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Reimagining Health in Cities: New Directions in Urban Health Research

Thursday and Friday, September 10 & 11, 2015

A symposium hosted by the Drexel University School of Public Health

The symposium brought together researchers, practitioners, and policy makers focused on health in cities to energize work on urban places and health, generate novel ideas for research, and stimulate debate on policy implications. Participants will reflect critically on the links between urban environments and health, identify new opportunities for research (including novel data and methodological approaches), and consider implications for community action and policy.

Watch Speaker Presentations on YouTube

View Social Media Highlights on Storify

Program [PDF]

List of Poster Presentations [PDF]

Registration - SOLD OUT

Registration is closed. As of September 4, the event is sold out. For those who have confirmed registration, your registration fee covers attendance for the full program on September 10-11, and includes continental breakfast on September 10 and 11, box lunch on September 10 and an evening poster session and reception on September 10. If you are registered and need to change your plans, please let us know by sending an email to kmoran@drexel.edu. This will allow someone else to attend instead.

Poster Session and Reception

Posters will be presented on research topics related to urban health broadly. Posters will address the following themes: 1) novel uses of data and methods in urban heath, 2) systems approaches to urban health; 3) urban health disparities; 4) interdisciplinary approaches to urban health; and 5) translational research, intersectoral actions, and policies.

The Poster Session and Evening Reception will be held from 5:00-7:30 pm on September 10, 2015, at Drexel University Bossone Research Center lobby, located at 3140 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104.

Presenters may drop-off posters at the symposium registration desk in Nesbitt Hall, 3215 Market Street, during the morning of September 10th to be setup for the reception.

Event Details

Symposium Site

Drexel University School of Public Health
Nesbitt Hall, 3215 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104

 

Hotels

Sonesta Hotel

1800 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103 ▪ 215.561.7500 or 1.800.SONESTA (766.3782)

The reserved room block at Sonesta Hotel is full. You are welcome to contact other local Philadelphia hotels.

Transportation and Directions

Drexel University School of Public Health is conveniently located close to Amtrak 30th Street Train Station and SEPTA trolley and SEPTA subway stations. Drexel University City Campus Map.


Visitor Parking

Visitors can park at the Drexel Parking Garage at 34th and Market Street by using the self-serve pay-by-space system. To enter the garage from Market Street, turn south onto 34th Street, take the first left onto Ludlow, and the first left into the garage. Pay in the lobby at the kiosk just after parking vehicle, by entering the parking space number and selecting from the kiosk's menu prompts. Drexel Parking Garage Information and Maps

 

From 30th Street Train Station

Exit 30th Street Station on Market Street and walk west (away from Center City) on Market Street to Drexel University School of Public Health, Nesbitt Hall at 3215 Market Street, between 32nd and 33rd Streets.

 

From Philadelphia International Airport

Participants may choose to take SEPTA’s Airport Line from PHL (Philadelphia International Airport). Travel time is approximately 25 minutes and fares are approximately $8. Trains run every half an hour. Take the SEPTA train from the Airport towards Center City and exit at 30th Street Station (30th and Market Streets), which is two blocks from Drexel's University School of Public Health. See directions above from 30th Street Station.

 

Taxi service is readily available in the Philadelphia area, and is located outside each terminal. Fares are approximately $30-35 one way to PHL.

 

Amtrak

Amtrak trains stop at 30th Street Station (30th and Market Streets), which is two blocks from Drexel University School of Public Health, Nesbitt Hall at 3215 Market Street.

 

SEPTA Regional Rail

All Regional Rail trains stop at 30th Street Station (30th and Market Streets), which is two blocks from Drexel University School of Public Health, Nesbitt Hall at 3215 Market Street. Directions from 30th Street Station are above.

 

SEPTA Subways and Trolleys

The Market-Frankford Line (the Blue Line) runs along Market Street and stops at 30th and 34th Streets. Directions from 30th Street Station are above.

 

To get from the 34th Street Station stop, exit the train at 34th Street. From the corner of 34th and Market streets, proceed to walk 2 blocks east on Market St (towards Center City) to Nesbitt Hall.

 

All trolley trains (the Green Lines) stop at 30th and 33rd Streets. The 33rd Street stop is located across the street from Drexel University School of Public Health, Nesbitt Hall at 3215 Market Street.

