Public health experts have said that the U.S. is unlikely to reach herd immunity from COVID-19 due to slowing vaccination rates as well as virus variants. While immunity is unlikely, experts say that it will likely become a manageable threat like the flu. To discuss, we SPOTLIGHT Renata Schiavo. Schiavo is a well-recognized expert in public health, global health, health equity, health communication, community/population health, and social innovation. She is a Senior Lecturer at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, Department of Sociomedical Sciences; the Founder and Board President of Health Equity Initiative, a member-driven nonprofit organization, and a Principal at Strategic Communication Resources, a global consultancy. Schiavo is a passionate advocate for health equity and a committed voice on the importance of addressing and removing barriers that prevent people from leading healthy and productive lives. Media includes: The Nation, Bloomberg, Elite Daily, The Signal.
India is experiencing a COVID-19 surge with the healthcare system overwhelmed by shortages of beds and oxygen. International medical aid is finally pouring into the country as it surpasses 20 million coronavirus cases. To discuss, we FEATURE Dr. Renu Singh. Dr. Singh is a Research Assistant Professor within the Division of Public Policy and a Junior Fellow at the Jockey Club Institute for Advanced Study at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Dr. Singh is also a Scholar at the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law and a DAAD Research Ambassador for the Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst/German Academic Exchange Service. As a political scientist and microbiologist by training, she aims to bridge the worlds of science and policy through her research on comparative social policy, global health security, and the political economy of health. Media includes: Foreign Policy, Shape Magazine.
The Biden administration has reunited four migrant families that were separated during the Trump administration. While the reunifaction was welcomed by immigration advocates, many are also wary at the slow pace of reunifaction. Biden also raised the U.S. refugee cap from 15,000 to 62,500 on Monday, following pressure from refugee advocates.. To discuss both issues, we FEATURE Claire R. Thomas. Thomas is an attorney, advocate, and adjunct professor. Her interests and expertise include: U.S. immigration law, asylum and refugee law, unaccompanied children, immigrant access to public benefits, and empowerment for women and girls facing poverty and gender-based violence. Thomas directs the Asylum Clinic at New York Law School, in which she teaches law students how to represent immigrants seeking asylum and other humanitarian immigration protections in the United States. Media includes: The New York Times, The Bangkok Post, The New Stateman, The Queens Daily Eagle.
Research has found that 23.2% of Colombian female journalists experienced sexual violence at their jobs. To discuss, we FEATURE Catalina Ruiz Navarro. Navarro is a Colombian-Caribbean feminist living in México City. She specializes in journalism with gender perspective, journalism on Human Rights and cultural journalism and is an expert on online misogyny, feminism and digital rights, Colombian politics, Latin American feminism. Previously, she was Professor of Opinion Journalism at the School of Communications at the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana and of Digital Journalism at Jorge Tadeo Lozano University, both in Bogotá. Media includes: Viacuarenta, El Malpensante, Vice Magazine, Letras Libres, Razón Pública, The Guardian.
Following President Biden’s announcement that the U.S. would aim to cut emissions by half over the next decade, the EPA has announced a new regulation aimed at sharply reducing the production of HFCs – greenhouse gases used in refrigerators, air conditioners, and building insulation. To discuss, we FEATURE Farhana Yamin. An internationally recognized environmental lawyer, climate change and development policy expert, Yamin has advised leaders and countries for 20 years. In addition to founding Track 0—an independent not-for-profit organisation serving as a hub to support all those working to get GHG emissions on track to zero by mid-century— she is an Associate Fellow at Chatham House, a visiting Professor at University College London and a member of the Global Agenda Council on Climate Change at the World Economic Forum. Between 1996 and 2002, she was Lead Author for three assessment reports for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change on adaptation and mitigation issues. Media includes: Huffington Post, Carbon Brief, Christian Science Monitor.
The Biden administration is planning to increase food stamps for Americans. To discuss, we FEATURE Ruth Priscilla Kirstein. Kirstein recently released a study, The Reality of Surviving on Food Stamps During a Pandemic. Kirstein’s work focuses on the intersection between science, entertainment and athletics. She holds an MD and a PhD in Medical Ethics from the University of Freiburg. Media includes: France 24, The New York Times, Free Speech TV.
The U.S. Army has released its investigation into Vanessa Guillen which found that she was sexually harassed prior to her murder. While they do not believe that it is connected to the murder, Guillen's complaints about the harassment were ignored. To discuss, we FEATURE Kate Hendricks Thomas. Thomas holds a PhD in Health Promotion and graduate degrees in Women’s Studies and Health Promotion Management. She is on the faculty of George Mason University's Department of Global and Community Health and is the author of several books, including Invisible Veterans and her newest, Stopping Military Suicide. Media includes: The Washington Post, The Hill, Task & Purpose, NPR.
Germany has busted one of the biggest international darknet platforms for child pornography. To discuss, we FEATURE Elizabeth L. Jeglic. Jeglic is co-director of the Sex Offender Research Lab and is a Professor of Psychology at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York. She is an internationally renowned expert on criminal justice reform, sexual violence prevention, child abuse prevention, sexual offenders and sex offender legislation as well as suicide and suicide prevention. She also co-edited the book Sexual Violence: Evidence Based Policy and Prevention (Springer, 2016) and is the co-author of the book: Protecting Your Child from Sexual Abuse: What you Need to Know to Keep your Kids Safe (Skyhorse Publishing, 2017). Media includes: The New York Times, The Huffington Post, The Guardian.
May 3 is Press Freedom Day. To discuss, we FEATURE Melita M. Garza. Garza is an associate professor at Texas Christian University’s Bob Schieffer College of Communication in Fort Worth, Texas. She teaches courses on media literacy and fake news, journalism history, business journalism and accountability reporting, and diversity and the media. Prior to earning her Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2012, she was an award-winning journalist for The Chicago Tribune, Bloomberg News, and the Los Angeles Times, among other organizations.
May is Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month. To commemorate, we FEATURE Laboni Hoq. Hoq is the Litigation Director at Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Los Angeles. She leads the organization's civil rights impact litigation, with the goal of empowering immigrant communities to enforce and expand legal protections, and achieve systemic change in favor of greater social justice. Prior to joining Advancing Justice-LA, Hoq was a civil rights litigator at two leading civil rights law firms in greater Los Angeles. Ms. Hoq has litigated numerous civil rights cases in a range of areas, including worker's rights, immigrants right, national security, and voting rights. Media includes: Los Angeles Times, OC Register, The Sacramento Bee, NBC.
Liz Theran
