Past Drench Lectures
2019
Start Here: Getting Real About Social Determinants of Health
Presented by Dr. Donald Berwick
Donald M. Berwick, MD, MPP, FRCP, is president emeritus and senior fellow at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, which he co-founded and led for 18 years. He was appointed by President Obama to serve as administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services from July 2010 to December 2011. Trained as a pediatrician, he has served on the faculties of Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health, and is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine. His numerous awards include the 2007 William B. Graham Prize for Health Services Research and the 2007 Heinz Award for Public Policy. In 2005, he was appointed Honourary Knight Commander of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II. He has authored or co-authored more than 160 scientific articles and six books.
2018
Thirty Million Words: A Public Health Approach to Early Childhood Education
Presented by Dr. Dana Suskind
Dana Suskind, MD, author of Thirty Million Words: Building A Child’s Brain, is co-director of the TMW Center for Early Learning + Public Health, professor of surgery at the University of Chicago, director of the Pediatric Cochlear Implant Program, and founder and director of the Thirty Million Words Initiative. Based on scientific research that shows the critical importance of early language exposure on the developing child, Thirty Million Words helps parents, caregivers, and practitioners harness the power of their language to build children’s brains and shape their futures. Dr. Suskind’s ultimate goal, and that of her dedicated team, is to close the ever-widening achievement gap and help all children reach their full potential.
2017
How the Evolution of Sex and Gender-based Research Impacts the Practice of Medicine
Presented by Dr. Alyson McGregor (MED ’03)
Alyson J. McGregor, MD MA FACEP, is a women’s health pioneer who has brought the concept of sex and gender differences in the delivery of acute medical care to the national stage. She is an associate professor of emergency medicine at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and the co-founder and director for the Division of Sex and Gender in Emergency Medicine at Brown University’s Department of Emergency Medicine. McGregor is also a co-founder and vice chair for the national organization Sex and Gender Women’s Health Collaborative. McGregor’s research focuses on the effects that sex and gender have on emergent conditions, and she has been an advocate for this model nationally. She received her medical degree at Boston University School of Medicine.
2016
Presented by Dr. Brian G. Skotko and Special Olympics Athlete Melissa Joy Reilly
A board-certified medical geneticist and co-director of the Down Syndrome Program at Massachusetts General Hospital, Dr. Brian G. Skotko has dedicated his career to children with cognitive and development disabilities.
Melissa J. Reilly is a motivational speaker, Special Olympics Athlete and Global Messenger, and a member of Special Olympics Massachusetts Board of Directors.
2015
No Brakes: A Journey Toward Physical Activity for All
Presented by Cheri Blauwet, MD
Cheri Blauwet, MD, is an instructor in physical medicine and rehabilitation at Harvard Medical School and an attending physician at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She also serves as the disability access and awareness director for Spaulding Rehabilitation Network. She is a graduate of the Stanford University School of Medicine and completed her residency training in PM&R at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital/Harvard Medical School where she served as chief resident before completing a sports medicine fellowship at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago.
2014
My Personal Journey: From the Bedside to the Halls of Congress
Presented by Karen A. Daley (SPH ’88), PhD, RN, FAAN
2013
Presented by Jothy Rosenberg, PhD
Jonathan “Jothy” Rosnberg is an entrepreneur, motivational speaker, and the author of Who Says I Can’t which recounts how he used extreme sports to recover from two bouts with cancer, an amputation, and having a lung removed, all as a teenager when he was told he had zero chance of survival. Forty years later, he is still very active in those extreme sports and uses many of them to raise money for important causes.
2012
Defying the Odds: Rehabilitation and Perseverance After Spinal Cord Injury
Presented by Travis Roy
2011
Disability in 21st Century America: Psychological, Social, and Political Meanings
Presented by Simi Linton
2010
Life Changes In An Instant: A Caregivers Journey
Presented by Lee Woodruff
2009
Psychosocial Consequences of Stroke: Issues and Possible Solutions
Presented by Dr. Audrey Holland