Invited Speakers

We invite speakers with unique perspectives on health care policy and practice in Houston to join us at our quarterly general meetings. Please let us know if you have suggestions for future speakers!

TBA Houston Rescue and Restore  Special event to be hosted at the Rothko Chapel
Human trafficking represents a threat to the health and safety of individuals who may come to the attention of health care providers. We will explore the issue of human trafficking in the Houston community and inform the public of ways to recognize and assist individuals who may be trafficked. See www.houstonrr.org for further information.

November 16, 2009 Bob Sanborn, Ed.D.  Executive Director, Children at Risk
Dr. Robert David Sanborn is a noted leader, advocate, & activist for education and children and the President/CEO of Children at Risk in Houston, Texas, a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization dedicated to innovative change for children through research, education, and public policy. Dr. Sanborn leads Children at Risk with a dedication to inventive ideas, collaborations with like-minded groups, resource developing partnerships, and a belief that all children deserve extraordinary opportunities to succeed.

Dr. Sanborn has worked and served as a senior leader with many organizations, always bringing with him a focus on innovation and education. He has served on the staff and/or faculties of Rice University, Hampshire College, Columbia University, the University of Tulsa, Emory University and the University of Massachusetts. He was previously the CEO of the Education Foundation of Harris County where his accomplishments included a significant rise in resources, partnerships and visibility for innovative urban public education.

Dr. Sanborn earned his undergraduate degree at Florida State University and his doctorate at Columbia University in New York City. He has also served as an advisor and board member to numerous non-profit organizations.

Dr. Sanborn is an editor of the book Growing Up in Houston and has authored 12 books and over forty articles on education, career development and related education topics. He has hosted his own radio and television programs, and has spoken to numerous conferences, civic, business, education, and student groups on a variety of topics. He has lived and worked around the world and has called home to places in Europe, Africa, and Latin America.

October 5, 2009 Oliver Fein, M.D.  Special event to be hosted at the home of Ana Malinow
Oliver Fein, M.D., is a Professor of Clinical Public Health in the Department of Public Health at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University. His research and policy interests include health system reform, national health insurance and medical education. Dr. Fein has been interested in access to care for vulnerable populations and the social responsibility of the Academic Health Center to its community. He has published work in ambulatory case-mix measurement, different methods of measuring social class and health inequalities, and comparative international health systems. He is the current President of Physicians for a National Health Program (http://www.pnhp.org/). Dr. Fein’s presentation will be preceded by a wine and cheese reception and followed by a short discussion period. Please RSVP for this event by going to our Meetings site , tickets are limited. For a link to Dr. Fein’s presentations, please click on the following link:

Health Care Reform? What’s Happening in Washington

National Health Insurance for the U.S.: Has Its Time Come?

August 18, 2009 Wine and Cheese Discussion  Special event to be hosted at the home of Judy Levison
Doctors for Change hosted a discussion regarding national health reform led by two local leaders-- Dr. Ana Malinow, past-president of Physicians for a National Health Program and co-founder of Health Care for All Texas, and Dr. Pauline Rosenau, Professor of Management, Policy, and Public Health at the UT Houston School of Public Health.

November 17, 2008 Rep. Garnet Coleman  Texas State House of Representatives, District 147
Garnet Coleman has served the people of District 147 in the Texas House of Representatives continuously since 1991. Rep. Coleman http://www.garnetcoleman.com/Garnet/Biography.html
has earned a reputation as a diligent leader who focuses his work in the areas of health care, economic development and education. He is a member of the House Committee on Public Health and the House Committee on County Affairs.

August 18, 2008 Nuria Homedes, M.D., D.P.H
Is access to pharmaceuticals contributing to increased health disparities? 
Dr. Nuria Homedes is Associate Professor of Management, Policy, and Community Health Sciences at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and El Paso School of Public Health. She directs the UTHSC-SPH Global Health Program. She has extensive international health experience and has worked and written on public health policy in Guyana, Bolivia, Honduras, Columbia, Zambia, Chad, Mozambique, New Guinea, Mexico, and Peru. She is the editor of FARMACOS, a bulletin of the Latin American Network for the Promotion of the Appropriate Use of Pharmaceuticals in Latin America and has published extensively on the topic of the pharmaceutical industry and its impact on health.

