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| Featured Speakers |
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Anne Fadiman, is an author, essayist, editor, and teacher. Her first book, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, chronicles the trials of an epileptic Hmong child and her family living in Merced, California. Fadiman's sensitive, incisive treatment of the unbreachable gulf between the Hmong and American medical systems won her a National Book Critics' Circle Award. The Washington Post called the book "an intriguing, spirit-lifting, extraordinary exploration." In 2009 it was chosen by the Young Adult Library Association as one of its recommended titles for all students (the list, which includes a number of adult titles, is revised every 5 years and used by educators and librarians across the country). Spirit is frequently chosen by colleges, libraries, and communities for First Year Experience and All Read programs. The book continues to be taught at universities both as literary journalism and as a casebook for cross-cultural sensitivity in general; it is also widely read by medical practitioners who wish to offer more effective care to patients from other cultures. "Ms. Fadiman tells her story with a novelist's grace, playing the role of cultural broker, comprehending those who do not comprehend each other and perceiving what might have been done or said to make the outcome different." - The New York Times |
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John Cowden, MD, is a general academic pediatrician and Medical Director of the Office of Equity and Diversity at Children's Mercy Hospitals and Clinics in Kansas City, MO. Dr. Cowden's research includes provider-patient communication, provider bias, disparities in injury care and prevention, and access to health care for minorities, specifically those who do not speak English. In his bilingual clinical practice, he serves Spanish-speaking families from throughout the Kansas City metropolitan area. |  |
Gabriela Flores, has over fifteen years experience working in the field of human services, specifically with refugee and immigrant populations in the Kansas City metropolitan area. Ms. Flores currently serves as the Director for the Office of Equity and Diversity at Children's Mercy Hospitals and Clinics. |
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Carla Gibson, Carla Gibson is the Program Officer for the REACH Foundation. Ms. Gibson is committed to improving the overall health of the poor and underserved through her work at Charles Drew Health Center, Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, Swope Health Services and the Kansas City Free Health Clinic. |  |
Joe LeMaster, MD, MPH (London), is an Assistant Professor, Department of Family Medicine, at the University of Kansas School of Medicine. Dr. LeMaster and his wife Judy lived in Nepal from 1990-2000, serving at Okhaldhunga Hospital. He is currently engaged in research and clinical practice on refugee healthcare issues in the greater Kansas City area. |
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Adriana Pecina, is a Program Officer of the Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City (HCF). Ms. Pecina currently serves as commissioner of the Kansas City Health Commission, chair of the Kansas City Public Schools Foundation Formation committee, member of KCUR Public Radio Station Advisory Board and UMKC's Hispanic Advisory Board. |  |
Theresa Reyes-Cummings, MPA, is the Director of Program Development for the Jackson County Community Mental Health Fund, where she provides grant writing and program development assistance, conducts research and training for the development of mental health programs, cultural competency and services in Jackson County, Missouri. |
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