FPG Distinguished Speaker Series: Addressing Sociopolitical Determinants of Health to Prevent Developmental Disabilities

UNC’s Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute is pleased to welcome Harolyn Belcheras as the third speaker in our 2021-2022 distinguished speaker series, Examining Equity and Diversity in the Field of Developmental Disabilities.

Addressing Sociopolitical Determinants of Health to Prevent Developmental Disabilities

In this talk, Belcher will define and discuss social and political factors related to optimal child development and the prevention of developmental disabilities. The emerging demographic characteristics of the United States and the current and potential healthcare workforce will be reviewed, as it relates to the provision of healthcare for children and youth with developmental disabilities. Research priorities and efforts to bring evidence-based interventions to scale will also be examined.

Learning Objectives:

Harolyn M.E. Belcher, MD, MHS, is a vice president and chief diversity officer, director of the Office for Health Equity Inclusion and Diversity, and senior director of the Center for Diversity in Public Health Leadership Training at Kennedy Krieger Institute. She is a double-boarded Neurodevelopmental Pediatrician who is a professor of Pediatrics at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Belcher is jointly appointed in the Department of Mental Health at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Dr. Belcher was the former director of research for the Family Center – a community-based mental health center that provides evidence-based mental health treatment focusing on children with a history of abuse and neglect and exposure to parental risk factors, poverty, racism, and community and domestic violence. Dr. Belcher is co-chair of the Health and Human Services Committee of the Baltimore City Social Determinants of Health Taskforce. She currently serves on the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NAS) Board on Children, Youth, and Families and the NAS Forum on Child –Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral Health.

Register