Community Grand Rounds
Special event: “Centering Community: Reflections on Dr. Barbara Brenner’s Legacy” bringing together community partners for our 1st in person gathering since the pandemic. On February 8th, 2023 faculty and staff from across the Mount Sinai Health System came together with East Harlem community partners, friends, and family to celebrate the life and legacy of Barbara Brenner, DrPh, MSW. Dr. Brenner served as the Director of Community Relations at Mount Sinai and was a faculty member in the Department of Preventive Medicine (now Environmental Medicine and Public Health) for over 23 years.
Dr. Brenner was a beacon of light and inspiration to all who knew her throughout her life. Our community is forever grateful for her contributions and will continue to follow the path of service she created, centering the needs of communities and tirelessly advocating for health and justice for all. As shared that day by Peggy Shepard, Executive Director of WE ACT for Environmental Justice, “Dr. Barbara Brenner was a change agent. She will be missed, but fortunately she has left us a roadmap.” Our task as the Community and Collaboration Team is to continue her legacy centering community in all our work. Following the memorial, guests were invited to a community gathering and encouraged to share ideas for community actions that we can take together to honor Dr. Brenner’s Legacy. Some of the ideas shared through a communal post-it board included increasing awareness of community mental health services, involving community members in research design, engaging Mount Sinai medical students in community projects, and increasing engagement with East Harlem seniors, youth, and schools.
Community Tour
The CTSA CC, together with the Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health Anti-Racism Committee (AIDE), organized the first in a series of community tours of East Harlem. On May 30, 10 faculty, trainees, and staff participated in the tour led by Aurora Flores, a pioneer in the environmental justice movement in East Harlem. The aim of this tour was to develop a deeper understanding of the community where we all work, discover shared interests, and build new relationships. Additional tours will be planned for the coming year under the leadership of CTSA CC new faculty member Dr. Terry Thompson as a part of efforts to re-establish trust and open communications with a range of East Harlem and NYC based community partners. Click here for a slide show of highlights from the tour.
Training and Exposure to Community Engagement
Our faculty, Dr. Nita Vangeepuram, led the planning of the March 2023 Academic Pediatrics Association Regional Conference which featured a community engagement keynote presentation titled: Partnered Engagement to Reduce Suicide in Black Youth” co-presented by Sidney Hankerson, MD, MBA and Lena L. Green, DSW, LCSW. The in person conference reached over 100+ clinicians from New York City Upstate New York New Jersey, Philadelphia, Delaware, Western Pennsylvania West Virginia and Ontario.
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ConduITS is supported by NCATS of the NIH’s CTSA Program. Any use of CTSA-supported resources requires citation of grant number UL1TR004419 awarded to ISMMS in the acknowledgment section of every publication resulting from this support. Adherence to the NIH Public Access Policy is also required.
