On Tuesday, October 14, 2008, the NYU Master’s Program in Global Public Health presents “Health as a Human Right: The Partners in Health Approach,” featuring Joia Mukherjee, M.D., M.P.H., Medical Director, Partners In Health and Assistant Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, and Edward M. Cardoza, M.A., Vice President for Development, Partners In Health. The discussion will take place in the NYU Kimmel Center Solarium, 4th Floor, 60 Washington Square South, New York, N.Y.

Last year marked the 20th anniversary of the founding of Partners In Health, the Boston-based organization renowned for its pioneering work to bring high-quality medical care to destitute communities. To highlight the anniversary, Partners In Health partnered with the NYU Master’s Program in Global Public Health on a current exhibit of photographs depicting the clinics and communities where the organization has forged partnerships with patients and local health workers to combat epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis, hunger and poverty. Dr. Mukherjee and Vice President Cardoza, two important members of Partners In Health’s committed leadership, will offer their insights and experiences at the distinguished October14 evening presentation, and a reception will follow in the downstairs gallery hosting the photo exhibit.

From the barren hills of Haiti, to the shantytowns of Peru, from the villages of rural Rwanda to the streets of downtown Boston, the presentation and the gallery photographs are intended to illuminate how communities that suffer the most glaring health, social, and economic disparities in the world can be revived when the individuals living in them have access to health, social and economic support, and training. If a picture is worth a thousand words, these images and the Partners in Health concepts that underlie them are worth millions for what they have to say about human dignity in the face of intolerable suffering and criminal indifference, about solidarity, and ultimately about hope.

Tuesday, October 14th, 2008
NYU Kimmel Center, 60 Washington Square South, NYC
6:00pm - Presentations: NYU Kimmel Center Solarium, 4th Floor
7:30pm - Reception: NYU Kimmel Commuter Lounge Gallery, 2nd Floor
Free and open to the general public

Visit www.nyu.edu/mph/events to RSVP and for more information

Speaker Biographies:

Joia Mukherjee, MD, MPH
Joia Mukherjee, MD, MPH is an expert in the scale up of treatment for complex disease in poor countries. As Medical Director of Partners In Health, she has overseen the expansion of successful HIV/AIDS treatment programs to eight hospitals in Haiti and six clinics in rural Rwanda, as well as the scale up of treatment programs for multi-drug resistant tuberculosis nationwide in Peru and to 14 states in the Russian Federation. In 2006, Dr. Mukherjee served as Editor-in-Chief for the 2nd edition of Partners In Health’s Community-Based Treatment of HIV in Resource Poor Settings, the leading publication of its kind for health care professionals worldwide. She is also a respected voice in global health policy, and in 2006 was a leading contributor to new World Health Organization standards for treating HIV positive children in poor settings and for management of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis. She is a sought after teacher and speaker at a wide range of venues around the world, having lectured at universities and major medical conferences in 14 countries. She is also an extensively published and well-respected researcher, who is currently principal investigator on three studies examining various aspects of her work in Haiti. Dr. Mukherjee received her MD from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis in 1992, followed by clinical training in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at the University of Minnesota Hospital and Clinic from 1992 to 1994 and at Massachusetts General Hospital from 1995 to 1997. She was a Fellow in Infectious Disease at Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital from 1997 to 2001. In 1998, she received the Fellow in Training Award from the Infectious Disease Society of America. She received her Masters in Public Health from the Harvard School of Public Health in 2001. She is board certified in Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, and Infectious Disease.

Edward M. Cardoza, M.A.
Mr. Edward M. Cardoza holds a Master of Arts in Ministry from Saint John’s Seminary School of Theology and a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from Saint John’s Seminary College of Liberal Arts. While in the seminary, Mr. Cardoza served in the Office of AIDS Ministry and the chaplaincy office at Massachusetts General Hospital. During this time, he also attended the University of Lisbon in Lisbon, Portugal where he studied Portuguese and worked with refugees from East Timor. After graduating from the seminary college, he worked as a development researcher at Tufts University. In 1998, Mr. Cardoza became a development researcher at the Harvard Medical School, and later the director of development research at the Appalachian Mountain Club in 2000. In December 2002, he was recruited by Partners In Health to become the director of development. He is currently fundraising for Partners In Health’s programs in Boston, Haiti, Russia, Peru, Rwanda, Mexico and Guatemala.

This event made possible in part by the generous support of the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation.


About the NYU Master’s Program in Global Public Health:
In response to the recognition that no single disciplinary approach is sufficient to respond to today’s complex global health challenges, five of New York University’s premier professional schools collaboratively offer the NYU Master’s Program Global Public Health, awarding the Master of Public Health degree (M.P.H). The program prepares professionals with advanced degrees from multiple disciplines to play leadership roles in promoting global health. Graduates of the program are uniquely qualified to lead multidisciplinary initiatives to enhance the health status of individuals and communities around the world. For more information, visit the program website at http://www.nyu.edu/mph.

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