Blog Posts Tagged With: Black History Month

Celebrating a Champion of Health Equity: The Penn Medicine Community Health Fair Team

By Kya Hertz

In recognition of Black History Month, it is imperative to spotlight transformative initiatives that profoundly impact the communities we serve. The Penn Medicine Health Education and Screening Community Health Fair, a trailblazing initiative, a product of the Health Equity Project of the Department of Radiology (DOR) and its Radiology Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity Committee (RIDE), stands as a testament to unwavering commitment and profound impact.

A Model of Excellence: Data-Driven Development and Collaborative Leadership

Despite advancements in cancer treatment, significant disparities continue to plague our healthcare system, with Black Americans facing alarming inequities in cancer screening, diagnosis, and treatment. These disparities are often rooted in social determinants of health. The Community Health Fair Team, a robust collaboration of over 100…

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Black History Month Spotlight: Dr. Charles R. Drew (1904-1950)

By Kya Hertz, CDP

Dr. Charles R. Drew was a pioneering physician and medical researcher who made significant contributions to the fields of medicine and science, especially around blood transfusion and storage. His work has saved countless lives and helped to lay the foundation for the modern blood banking industry.

Born in Washington D.C., Drew was the oldest of five children and showed an early aptitude for science and medicine. After completing his undergraduate education at Amherst College in Massachusetts, he went on to earn a degree in medicine from McGill University in Montreal, Canada.

Drew's groundbreaking research into blood transfusion and storage began during his residency at New York's Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. In the early 1940s, he was appointed…

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OIDE Black History Month Event focusing on Restorative Practices

By Jack Drummond, Director of Restorative Practices

The Office of Inclusion, Diversity and Equity (OIDE) encourages you to recognize and celebrate the contributions made by African Americans during Black History Month. Notable contributions in fields such as medicine, law, science, technology, and art have greatly shaped our world and continue to shape the future.

As we honor these contributions, let us also recognize there is still progress to be made, by encouraging open discussions about race, mitigating biases, and promoting acceptance and understanding of all people and perspectives, with a focus on healing.

The Action for Cultural Transformation (ACT) strategic initiative continues to focus on eliminating structural injustice and unifying Penn Medicine as an anti-racist, equitable, diverse, and inclusive organization. As we celebrate this month, we also…

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Celebrating Black History Month: A Time for Reflection, Renewal, and Recommitment

By Eve Higginbotham SM, MD, ML

As some of you, I spent this month reflecting on the contributions of so many of our African American historical figures and colleagues, who either have preceded us or who work within our ranks, to advance our collective efforts to achieve health equity.  Within the halls of Penn Medicine, we have celebrated the contributions of Helen Octavia Dickens MD (1909 – 2001), Penn’s first African American Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology faculty member and a trailblazer in advancing health equity.  She is now appropriately memorialized on the first floor of Stemmler Hall in an exhibit that highlights several pivotal moments in her extraordinary career, as she was a stalwart advocate for preventive reproductive health for teens and women. Her legacy…

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Celebrating Black History Month and Dr. Nathan Mossell

By Corrinne Fahl

Dr. Francis Nathan Mossell was the first African American to receive a medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

Nathan Francis Mossell, the son of Aaron and Eliza Bowers Mossell, was born in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada on July 27, 1856. Nathan's father, Aaron Mossell, was a grandson of slaves, with a great-grandfather known to have been brought from West Africa. His wife Eliza came from a free Black family that had been deported to Trinidad with other such families when she was a child; she and Aaron met after she returned to Baltimore. During the Civil War, Aaron Mossell resettled his family, now including six children, in upstate New York. Here he established a successful brick manufacture business, employing laborers…

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