event • Lectures

The Epidemic of Poverty: The Government Imperative

Monday, February 12, 2018
Knafel Center
10 Garden Street
Cambridge, MA 02138

Abdul El-Sayed stands at a podium smiling.

The Epidemic of Poverty: The Government Imperative, February 27, 2018 Pictured: Abdul El-Sayed, physician; former health director, City of Detroit; candidate for governor of Michigan Photo by Kevin Grady

As health director of the City of Detroit, Abdul El-Sayed rebuilt the Detroit Health Department following the city’s municipal bankruptcy to address the needs of its most vulnerable, breaking down health barriers to enable people to learn and earn.

That meant providing vision care to children so that they could see the blackboard, forcing Marathon Petroleum to reduce their sulfur dioxide emissions in the state’s most polluted zip code, and screening every Detroit Public School building for water lead poisoning. Now, he’s running for governor of Michigan.

Part of the 2017–2018 Epidemics Science Lecture Series. A larger, one-day public symposium on the topic was held on Friday, October 27, 2017.

Speakers

Lecture by Abdul El-Sayed, physician; former health director, City of Detroit; candidate for governor of Michigan

Introduction by Janet Rich-Edwards, faculty codirector of the science program, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study; associate professor of medicine, Harvard Medical School; associate professor, Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health