Click here for presentation - Is Access to Pharmaceuticals Contributing to Increased Health Disparities?

May 19, 2008  
The May session was dedicated to a forum on access to cancer care in the Houston community. It was a great success with many ideas generated.

April 21, 2008 David S. Lopez  President and CEO
Harris County Hospital District
David S. Lopez has been president and CEO of the Harris County Hospital District since April 2005. He previously was COO of the HCHD. Mr. Lopez will discuss “Operational and Strategic Priorities” of the District, the main source of medical care for the uninsured and underinsured citizens of Harris County. For further information about the time and date of the meeting, please click on the Meetings page.

February 25, 2008 Jay H. Stein, MD  Executive Vice-President, Executive Dean
Baylor College of Medicine
Jay Stein was previously senior vice president and vice provost for health affairs at the University of Rochester Medical Center, New York, as well as the CEO of the Medical Center and Strong Health System. Prior to Rochester, Stein was senior vice president and provost at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. He has also served as chairman of the department of medicine at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, where he was also chief of the division of renal diseases, and prior to that was professor of medicine at Ohio State University College of Medicine in Columbus.

Stein has served on many national committees including as president of the American Society of Nephrology. His many honors include as a member of Alpha Omega Alpha and a Master of the American College of Physicians. Stein was also the 1999 recipient of the very prestigious Robert H. Williams Distinguished Chair of Medicine Award from the Association of Professors of Medicine.

November 19, 2007 Elena Marks, JD MPH  Director of Health and Environmental Policy
Mayor’s Office, City of Houston
Elena M. Marks earned a J.D. with honors, 1981, from The University of Texas School of Law and an M.P.H. with a concentration in public policy, 2001, from The University of Texas School of Public Health. She is currently the Director of Health and Environmental Policy, and leads this effort on behalf of Mayor Bill White. She is responsible for development of policies and implementation of strategic actions relating to public health, health care, and environmental matters. Ms. Marks oversees the Director of the Department of Health and Human Services and the Director of Environmental Programming.

August 20, 2007 John W. Burruss, MD
Chief of Psychiatry, Ben Taub Hospital
Assistant Professor, Baylor College of Medicine Director, Affiliated Medical Services
John Burruss earned an M.D. from Baylor College of Medicine and completed his training as chief resident in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at BCM. He has been a clinical attending at the Ben Taub General Hospital since joining the faculty in 1999, working in the emergency room, the inpatient unit, and the outpatient clinic. He is currently Chief of Psychiatry for Ben Taub. Additionally, Dr. Burruss is the medical director of the Trauma & Grief Program at Baylor, a coordinated response to those who have experienced the catastrophic loss of a loved one. The title of his talk will be: “HCHD: Inadequate by Design?”

Click here for presentation - HCHD: Inadequate by Design?

May 21, 2007 Pauline Rosenau, PhD Professor of Management, Policy, and Public Health
UT Houston School of Public Health
Pauline Rosenau was previously a Professor at the University of Quebec in Montreal for two decades. Her Ph.D. was granted by the University of California at Berkeley in 1972, and she received her Masters in Public Health in 1992 from UCLA. She is citizen of both Canada and the United States, is fluent in English and French, and speaks some Spanish. Dr. Rosenau authored The Competition Paradigm: America’s Romance with Conflict, Contest, and Commerce (Rowman & Littlefield, 2003). She edited Public/Private Policy Partnerships (MIT University Press, 2000) and Health Reform in the Nineties (SAGE Publications, 1994).

March 19,2007 Sanjiv Harpavat, MD PhD
Resident, Department of Pediatrics
Baylor College of Medicine
Sanjiv Harpavat earned a Ph.D in Neuroscience and an M.D. from Harvard Medical School. He is currently a first year resident in the Department of Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine, with research interests in developmental genetics. He will be speaking on the topic of childhood obesity: “McDonald’s and Childhood Obesity: Doing something about it!” He is also author, with Sahar Nissim, of Microcards.

Invited Speakers