Presenters: 

Sonia Gupta, MPH, MBA

Milla Dobrovolska-Ivanova

Eashwar Krishna

Micah Fleischman

CEUs: No CEUs Awarded

Duration: 60 minutes

Instructional Level: Introductory

Program Focus: Knowledge 

Description:

This presentation introduces webinar participants to United Against Inequities in Disease (UAID) and its Community Project Model.

Founded in 2009, UAID is a national 501c3 nonprofit organization that aims to both reduce health inequities in local communities today and also empower public health leaders of tomorrow. It focuses its efforts on local communities, conducts work in collaboration with local partners, and leverages the power of research and an interdisciplinary approach to health equity to affect sustainable change.

The UAID Community Project encapsulates UAID’s philosophy, values, and approach. It is an effort to achieve a meaningful, positive impact on health outcomes in their local community on a longitudinal time scale. Through this model, participants have an opportunity to practice public health principles. Specifically, they gain experience in utilizing mixed research methods, assessing health issues on the local level, and in planning, implementing, and evaluating long-term projects.

Webinar attendees will learn how students and practicing audiologists can reduce health inequities in their own local communities through UAID and its Community Project Model.

Learning Outcomes:  

1. Understand how students and practicing audiologists can reduce health inequities in their local communities ethically and sustainably. 

2. Explain how the eight-step UAID Community Project Model works.

3. Apply UAID’s Community Project Model to reduce health inequities in the field of audiology within their own local communities.

Sonia Gupta, MPH, MBA

Sonia Gupta, MPH, MBA, is a social entrepreneur, public health leader, and health equity advocate. She founded United Against Inequities in Disease in 2009 to empower students to eliminate health inequities in their own communities in partnership with local organizations. 

Sonia also applies her passion for and expertise in public health to her consulting firm, Strategic Health Innovations. From advocating for HIV decriminalization policy to establishing a regional syringe services program to leading a statewide Zika virus awareness campaign, she has tackled some of the most pressing public health issues in our times at the local, state, national, and international levels.

More recently, Sonia has dedicated her efforts on addressing the maternal mortality and morbidity crisis in the United States. She serves as the co-chair of the Innovations in Maternity Care Committee for the American Public Health Association, chief editor of an upcoming book on “obstetric deserts” for Springer Publications, and subject-Matter expert for the Advisory Committee on Infant and Maternal Mortality Systems Issues in Rural Health Workgroup.

Sonia regularly contributes to the community by serving on the Commission on Public Health for the State of Maryland as well as on the advisory boards of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Equity and United Way of Central Maryland.

Sonia is a graduate of Yale University, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and MIT Sloan School of Management. She will be matriculating at Stanford School of Medicine this year.

Milla Dobrovolska-Ivanova

Milla Dobrovolska-Ivanova is a second-year undergraduate student at the University of Chicago. This is her second year being a part of UAID and she is currently serving as the external co-president. She is studying biological sciences with a focus in global health and Spanish at the university, and hopes to enter the field of medicine and public health in the future.

Eashwar Krishna

Eashwar Krishna is the president of the University of Connecticut UAID chapter. A sophomore majoring in molecular and cell biology, he is passionate about rural health and health disparities. In his free time, he volunteers with a local ambulance service and enjoys mountain biking. 

Micah Fleischman

Micah Fleischman is a junior at UConn majoring in physiology and neurobiology, with a minor in music. He is the vice president of UConn's UAID chapter. As a UAID member, Micah has helped give resource guides to food pantries, and rescue excess food from schools to be distributed to soup kitchens.