Cure®, in partnership with the Aspen Institute Science & Society Program, to Host Fireside Chat with founder and CEO of Advancing Health Equity, Dr. Uché Blackstock

NEW YORK, Dec. 13, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Cure, a healthcare innovation campus in New York City, announced today that it will host an in-person and virtual fireside chat, in partnership with the Aspen Institute Science & Society Program, featuring the founder and CEO of Advancing Health Equity, Dr. Uché Blackstock. The discussion will address current challenges and potential solutions to racial inequality in healthcare. Cure will also be joined by Family Nurse Practitioner, Dr. Julius Johnson, to provide a view on health care disparities from the frontlines of community-care. It will take place on Wednesday, December 14 at 4:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. EST.

As founder and CEO of Advancing Health Equity, Dr. Uché Blackstock equips healthcare professionals with the tools and strategies to provide racially equitable care and create an anti-racist workplace culture. During the event, Dr. Blackstock will share more about how those in STEM careers and in medicine can work together to help solve inequality issues.

"We are in a critical moment in which we have been called upon to think about transformative change across society more broadly, especially in science and medicine- for how we can and must provide more equitable and quality care in order to close the gaps in racial health inequities," said Dr. Uché Blackstock.

As a family practitioner who has spent his career providing care to underserved communities, Dr. Julius Johnson will speak on the importance of community health and laying the groundwork for community-led efforts to address health disparities. "In today's busy world, you must go where your community feels most comfortable talking, said Dr. Julius Johnson. "We cannot sit back and wait for change, we must create the change we want to see."

Cure, a healthcare innovation campus, is home to nearly 20 companies across the healthcare industry and since 2021 has also served as a world-class venue for educational and networking events. Tuesday's event with Dr. Blackstock will serve as the second installment of Cure's new Signature Series, a program of high-level, interactive events intended to foster deep discussions about the future of healthcare, management, innovation, equity, and more.

"Efforts to advance equity and social justice in health care will require collaboration across multiple stakeholders in the healthcare ecosystem to address social determinants of health that underlie health equities. We are excited to partner with Aspen Institute Science & Society Program to welcome Dr. Uché Blackstock to our next Signature Series for a discussion on the underlying barriers and solutions to health equity," said Seema Kumar, chief executive officer of Cure. "We look forward to hearing from Uché and engaging her in a stimulating discussion about advancing healthcare and achieving equitable health outcomes."

The in-person event will be held at Cure 345 Park Avenue South in New York City. A livestream of the event will also be made available upon registration. To register, please visit the event site here.

Dr. Uché Blackstock is a physician and thought leader on bias and racism in health care. Dr. Blackstock founded Advancing Health Equity in 2019 with the goal of partnering with healthcare organizations to dismantle racism in healthcare and to close the gap in racial health inequities.

In 2019, Dr. Blackstock was recognized by Forbes magazine as one of "10 Diversity and Inclusion Trailblazers You Need to Get Familiar With". In 2020, she was one of thirty-one inaugural leaders awarded an unrestricted grant for her advocacy work from the Black Voices for Black Justice Fund.

Dr. Blackstock's writing, including numerous OpEds, has been featured in the Chicago Tribune, Scientific American, the Washington Post and STAT News for the Boston Globe. In April 2021, she became an exclusive medical contributor for MSNBC and NBC News.

In June 2021, Dr. Blackstock signed a book deal with Penguin Random House Books for her generational memoir, Legacy: A Black Physician Reckons with Racism in Medicine. Legacy is due to be published in 2023.

Dr. Blackstock received both her undergraduate and medical degrees from Harvard University.

Dr. Julius Johnson was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY in the Brownsville and Crown Heights neighborhoods. He attended Clara Barton High School for health professionals while starring in football for the Brooklyn Skyhawks. He received his bachelor's of science, with a major in nursing from Binghamton University in 2005 and received his masters of science with a major in family nurse practitioner from Binghamton University in 2009, and his Doctor of Nursing Practice from the University of Miami in 2016.

He specializes in home-based primary care, transitional care, and transformational community intervention projects. He has spent the past 13 years serving underserved communities and reducing hospital rates for at-risk populations. He is a founding member of the Greater New York City Black Nurses Association and serves as the president.

He is also the founding president of the Omega Nu chapter of Sigma Theta Tau international honor society at Long Island University Brooklyn. He serves as an associate professor, chair of faculty affairs, and the director of the family nurse practitioner at Long Island University – Brooklyn's school of nursing.

In 2018, he was recognized as one of the National Black Nurses Association's 40 under 40 rising stars. In 2021 he awarded the Trailblazer in nursing award by the National Black Nurses Association. In his spare time, he serves as the defensive coordinator of the Brooklyn Skyhawks who are the current back-to-back 12 & under defending champions of the New York City youth football league.

Cure is an innovation campus with a world-class laboratory, engineering and business facility that brings together industry leaders and innovators across private and public sectors. At Cure, we encourage cross disciplinary collaboration and free exchange of ideas to advance our mission, which is to transform and advance healthcare by building, growing, and sustaining an active healthcare network that includes a vibrant and diverse community. For more information, please visit https://cure.345pas.com/.

About The Aspen Institute Science & Society Program
The global nonprofit Aspen Institute launched the Science & Society Program in 2019 as a laboratory to test ideas and approaches that help explain, connect, and maximize the benefits of science for public good. The primary audiences for our work are community leaders, science communicators, current and future scientists, and the general public. Led by a core staff of trained scientists, the program is an early responder to emerging trends and is on the pulse of critical issues at the intersection of science and society. Our work spans three primary pillars: Science & Social Justice, Public Trust in Science, and Global Science. 

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