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Conversations at RAND
Critical Factors in Our Nation's Obesity Epidemic
Date: |
Tuesday, October 16, 2007 |
Time: |
8:30 a.m. — 10:00 a.m. |
Location: |
RAND Corporation |
Discussion Overview
The RAND Policy Circle presents A Conversation at RAND, an opportunity for people with wide-ranging interests to learn about, and informally discuss, topics of interest with content experts from RAND. This Conversation features Deborah Cohen, M.D., one of RAND's leading experts on obesity. She is the co-author of the book, Prescription for a Healthy Nation: A New Approach to Improving Our Lives by Fixing Our Everyday World.
Obesity is the most serious public health problem confronting America today. Obese and overweight Americans face elevated risks of chronic illness and disability. Deborah will talk about the role of neighborhoods, as well as the role of the workplace, schools, and one's access to healthy foods and safe places to engage in physical activity, as factors in the obesity epidemic.
Participating in this Conversation will be Dr. Donald Fischer, Chief Medical Officer with Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield, and Stephen Thomas, Ph.D., Director of the Center for Minority Health within the University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Public Health. Their experiences as local leaders engaged in this issue will Contribute additional perspectives to our discussion.
About the Speakers
Dr. Deborah Cohen is a researcher in the area of the built environment and health, and is the co-author of Prescription for a Healthy Nation, A New Approach to Improving Our Lives by Fixing Our Everyday World. She is board certified in Public Health and Preventive Medicine and is currently a Senior Natural Scientist at the RAND Corporation. Deborah previously served on the faculty at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center and at the University of Southern California Medical School. She has served on several advisory panels for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and was a Fulbright Senior Scholar in Brazil. She is the Principal Investigator of several grants to assess how local neighborhoods influence physical activity and dietary behaviors.
Dr. Donald R. Fischer is Senior Vice President of Integrated Clinical Services and Chief Medical Officer at Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield in Pittsburgh. He is actively involved in Highmark's regional strategy to address childhood obesity. Dr. Fischer is Board certified in Pediatrics and Pediatric Cardiology, and is a Fellow in both the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Cardiology. He is a Certified Physician Executive in the American College of Physician Executives. He is a member of the Boards of Directors of the Pennsylvania Cancer Control Consortium (PAC3), the Western Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Heart Association, the Pittsburgh Regional Healthcare Initiative, and the DePaul School for Hearing and Speech. He was appointed a member of the Governor's Commission on Chronic Care in September 2007.
Stephen B. Thomas, Ph.D., is director of the Center for Minority Health (CMH) and the Philip Hallen Professor of Community Health and Social Justice in the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health (GSPH). Over the past 15 years Dr. Thomas has applied his expertise in behavioral science and health education in the African American community. His work has addressed several critical public health issues including, but not limited to, HIV/AIDS, youth violence, substance abuse and organ and tissue donations among African Americans. Among the unique programs and strategies implemented by CMH under Dr. Thomas' leadership are community-based interventions that range from the development of culturally tailored health communication materials designed to address an individual's risk behaviors to using mass media to advocate for policy change.
About RAND
RAND is a nonprofit organization that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. As the nation's first "think tank," RAND has been expanding the boundaries of human knowledge for 60 years and continually seeks nonpartisan solutions to the most pressing challenges of our day. Initially, RAND focused on issues of national security; today, RAND uses its intellectual reserves to make a difference in additional areas such as the arts, education, health, business, law, and science. No other institution tackles tough policy problems across so broad a spectrum.
Further Inquiries
For information about this event, contact Jennifer Nielsen at Jennifer_Nielsen@rand.org or 412-683-2300 x4270.
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