What's going on?: Public health challenges and solutions for improving black men's health

This panel session will highlight the disproportionate health disparities experienced by African American (AA) men and its relationship with the deteriorating black family and community. In particular, this session will feature three African American male experts in the field of public health who will discuss scientific evidence depicting the disadvantaged health outcomes of AA men; the multifactorial elements (social, psychological, and structural) that perpetuate the increased disparities; the context within which these factors are maintained; and what contributions each panelist is making to address this problem. Specific topics to be discussed regarding AA men include health disparities in prevention, care and treatment for infectious and chronic diseases; the interplay between poverty, violence and criminalization; economic inequality, unemployment, and educational attainment; and the presence and role of fathers in AA families.

The three invited panelists for this session are

Dr Robert Fullilove, Associate Dean for Community and Minority Affairs and Professor of Clinical Sociomedical Sciences at the Mailman School of Public Health of Columbia University. Dr. David J. Malebranche, M.D., M.P.H., is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Emory University's School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia; and Dr. Keith Ferdinand, Adjunct Clinical Professor at the Morehouse School of Medicine and Chief Science Officer of the Association of Black Cardiologists (ABC), Inc. in Atlanta, Georgia.

In addressing these AA male health problems and their broader impact, panelists will consider cultural, personal, and sociopolitical strategies to intervene and reverse this trend. Finally, by including elements of the speaker's own professional journey and lessons learned, this session will highlight ways that young black public health professionals can serve as instruments of change to improve the health and status of AA men in the U.S.