The Virginia Bishop Inaugural Youth Leadership Conference

Chicago, IL - October 29th, 2020 - The Center for Health Equity Transformation at Feinberg School of Medicine announces today the creation of The Virginia Bishop Youth Leadership Conference. The conference is created in honor of Dr. Virginia Bishop, who passed recently. Dr. Bishop had spent much of her life as a tireless advocate for diversity, inclusion and equity in healthcare and held appointments as an Associate Professor of Preventive Medicine at Northwestern’s Feinberg School of Medicine Program in Public Health and in the Institute for Public Health and Medicine (IPHAM).

Dr. Melissa Simon, Director of the Center for Health Equity Transformation stated, “My dear friend and colleague, Dr. Bishop, was the real-deal, true social justice warrior. We miss her dearly. She devoted her entire career to lifting others and especially youth. Her relentless pursuit to ensure our youth are empowered to lead us into the future inspired this youth leadership conference to honor her legacy.”

Dr. Bishop had also previously served as an educator and mentor for medical students in her role as the Latino Affairs and Community Engagement Liaison for the Office of Diversity and Inclusion. To honor this legacy of mentorship and fierce advocacy for the inclusion of youth in medicine, the conference has been organized by youth with support from allies and organizations across the Chicagoland area serving high school and college students.

The first of its kind, The Virginia Bishop Youth Leadership Conference will be held virtually on Saturday, November 7th from 10am-1pm CST. The focus of the conference is COVID and Gun Violence from a Health Equity Perspective. We hope that you will join us. To RSVP, visit: http://bit.ly/VBYLC.

About the Center for Health Equity Transformation:

The Center for Health Equity Transformation is a joint center between the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University and the Institute for Public Health and Medicine. Its mission is to lift health for all by exposing the root causes of health inequities and serving as a hub that pushes boundaries in research, policy, education, workforce development and community engagement.