and his MD and MPH from Tulane University. He then trained in emergency medicine in Denver before completing a fellowship in global emergency medicine at the University of Colorado. He is a volunteer consultant for the World Health Organization’s Emergency, Trauma and Acute Care programme, and he currently researches implementation of health service delivery interventions and the governance of emergency care systems in low- and middle-income countries. He teaches courses on pre-departure training and mentors students to enable ethical, equitable, and sustainable global health educational experiences.

Introductory Remarks:

Sofia Gruskin directs the USC Institute on Inequalities in Global Health (IIGH). She is USC Distinguished Professor of Population, Public Health Sciences & Law, Professor of Preventive Medicine and Chief of the Disease Prevention, Policy and Global Health Division at the Keck School of Medicine, and Professor of Law and Preventive Medicine at the Gould School of Law. A pioneer in bringing together multidisciplinary approaches to global health, her work — which ranges from global policy to the grassroots level — has been instrumental in developing the conceptual, methodological and empirical links between health and human rights. She currently sits on numerous international boards and committees including the PEPFAR Scientific Advisory Board, the Lancet Commission on Gender and Global Health, the IUSSP Steering Committee to Strengthen Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Systems, and the Lancet Commission on Health and Human Rights. She has published extensively, including several books, training manuals and edited journal volumes, and more than 200 articles and chapters.