Child and maternal health topic of global health forum at FIU

Leading government officials, medical professionals, researchers and health experts will come together for a global health forum on maternal, newborn and child health at FIU on Thursday, April 9, 2015. Former Senate Majority leader Bill Frist, founder of Hope Through Healing Hands, will be the keynote speaker.

“We are excited to partner with Florida International University to help spark conversations among and inform the global audience right here in Miami about some of the most pressing needs in maternal, newborn and child health,” Frist said. “We look forward to forging new partnerships with the Miami community and to working with South Florida’s elected officials to support strong U.S. leadership in global health.”

This one-day forum is an outreach of the Faith-Based Coalition for Healthy Mothers & Children Worldwide, a campaign of Hope Through Healing Hands with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The Coalition mobilizes the faith community around issues in global maternal, newborn and child health, with a particular focus on healthy timing and spacing of pregnancies as a key to saving lives.

“Family health is central to our education and engagement efforts. Our partnership with Hope Through Healing Hands will give FIU researchers the opportunity to focus on pressing issues and concerns on maternal and child health,” said Mark B. Rosenberg, president of FIU.

The forum will feature three panels ranging from global health issues to health priorities in Latin America to global health policy and advocacy. Notable speakers include:

• Florence Duperval Guillaume, Ministre de la Santé Publique et de la Population, Port-au-Prince, Haiti
• Mark B. Rosenberg, president of FIU
• Barbara Ferrer, chief strategy officer at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation
• Tom Walsh, senior program officer for global policy and advocacy at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
• Porter Delaney, founding partner at Kyle House Group
• Jenny Dyer, executive director at Hope Through Healing Hands
• Madhavan Nair, distinguished professor at FIU’s Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine
• Marianna Baum, professor at FIU’s Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work
• JoAnne Youngblut, professor at FIU’s Nicole Wertheim College of Nursing and Health Sciences
• Kalai Mathee, director of the Global Health Consortium and professor at FIU’s Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine

The forum will take place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. For full program, click here.

The event is free and open to the public. To attend, please register here.

All sessions will take place at the Graham Center Ballrooms on the Modesto Maidique Campus (MMC) of FIU, located at 1200 S.W. 8^th St., Miami, Florida 33199. Click here for a campus map.

Hope Through Healing Hands is a Nashville-based 501(C) 3 nonprofit with a mission to promote improved quality of life for citizens and communities around the world using health as a currency for peace. Senator Bill Frist, M.D., is the founder and chair of the organization, and Jenny Eaton Dyer, Ph.D., is the CEO/Executive Director. For more information, visit http://www.alarryross.com/newsroom/hope-through-healing-hands-2/.