Webinar: Vaccine Distribution and Administration Strategies within Communities of Color
Tuesday, May 18th, 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM CST
About the webinar
This webinar will focus on equitable vaccine distribution and administration strategies within Communities of Color. Equitable distribution is essential given the high rates of infection in BIPOC communities. In fact, as of December 2020, Black Americans were 3x more likely than White Americans to get COVID-19 and 2x more likely to die from it. This webinar will highlight the importance of focusing on equitable vaccine information dissemination with culturally-competent, responsive messaging within Communities of Color. Furthermore, the discussion will focus on vaccine coverage, costs, and scheduling. The conversation will also highlight best practices for ensuring equitable COVID-19 vaccine administration. Finally, the conversation will highlight the importance of providing federal funding to support collecting data by race and ethnicity on vaccine trust, vaccine rates, and ongoing health outcomes.
Webinar Panelists
Dr. Stefano M. Bertozzi, MD, PhD
Dean Emeritus and Professor of Health Policy & Management at UC Berkeley School of Public Health
Stefano M. Bertozzi is a professor of health policy and management and a former dean of the UC Berkeley School of Public Health. He recently stepped down as the interim director of Alianza UCMX which integrates all of the UC systemwide programs with Mexico. Previously, he directed the HIV/TB programs at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. At the Mexican National Institute of Public Health he served as director of its Center for Evaluation Research and Surveys. He was the last director of the WHO Global Programme on AIDS and has also held positions with UNAIDS, the World Bank and the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo. He currently serves as the founding editor-in-chief for Rapid Review: COVID-19, a new overlay journal that reviews COVID-19 research published by MIT Press. He holds a bachelor’s degree in biology and a PhD in health policy and management from MIT. He earned his medical degree at UCSD, and trained in internal medicine at UCSF.
Mr. Dru Bhattacharya, JD, MPH, LLM
Vice President, Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion at Advocate Aurora Health
Mr. Dru Bhattacharya, JD, MPH, LLM is the Vice President of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Advocate Aurora Health, a nonprofit health system comprised of 26 hospitals and over 500 outpatient clinics in Illinois and Wisconsin. He drafted the system health equity definition; co-drafted the system health equity statement on COVID vaccine outreach and distribution; led the Vaccine Prioritization Team that determined how to prioritize populations with scarce vaccine availability, and led an initiative that established 55 community-based flu clinics providing over 7,000 vaccines in underserved communities. His work focuses on health equity and intersects with language services, data analytics, civil rights, clinical operations, policies and procedures, and community health and relations. He also serves as the outgoing Chair of the Policy Committee for the American Public Health Association Nursing Section and former Chair and faculty in programs of medicine, law, nursing, and public health.
Mr. Joseph Gaspero (Moderator)
CEO and Co-Founder of Center for Healthcare Innovation
Joseph Gaspero is the CEO and Co-Founder of CHI. He is a healthcare executive, strategist, and health disparity researcher. He founded CHI in 2009 as an independent, objective, and interdisciplinary research and education institute for reducing health disparities for marginalized communities of color. Joseph leads research and educational initiatives at CHI, including research focused on increasing diversity in clinical trials, building diverse, culturally competent teams, understanding how social determinants of health drive health disparities for BIPOC communities, decreasing medical mistrust, and understanding how chronic conditions disproportionately impact Black and Brown communities. He has been the lead organizer for one of the country’s preeminent health equity and diversity symposia in the U.S. In his role as CEO, he sets and executes CHI’s strategy, devises marketing tactics, leads fundraising efforts, and manages CHI’s Management team. His leadership stems from a wide array of experiences, including founding and operating several non-profit and for-profit organizations, serving in the U.S. Air Force in support of 2 foreign wars. Joseph’s skills include strategy, management, research, marketing, and finance. He has lived in six countries, traveled to over 40 more, and speaks three languages, and he brings a global approach to strategy and problem-solving. Joseph has a B.S. in Finance from the University of Illinois at Chicago. When he’s not immersed in his work at CHI, he spends his time snowboarding backcountry, skydiving, mountain biking, volunteering, engaging in MMA, and rock climbing.
