NYU Langone’s Department of Population Health hosts the Health And… conference series, which is aimed at translating research into action to improve urban population health and advance health equity. At this annual event, we bring together leading investigators, policymakers, practitioners, and community leaders who work at the intersection of health and its many determinants. Throughout the day, we highlight the latest findings, identify frontline innovations, develop pressing questions to investigate, and define promising policies and partnerships.

First launched in 2016, the conference has explored a different theme each year.

Trust

Our 2023 Health And… conference took place on May 8 at NYU Langone’s Murphy Auditorium. View our event program.

Trust is foundational to the functioning of any healthy society and serves as the glue that holds communities and public institutions together. While trust levels can vary between communities and nations, the past three years of the COVID-19 pandemic have coincided with an alarming breakdown in trust, particularly in the United States. Trust erosion can hinder a society’s ability to solve problems and lead to heightened political polarization, apathy, and disengagement among citizenry. As we’ve witnessed, mistrust in medical and public health systems, as well as in government action surrounding COVID-19 vaccine mandates, can have deadly consequences.

This conference addressed different facets of trust, brought together stakeholders from the public and private sectors with unique perspectives on what is required to restore and bolster trust, and explored how the medical community can be part of the solution.

Keynote speaker Jelani Cobb, PhD, dean of Columbia Journalism School, kicked off the event with an address on this year’s theme, Health And… Trust. Dr. Cobb is also a writer and regular contributor to The New Yorker and many other leading media outlets.

The Trust Workers photovoice exhibit, which documents the role of community health workers in building trust, was displayed outside the Murphy Auditorium for the duration of the conference. This exhibit was organized by The Trust Collaboratory at Columbia University’s Incite Institute with NYU Langone’s Community Health Worker Research & Resource Center.

Learn more about our speakers.

Safe and Stable Housing

Our 2022 conference, Health And… Safe and Stable Housing, took place on May 16. The keynote speaker was Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Adrianne Todman, who gave a presentation, followed by a conversation with Dr. Matthew Desmond, professor of sociology at Princeton University and director of the Eviction Lab.

Social Connectedness

Our fifth annual Health And… conference occurred virtually across two sessions on October 20 and November 16, 2020. The theme of the conference was Health And… Social Connectedness, which explored the impact of social connection through social movements, community resilience during disasters, and beyond.

Childhood and Opportunity

The Health And… Childhood and Opportunity conference, held on May 13, 2019, examined proven and novel approaches to improving health and wellbeing during childhood that can pave the way for greater opportunity, health, and equity across the life course. Bringing together leading innovators across multiple sectors, the conferenced included presentations and discussions about novel approaches to improve parenting and education inside and outside of established settings; the use of economic interventions to address childhood and family poverty; and taking effective approaches to scale. New York City Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza, EdD, provided the keynote address.

Data Science and Public Action

Society is increasingly rich in big data, and the health sector is no different. We have more powerful computational and analytic tools at hand than ever before. But will these capabilities lead to improved population health and health equity? The Health And… Data Science and Public Action conference, held on May 21, 2018, explored how researchers, the health sector, and communities can use data to improve health and wellbeing. We also explored putting data into citizens’ hands to catalyze action. Speakers included Nate Silver, founder and editor-in-chief of the website FiveThirtyEight; Karen DeSalvo, MD, MPH, former acting assistant secretary for health in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS); and Farzad Mostashari, MD, co-founder and CEO of Aledade.

Racial Equity and Urban Wellbeing

The Health And… Racial Equity and Urban Wellbeing Conference, held on May 22, 2017, focused on how practitioners in the fields of medicine, healthcare, and public health can work together to blunt the impact of racism in health, to advance racial equity, and to help neighborhoods and communities improve people’s health and overall wellbeing. Speakers included Mary Bassett, MD, commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene; Thomas Frieden, MD, MPH, former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and Nancy Krieger, PhD, professor of epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Housing, Education, and Healthcare

The Health And… Housing, Education, and Healthcare conference, held on April 11, 2016, brought together leaders in housing, education, and health to explore the relationship among these three areas. The day also included a debate about the role of precision medicine in health. Speakers included Steven Woolf, MD, MPH, director of the Center on Society and Health at Virginia Commonwealth University; Sandro Galea, MD, DrPH, dean of Boston University School of Public Health; and Shreya Kangovi, MD, MSHP, founding executive director of the Penn Center for Community Health Workers at the University of Pennsylvania.