RSVP: Telecon on Hurricane Katrina Survivor Initiative - Jan 5

SAVE THE DATE: THURSDAY, JANUARY 5, FROM 11:00 a.m. - 12 p.m. EST

WHAT:

Harvard Medical School, through a grant by the National Institute of Mental Health, will recruit 2,000 survivors of Hurricane Katrina to create the Hurricane Katrina Community Advisory Group. The group will provide ongoing information to policy-makers to help monitor the pace of recovery of the more than two million families whose lives were disrupted by Hurricane Katrina, with a strong emphasis on the mental health of the survivors.

Beginning January 10, a national telephone campaign will commence to recruit a representative sample of survivors.

A press briefing about this important initiative will be held this Thursday. We will provide you with the call-in information and an embargoed copy of the release.

WHEN:Thursday, January 5, 200611:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.Please RSVP to obtain the call-in number and password, and an advanced copy of the embargoed press release.

NOTE:The national teleconference is for registered media only. The information obtained prior to the call-in are embargoed until Thursday, January 5, 2005, 12:00 PM U.S. EST.

SPEAKERS:Ronald C. Kessler, Ph.D.Professor, Department of Health Care PolicyHarvard Medical School

Anthony H. Speier, Ph.D. Director of Disaster Mental Health OperationsLouisiana Office of Mental Health

Benjamin Springgate, M.D., M.P.H.Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar ProgramUCLA School of Medicine HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOLhttp://hms.harvard.edu/Harvard Medical School has more than 5,000 full-time faculty working in eight academic departments based at the School's Boston quadrangle or in one of 47 academic departments at 18 Harvard teaching hospitals and research institutes. Those Harvard hospitals and research institutions include Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Cambridge Health Alliance, The CBR Institute for Biomedical Research, Children's Hospital Boston, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Forsyth Institute, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Joslin Diabetes Center, Judge Baker Children's Center, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Massachusetts General Hospital, Massachusetts Mental Health Center, McLean Hospital, Mount Auburn Hospital, Schepens Eye Research Institute, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, and VA Boston Healthcare System.