Dr. Hani S. Mahmassani, PhD, MS
W. A. Patterson Distinguished Chair in Transportation, Northwestern’s McCormick School of Engineering
Director, Transportation Center at Northwestern University
Dr. Hani S. Mahmassani is the William A. Patterson Distinguished Chair in Transportation in Northwestern’s McCormick School of Engineering, and director of the Northwestern University Transportation Center. Mahmassani is a specialist in transportation and logistics systems, supply chain networks, disaster management and large-scale events. He has conducted several workshops on the logistics of COVID-19 vaccine distribution engaging key stakeholders from the medical community, pharmaceutical industry and logistics companies. Through a grant from the National Science Foundation, he is leading a study of vaccine distribution as an extreme logistics event, and tracking on a daily basis the flows of vaccine from manufacturing all the way to people’s arms. He has also developed models of COVID-19 spread through mobility to evaluate the effectiveness of mitigation measures and how these measures are impacting the behavior of businesses and households. He directs a US Department of Transportation Center of Excellence on Telemobility, which is focusing on how COVID-19 related measures are impacting people’s travel and activity engagement behavior through both virtual and physical environments. Mahmassani is a member of the National Academy of Engineering.
Dr. Knitasha V. Washington, DHA, MHA, FACHE
President & Founder, ATW Health Solutions
Board of Directors, National Quality Forum
Dr. Washington is a prominent figure in healthcare transformation serving in the capacity of thought-leader, advocate, researcher and performance improvement expert who has worked with healthcare systems, U.S. government agencies and numerous policymaker groups to ensure that patient-centered and equitable approaches are at the heart of healthcare redesign. Dr. Washington founded and serves as President of ATW Health Solutions, a health care advisory and research firm based in Chicago, board member for National Quality Forum (Washington DC) and the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) Foundation (Leawood, KS). Shaped by her passion and belief in social justice, Knitasha has earned recognition nationally for her work in quality improvement, patient and family engagement, health equity and patient safety. With more than 20 years’ experience in healthcare serving primarily as a consultant, Knitasha brings a multi-dimensional talent focused primarily in the areas of systems performance improvement, operations efficiency, hospital turn-around, patient safety, patient and family engagement, quality and health equity. In 2009 she lost her father to a preventable medical error; an event that dramatically inspired her sense of urgency for quality improvement with an integrated approach to eliminating harm for vulnerable populations. Today, Knitasha serves in multiple roles driving change and innovation nationally and locally. Knitasha is credited for being a key thought-leader of the alignment of equity with the work of the Partnership for Patients Campaign and contributor to Safety Across the Board and development of the Integrated PFE Index. Dr. Washington has worked as a lead contributor to the work of the CMS Hospital Improvement and Innovations Network (HIIN) and Transforming Clinical Practice Initiative (TCPI). Dr. Washington continues to advocate for greater diversity and minority inclusion in healthcare leadership through her longstanding commitment to work with the National Association of Health Services Executives (NAHSE). She continues to contribute to health services delivery research through her various contributions as Principal Investigator for projects funded by PCORI and CMS. Dr. Washington is a fellow of the American College of Health Care Executives (ACHE) and received her Doctorate of Health Administration Degree from Central Michigan University, Masters of Health Administration from Governors State University and Bachelor of Arts with a focus in Business Administration from Chicago State University. To her credit have been extended many nominations and awards including, 2017 CMS Leadership Award, 2014 Governors State University Luminary Pioneer Award, 2014 Illinois Department of Public Health Excellence in Community Health Leadership Award, 2013 American College of Healthcare Executives Regents Health Care Leadership Award, 2009 NAHSE National Young Healthcare Executive Award and the featured cover story for the Spring 2010 of Girlfriends HealthGuide Magazine.
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