State of the State: Health Disparities and US

THIS LECTURE WILL TAKE PLACE IN LUDCKE AUDITORIUM (as of 9/10/12)

Lisa Sockabasin, the Director of the Health Equity Department of Health and Human Services and Dr. Dora Anne Mills, Director of the School of Public Health and Vice President for Clinical Affairs will introduce students to the definition of health disparities and their prevalence in Maine communities.

Lisa Sockabasin is the Director of the Office of Minority Health at the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Maine Department of Health and Human Services.  The office promotes health equity in Maine’s racial and ethnic minority communities by the identification and elimination of racial and ethnic health disparities. Prior to being named the Director of the Office of Minority Health, Lisa worked as a Regional Epidemiologist in the Infectious Disease Epidemiology Program for the State of Maine.  She was also a nurse epidemiologist with the North American Indian Center of Boston, Inc., focusing on health disparities issues including diabetes management, facing the Native American community.  Lisa continues her work as the Program Coordinator for the Four Directions Summer Research Program at Harvard Medical School and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. Lisa’s education includes biology, nursing, public health and health policy attending school at the University of Maine and University of Southern Maine as well as the University of Minnesota. She participated in the Institute for Civic Leadership Program in 2006, the Leadership Maine class in 2007 and received the 2005 Schott Fellowship in Early Care and Education at Cambridge College, MA, honing her policy research, leadership, and advocacy skills.

Dr. Dora Anne Mills is a Maine native who grew up in the rural western Maine town of Farmington.  A graduate of Bowdoin College, the University of Vermont College of Medicine, the Harvard School of Public Health, and Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles internship and residency program, Dr. Mills practiced hospital-based pediatrics in Los Angeles for two years and spent a year volunteering in Tanzania, East Africa before returning to practice in her hometown.  After four years of working as a pediatrician in Farmington, she was tapped by Governor King’s Administration in 1996 to serve as the Director for Public Health for Maine, a position she held for 15 years and under two governors, including Governor Baldacci.  In September of this year, she joined UNE as the Vice President for Clinical Affairs.

Mills & Sockabasin will introduce students to the definition of health disparities and their prevalence on Maine's communities.

1.  Introduce students to concept of health disparities and how they impact Maine's communities and populations.

2.  Learn about local and national information and advocacy resources that address health inequities.

• Ethics/Values
• Collaborative Leadership
• Patient Centeredness