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Lyceum Speaker Series

The Office of Diversity & Inclusion’s Lyceum Speaker Series hosts distinguished scholars to present on current topics related to diversity and inclusion. These events are open to everyone, with the goal of encouraging inclusivity, learning and understanding throughout the Feinberg community.

Previous Topics & Speakers

The Emergency: A Year of Healing & Heartbreak in a Chicago ER (Fall 2022)
Thomas Fisher, MD, MPH

Thomas Fisher, MD, MPH, is a board-certified emergency medicine physician at The University of Chicago and a venture chair at Redesign Health. In his book The Emergency: A Year of Healing and Heartbreak in a Chicago ER, he brings readers into the clinical setting to reveal how society and healthcare shape our bodies and cause unnecessary suffering. For more than 20 years he has been an emergency department physician, serving the same South Side Chicago community where he was raised.

Challenges in Cancer Care for Sexual & Gender Minorities (Spring 2022)
Ulrike Boehmer, PhD

Ulrike Boehmer, PhD, adjunct associate professor of community health sciences at Boston University School of Public Health, shared her research investigating differences in quality of life, cancer prevalence, cancer mortality and health-related decision-making while examining disparities due to sexual orientation, gender, race, ethnicity and socioeconomic status. Boehmer is recognized as a leader in LGBT health, especially in the context of cancer, and she is an associate editor of the journal LGBT Health.

Understanding the Clinician Role in the Resolution of Health Inequities: Black Maternal Health as an Exemplar (Winter 2019)
Monica McLemore, PhD, MPH, RN

Monica McLemore, PhD, MPH, RN, associate professor in the family health care nursing department at the University of California, San Francisco, shared perspectives on understanding the clinician role in the resolution of health inequities, using Black maternal health as an exemplar. McLemore presented evidence and created a sense of urgency for healthcare providers to address the disconnect between what patients want and need and what the current healthcare system provides.

Disabusing Disability (Spring 2019)
Oluwaferanmi Okanlami, MD, MS

Oluwaferanmi Okanlami, MD, MS, an assistant professor of family medicine and of physical medicine and rehabilitation as well as the director for medical student success in the Office for Health Equity and Inclusion at the University of Michigan, emphasized that disability doesn’t mean inability and promoted a health system that is more inclusive and accessible for all.

Read about Okanlami's lecture.

The Price of Recognition: Race & the Making of the Modern University (Fall 2017)
Jonathan Holloway, PhD

Jonathan Holloway, PhD, president-elect of Rutgers University and former provost of Northwestern University, provided a historical overview of African Americans in majority-white universities during his address. He also spoke personally of progress and his optimism for the future.

Read about Holloway's lecture.

Language Concordant Care: Quality & Safety (Spring 2017)
Monica Vela, MD

Monica Vela, MD, professor of medicine and associate dean of multicultural affairs at the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Medicine, engaged the audience in a lively discussion about common language proficiency challenges and opportunities in clinical settings.

Health Disparities in the U.S. (Fall 2016)
Antonia Novello, MD

Antonia Novello, MD, U.S. surgeon general from 1990-1993, was the first woman and the first Hispanic to hold this office. During her tenure, she was an outspoken champion of diversity and inclusion.

Watch Novello's public lecture.

Watch Novello's lecture to M1 students.

Wrong Place Wrong Time: Seeing Violence Through the Lens of Trauma (Spring 2016)
John Rich, MD, MPH

John Rich, MD, MPH, MacArthur fellow and professor of health management and policy at the Center for Nonviolence and Social Justice at Drexel University Dornsife School of Public Health, discussed violence through the lens of trauma in young, urban African American men.