 

For the latest schedules, fares and information, please visit:

While You Are Here

Agenda

Thursday, September 10

Morning Session
7:30-8:30 am

Breakfast and Registration

Nesbitt Hall Lobby, 3215 Market Street

8:30-8:40 am

Welcome, Overview and Goals: Motivation for the symposium

Ana Diez Roux, MD, PhD, MPH
Dean and Distinguished Professor of Epidemiology,
Drexel University School of Public Health

8:40-10:30 am

Session I Panel: Health challenges facing urban areas today

Moderator: Jo Ivey Boufford, MD
President, The New York Academy of Medicine

Mary T. Bassett, MD, MPH
Commissioner, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene

James Buehler, MD
Health Commissioner, City of Philadelphia

Leana Wen, MD, MSc
Commissioner, Baltimore City Health Department

Mitchell Katz, MD
Director, Los Angeles County Department of Health Services

Carlos Santos-Burgoa MD, MPH, PhD
Professor, Global Health Policy
The Milken Institute School of Public Health
The George Washington University

10:30-10:50 am

Break

10:50am-12:40 pm

Session II: Novel uses of data in urban health research and action

Moderator: Ghassan Hamra, PhD
Assistant Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health
Drexel University School of Public Health

Using social media data to inform population health
Mark Dredze, PhD 
Assistant Research Professor, Department of Computer Science, Human Language Technology Center of Excellence, Johns Hopkins University

Ecometrics in the age of big data: novel approaches to using big data to characterize city neighborhoods
Daniel O’Brien, PhD

Research Director, Boston Area Research Initiative,
Assistant Professor of Public Policy and Urban Affairs and Criminology and Criminal Justice, Northeastern University

The use of mixed methods in urban health: the example of marijuana dispensaries and health
Stephen Lankenau, PhD
Professor of Community Health and Prevention,
Drexel University School of Public Health

Innovative use of data to advance population health

Winfred Y. Wu, MD, MPH
Executive Director, Development
Primary Care Information Project
New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene

Capitalizing on natural experiments to understand health impacts of policies
Sam Harper, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, McGill University

 12:40-1:45 pm

Lunch

Afternoon Session

1:45-2:30 pm

Session III: Multi-Sectoral Data in Cities: Data Challenges and Insights

Martin Sepulveda, MD, MPH
IBM Fellow and Vice President, Integrated Health Services,
IBM Corporation

2:30-3:00 pm

Break

3:00-4:45 pm

Session IV: Using the tools of complex systems to understand urban health

Moderator:  Amy Auchincloss, PhD, MPH
Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics,
Drexel University School of Public Health

A review of the use of complex systems approaches in urban health research
Jose Siri, PhD, MPH
Research Fellow, United Nations University,
ICSU Program of Health in a Changing Urban Environment

Stakeholder engagement in systems mapping
Kristen Hassmiller Lich, PhD
Research Assistant Professor Health Management and Policy,
University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health

Public health and criminal justice approaches to reducing urban violence: a simulation approach
Magdalena Cerda, DrPH, MPH
Assistant Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine 
University of California, Davis

Tobacco town: modeling the impact of tobacco use in cities
Douglas Luke, PhD
Professor and Director, Center for Public Health Systems Science,
Washington University in St. Louis George Warren Brown School of Social Work

4:45-5:00 pm

Day 1 Closing

Ana Diez Roux, MD, PhD, MPH
Dean and Distinguished Professor of Epidemiology,
Drexel University School of Public Health

5:00-7:30 pm

Poster Session & Evening Reception 

Drexel Bossone Research Center, 3140 Market Street


Friday, September 11

Morning Session
7:30-8:30 am 

Breakfast

Nesbitt Hall Lobby, 3215 Market Street

8:30-10:00 am

Session I: Urban planning and public health: where have we been and where are we going?

Moderator:  Yvonne Michael, ScD, SM
Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics,
Associate Dean for Academic and Faculty Affairs,
Drexel University School of Public Health

A view from public health
Howard Frumkin, DrPH, MD, MPH

Dean, School of Public Health,
Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences,
University of Washington

A view from urban planning
Daniel Rodriguez, PhD
Director of the Center for Sustainable Community Design,
Professor of Sustainable Community Design and Epidemiology
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Discussants:

Harris Steinberg, FAIA 
Executive Director of the Lindy Institute for Urban Innovation, 
Distinguished Teaching Professor of Architecture at Westphal College, 
Drexel University

Amy Hillier, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of City and Regional Planning,
University of Pennsylvania 

Keith Davis 
Healthy Communities Coordinator,
Philadelphia City Planning Commission

10:00-10:30 am

Break

10:30-12:30 pm

Session II: Policy and community action in urban health: from climate change to chronic diseases

Moderator: Giridhar Mallya, MD, MSHP
Director of Policy and Planning,
Philadelphia Department of Public Health

Using local data for advocacy
Billie Giles-Corti, PhD
Professor, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health 
The University of Melbourne, Australia

Community action and policy approaches to prevent adverse health effects of climate change in cities
Sabrina McCormick, PhD, MA
Associate Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health,
George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health

Community engagement implications of community action in urban health
Amy Carroll-Scott, PhD, MPH
Assistant Professor of Community Health and Prevention,
Drexel University School of Public Health

12:30-12:40 pm

Wrap-Up and Closing

Ana Diez Roux, MD, PhD, MPH
Dean and Distinguished Professor of Epidemiology,
Drexel University School of Public Health