The Department of Population Health at NYU Langone Health is hosting its fourth annual Health And… Childhood and Opportunity conference on May 13, 2019, about how the healthcare, education, public health, housing, and other sectors can better foster children’s development to maximize opportunities for health and wellbeing across the life course—paving the way for greater opportunity, health, and equity in adulthood.

Experience in childhood is foundational for adult health and wellbeing, and economic and social opportunity in childhood set the stage for economic and social opportunity in adulthood. Yet, too often, children’s ability to survive and thrive is limited by modifiable constraints that can only be addressed effectively through partnerships within communities and across sectors. The good news is that advances in science, policy, and community action are helping to pave the way for children to access greater opportunity, better health, and greater equity.

The Health And… Childhood and Opportunity conference will bring together researchers, policymakers, health system leaders, and community partners across multiple sectors to explore how to best foster children’s development to maximize opportunities for health and wellbeing into the future.

Richard A. Carranza, Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education, will deliver the keynote address. Chancellor Carranza, who has spent nearly three decades in education, is responsible for educating 1.1 million students in more than 1,800 New York City schools. As Chancellor, he is building on New York City’s Equity and Excellence for All agenda, which supports students academically, socially, and emotionally from early childhood through 12th grade. He is also championing initiatives to empower more parents to become engaged in their children’s education.

“We are thrilled to bring together some of the nation’s leading experts in early childhood development, education, and public health,” says Marc N. Gourevitch, MD, MPH, the Muriel G. and George W. Singer Professor of Population Health and chair of the Department of Population Health at NYU Langone. “Too often, children’s opportunities are limited by constraints that can only be effectively addressed through partnerships within communities and across multiple sectors. It is our hope that this conference leads to increased discussion, partnership, and action on improving health and wellbeing throughout every stage of childhood.”

Topics to be explored include novel approaches to improve parenting and education inside and outside of established settings, the use of economic interventions—such as unconditional cash transfers—to address childhood and family poverty, and how to take effective approaches to scale.

The agenda for the Health And… Childhood and Opportunity conference includes the following:

• Keynote by Richard A. Carranza, Chancellor, New York City Department of Education
• “Improving Opportunity in Childhood and Youth: Novel Approaches” featuring Moriah E. Thomason, PhD, associate professor in the Departments of Population Health and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at NYU Langone; Velma McBride Murry, PhD, Lois Autrey Betts Chair and Joe B. Wyatt Distinguished University Professor at Vanderbilt University; and Quardean Lewis-Allen, founder and CEO of Made in Brownsville. This discussion is moderated by Renee Boynton-Jarrett, MD, ScD, from Boston Medical Center.
• “Unconditional Cash Transfer Solutions to Improve Economic Status” panel featuring Kimberly Noble, MD, PhD, associate professor of neuroscience and education at Teacher’s College at Columbia University, and Aisha Nyandoro, PhD, CEO of Springboard to Opportunities. This discussion is moderated by Erin Billups, health reporter at Spectrum News Network.
• “Reducing Poverty to Improve Health versus Improving Health to Reduce Poverty: A Conversation on Complementary, Reinforcing Strategies” plenary discussion featuring Leonardo Trasande, MD, MPP, professor of Pediatrics and director of the Division of Environmental Pediatrics, and Michael Lindsey, PhD, executive director of the McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research and professor of poverty studies at NYU Silver School of Social Work. This discussion is moderated by Clancy Blair, MPH, PhD, the Bezos Family Foundation Professor of Population Health in the Department of Population Health at NYU Langone.
• “Improving Childhood Outcomes at Scale” featuring Laurie M. Brotman, PhD, the Bezos Family Foundation Professor of Early Childhood Development in the Department of Population Health at NYU Langone; Lawrence Aber, PhD, Willner Family Professor of Psychology and Public Policy at NYU Steinhardt; and Anne Williams-Isom, JD, CEO of Harlem Children’s Zone. This discussion is moderated by Benard P. Dreyer, MD, director of the Division of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics at NYU Langone.

The Health And… conference will take place Monday, May 13, 2019, from 8:45AM to 3:30PM at Farkas Auditorium, 550 First Avenue, New York City. Visit our conference website for more information.

To register as a member of the media, please contact Sasha Walek at 646-501-3873 or email at sasha.walek@nyulangone.org.

Media Inquiries

Sasha Walek
Phone: 646-501-3873
sasha.walek@nyulangone.org