Center for the Elimination of Minority Health Disparities
CEMHD (Center for the Elimination of Minority Health Disparities), is a collaborative effort focusing on minority health disparities in the smaller cities and towns of New York. For more on who we are please click here.
CEMHD is deeply involved in COVID-19 research and projects.
Read more here.
February 18th, 2021
The Black Family: Representation, Identity, and Diversity
This event will be hosted on Facebook Live! You do not need a Facebook account to participate in the event. Access the event page here.
Congratulations to our Hearst Foundation Fellowship recipients!
Jazmin High
Jazmin High is an incoming PhD student in the Department of Anthropology with a focus in medical anthropology. Her primary research interests are health-care disparities and health disparities, including maternal, sexual, and reproductive health. She is interested in exploring how culture, class, the built environment, and race intersect and influence health outcomes among minorities. She has worked as an intern at Roanoke Valley Community Health Initiative, and her master’s research focused on two small counties in North Carolina, where she was able to conduct extensive interviews about minority experiences with seeking healthcare in the small communities. This is one of the ways that she was able to assess health-seeking behaviors and strategies employed by low-income and minority communities in the absence of health resources. Her academic progress and training in both qualitative and analytical research has earned her praise from her previous professors and collaborators.
Rosie Love
Rosie Love is a PhD student in the School of Social Welfare with an interest in how policy in the workplace enable and mitigate inequalities. Her academic goals are to explore strategies to bring together micro- and macro-level social work principles and practices within policy setting environment. Her professional accomplishments include work with the NYS Department of Health, AIDS Institute in 2017. She initiated conversations with executive leadership to advocate for greater attention to prioritize populations including Black/African America, Latinx, and LGBTQ+ communities. She aided in advocating for the integration of comprehensive health equity principles into every aspect of organization work due to documented health disparities in these populations. In this area, she also aided in her groups’ successes with the development of best practices in addressing racial inequality and assessing staff knowledge and workplace capacity on advancements in health equity.
December 9th, 2020
2020 PREMIS Series: A Conversation with Dr. David Satcher: My Quest for Health Equity: Notes on Learning While Leading

COVID-19 Conversations
with the APHA and the National Academy of Medicine
The sixteenth COVID-19 Conversations webinar will discuss the next steps for ensuring COVID-19 vaccines reach the public, including overcoming vaccine hesitancy, ensuring a robust supply chain and communicating clearly and consistently throughout.
The webinar will begin with an introduction from the session's moderator, Jewel Mullen, Associate Dean for Health Equity at the University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School, and then feature a conversation with a panel of experts, including:
- Paul Offit, Director, Vaccine Education Center, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
- Katie Greene, Visiting Policy Associate at Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy
- Julie Swann, Department Head, Edward P. Fitts Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, NC State University
- Noel Brewer, Professor, Department of Health Behavior, University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health
October 24th, 2020
Acacia Network and Capital District Latinos present:
Wellness Workshops & Health Screenings

October 22nd, 2020
Brooklyn Health Disparities Center Presents:
2020 PREMIS Series: A Conversation with Richard Rothstein
The Color Of Law

October 1st, 2020
Racism and Racial Bias in the Medical Community
Zoom Talk Hosted by the Student Association's Health and Sustainability Department
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Congratulations to our 2020 Health Disparities Fellowship Graduates:
Drs. Melissa Noel and Wayne Lawrence

Melissa Noel received her Ph.D. from UAlbany, School of Criminal Justice. Dr. Noel starts a Post-Doc this fall at American University in Washington, DC in the Justice, Law, and Criminology Department where she will be teaching a course and conducting her own research.
Wayne Lawrence received his PhD. in epidemiology from UAlbany, School of Public health. He is now a Cancer Prevention Fellow at the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.
June 22nd, 2020
Associate News Feature:
Dr. Wayne Lawrence's Article in the Times Union
Commentary: Public Health Experts Can't 'Stay Out of Politics', Nor Should They
Associate News Feature:
Dr. Kaydian Reid's Article in the Hartford Courant
"Why the coronavirus hits harder in communities of color"
Former Health Disparities Fellow, Dr. Kaydian Reid, recently published a special op-ed in the Hartford Courant discussing how COVID-19 has disproportionately impacted communities of color. Dr. Reid is currently an assistant professor and program director for the Master of Publich Health Program at the University of St. Joseph in West Hartford.
Read her article here!
Black/African Americans Outside NYC Suffer Even Greater Health Disparities in the Impact of COVID-19 than NYC Black/African-Americans According to Data from the NYS Department of Health
For ease of access, the position paper is also available as a PDF here.
Albany Minority Health Task Force
Position Paper on Racial Disparities in COVID-19
Please read the Albany Minority Health Task Force Position Paper on Racial Disparities in regards to COVID-19 below. For ease of access, the position paper is also available as a PDF here.
Alzheimer's Association: Ask the Expert

June 17th, 2020
COVID-19 and the Black Community
May 1st, 2020
Reminder: Complete the 2020 Census Today!
Census information is an important source for research into assessing various community needs as well as informing federal funding for local school programs. Be sure to complete your 2020 Census! More information on how to send in your response can be found here.
Associate News Feature:
Five Questions with Elizabeth Vasquez

Our very own Dr. Vasquez was featured in a Five Questions article with the UAlbany News Center. Check out the full article here!

Save the date for AVillage's Celebration of Progress! The 10-year anniversary of the group's work in Albany's South End will be celebrated at their seventh annual Celebration of Progress and Annual Fundraising Dinner.
It will be held Thursday, March 5th, 2020 at:
The New York State Museum
Theater and Adirondack Hall
5:30pm Registration
6-7:00pm Program
7:00pm Dinner, mingling, and conversation
Registration is due by February 27th, 2020 and can be done online at:

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"Dr. Julia Hastings, assistant professor at the University at Albany Schools of Public Health and Social Welfare, has been named as the 2019-2020 Insley-Evans Public Health Social Worker of the Year by the Public Health Social Work (PHSW) Section of the American Public Health Association (APHA).
This award, which recognizes excellence in public health social work, is named after Ms. Virginia Insley and Ms. Juanita Evans, who both held significant roles in the founding of public health social work education.
Dr. Hastings is recognized for her contributions through community service, organization and planning, administration, education, research, publications, and professional organizations. She holds a strong commitment to elevating health outcomes for underserved and underrepresented racial and ethnic populations."

Past Events and Community Activities
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