President’s Forum on Health Disparities

Featuring an Interactive Panel Discussion with:

Madeleine Dorval-Moller is an accomplished Executive Director with extensive experience in non-profit management and expertise in overseeing program operations, grants management, program development and evaluation. As the Executive Director of the Northern Manhattan Perinatal Partnership, she brings more than 20 years of experience working in the non-profit sector, specifically in organizations tied to the community. 

Ms. Dorval-Moller is passionate about the maternal and child health field, and is committed to working to remove systemic health inequities that are affecting women’s health, particularly women of color. At NMPP, Ms. Dorval-Moller and her team take a multi-pronged approach through collaboration, education and advocacy to bring about comprehensive change. Ms. Dorval-Moller holds dual master’s degrees in Social Work and Public Administration from Columbia University.

Ann-Margret Foley has been working in the field of health and human services for more than 30 years. As the Director of the Bureau of Perinatal, Reproductive, and Sexual Health within the Division of Family Health at the New York State Department of Health, she oversees multiple units consisting of community-based home visiting programs, healthcare based perinatal programs, reproductive health programs, adolescent health programs and sexual violence prevention programs.

Ms. Foley and bureau staff are committed to understanding how health equity, social determinants of health and health disparities are critical to accomplish the goal of eliminating health disparities. Ms. Foley holds a master’s degree in Social Work from the University at Albany.

Esther Patterson is the Co-Chair of the Board of Directors of BirthNet, a birth justice organization whose primary mission is to eliminate the inequities in birth outcomes for all birthing people. Esther is a birth doula who has helped Black and Brown women navigate the often-confusing medical system and improve birth outcomes for over 25 years. 

She is a native of Brooklyn, New York who now calls the Capital District home. She is the former Director of Mediation Services for Albany and Rensselaer Counties, the former S.T.A.R.S. Program Coordinator at Upper Hudson Planned Parenthood, a mother, a mentor, a parent educator, a mediator, and a staunch advocate for children, who are her passion. 

She is a community activist who has worked tirelessly with and for those whose voices need to be amplified and included in the decisions that affect their lives. She is a Program Director with the Alliance for Positive Health and oversees three community programs. She was educated at Rutgers and Columbia Universities and she lives by the belief, "With God all things are possible" (Mathew 19:26).

Simone Seward currently serves as an Assistant Professor for the Community Engaged Learning Program in the Norton College of Medicine at Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, NY. Earning a Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of Rochester where she developed her passion for public health, Dr. Seward went on to focus her graduate training in Maternal and Child Health. 

Obtaining a Master of Public Health degree from Boston University School of Public Health, followed by a Doctor of Public Health degree from the University at Albany School of Public Health, Dr. Seward has developed her scholarly area of interest in addressing the racial and ethnic disparities in birth outcomes. 

In addition, Dr. Seward is a scholar of the Public Health Leadership Institute of Florida (PHLIF), the SUNY SAIL Leadership Institute, and a former Presidential Health Disparities Fellow of the Center for the Elimination of Minority Health Disparities at the University at Albany. 

As an educator, community health advocate and mixed methods researcher, Dr. Seward has developed strategic approaches that center on social justice and racial equity. Using community engagement as a vehicle for systemic change, Dr. Seward builds interdisciplinary, collaborative partnerships that are sensitive to diverse perspectives and population needs. With over 15 years of extensive training and diverse practice-based experiences at the federal, state, local levels and in academia, Dr. Seward ensures that community health interventions and programs include the voices and lived experiences of the target community. 

As a dedicated researcher and advocate specializing in Black maternal and child health disparities, Dr. Seward has devoted her career to understanding and addressing the unique challenges facing Black mothers and infants. Her research focuses on examining the root causes of racial disparities in maternal and infant health outcomes, including the impact of systemic racism as a contributing factor to healthcare disparities.

Discussion Facilitators

Christine T. Bozlak

Associate Professor
School of Public Health
Department of Health Policy, Management and Behavior 
Co-director of the Maternal and Child Health Program

Elizabeth Vásquez

Associate Professor
School of Public Health
Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics
Department of Latin American, Caribbean & U.S. Latino Studies
Director, Center for the Elimination of Minority Health Disparities

Background

The President’s Forum on Health Disparities is a signature event supported by UAlbany’s prestigious National Institutes of Health (NIH) S21 Award, entitled “The Endowment for Community-Based Health Disparities Research and Training.” This annual event is intended to promote research on health disparities, foster engagement and collaboration, and contribute to the achievement of health equity.

The Forum provides a unique opportunity for health disparities researchers and students to share their findings, make connections and develop projects through interaction and engagement with like-minded faculty, as well as practitioners and community members.  

Community partners, government officials, researchers, faculty, professional staff, postdoctoral associates and students who are interested in health disparities are cordially invited to join us for the 2024 President’s Forum on Health Disparities.
Please contact Dr. Elizabeth Vásquez, CEMHD Director, at [email protected] if you have any questions regarding this event.