Newswise — Leana S. Wen, MD, MSc, FAAEM, Commissioner of Health for the City of Baltimore, will speak at this year’s Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health convocation ceremony on Tuesday, May 22, at Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore.
In her role as Baltimore’s Health Commissioner, Wen is on the front lines of the most pressing public health issues of our times, including urban violence, health disparities, food insecurity and a deepening opioid crisis. Wen’s remarks will address the challenges facing public health practitioners today, and call upon graduates to embrace the field with urgency.
At Tuesday’s ceremony, Wen will be recognized with the Dean’s Medal from Dean Ellen J. MacKenzie, PhD, MSc, for her dedicated work to advance health and social justice in Baltimore. The Dean’s Medal is the Bloomberg School’s highest honor and celebrates individuals who have made a significant contribution to the field of public health. This is MacKenzie’s first Convocation as dean. She became dean in October 2017.
“We are honored that Dr. Wen is taking the time from her schedule as Commissioner to address our graduating students at the Bloomberg School of Public Health this year. I know she will inspire them to make a difference as she has done so effectively here in our home town of Baltimore and nationally,” says MacKenzie.
Formed in 1793, the Baltimore City Health Department is the oldest, continuously operating health department in the U.S. Wen became Baltimore City’s Health Commissioner in 2015, and oversees a number of initiatives, including B’More for Healthy Babies, Safe Streets and Healthy Baltimore 2020. To combat the opioid epidemic in Baltimore, Wen called for making naloxone, a drug that reverses opioid overdoses, available to Baltimore’s 620,000 residents, saving over 1,900 lives. In 2016, she was honored to be the recipient of the American Public Health Association’s highest award for local public health work, the Milton and Ruth Roemer Award. In 2017, Wen was named one of Governing’s Public Officials of the Year.
Prior to becoming Baltimore’s Health Commissioner, Wen served as an attending physician and director of Patient-Centered Care in the Department of Emergency Medicine at George Washington University. A board-certified emergency physician, she received her medical training from Washington University School of Medicine and Brigham & Women’s Hospital/Massachusetts General Hospital. Wen is the author of the book When Doctors Don’t Listen: How to Avoid Misdiagnoses and Unnecessary Tests.
“I am deeply honored to be invited by Dean Ellen MacKenzie to give the Convocation address at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, an institution that embodies its mission of saving lives—millions at a time,” said Baltimore City Health Commissioner Dr. Leana Wen. “In my role as Health Commissioner of Baltimore City, I have had the privilege of collaborating with the faculty, staff and students at the Bloomberg School, and feel fortunate to count them as partners in our work to improve the health and well-being of Baltimoreans. I look forward to celebrating these graduates as they use their training in public health to address disparities and combat injustice in Baltimore, across the country and around the world.”
This year’s graduating class is expected to include 918 students, with 331 expected to earn a Master of Public Health, or MPH, degree. The balance will earn a range of masters and doctoral degrees. This year, 153 doctoral degrees will be conferred. The inaugural class of the Bloomberg School’s Online Programs for Applied Learning, which launched in 2016, are among the 2018 graduates, with 29 students set to earn a Master of Applied Science in Spatial Analysis. Of this year’s graduates, over 290 are international students representing more than 45 countries, including the U.S.
WHAT:
2018 Convocation for the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
WHEN:
Tuesday, May 22, 3 p.m. (approximate start time)
WHO:
Leana S. Wen, MD, MSc, FAAEM
Health Commissioner, Baltimore City
WHERE:
Royal Farms Arena
(The corner of Hopkins Place and Baltimore Street)
201 W. Baltimore Street
Baltimore, MD 21201z
SOCIAL MEDIA COVERAGE:
To follow and participate in social media coverage of the event, use the hashtag #JHU2018. Twitter accounts: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (@JohnsHopkinsSPH), Leana S. Wen (@DrLeanaWen) and B’More Healthy (@BMore_Healthy).
MEDIA REGISTRATION:
Media interested in attending must register in advance. Media must be pre-set by 11 a.m. Please contact Barbara Benham, associate director of media and public relations, at [email protected].
Special note: There is no WiFi in the Royal Farms Arena. However, cellular service is reliable.
The event will be live-streamed: http://www.jhsph.edu/convocation
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