BINGHAMTON, NY – Binghamton University will hold a Health Equity Conference on Thursday, April 10, in Symposia Hall, room 1101, of the Center of Excellence, Innovative Technologies Complex, 85 Murray Hill Road, Vestal. This event is free and open to the public.

Hosted by the Sustainable Communities TAE, Community Health Nursing Grant and the C-STEP Program, the keynote address – "Health Equity: Protecting Vulnerable Populations" – will be given by Cheryl Easley, PhD, RN, and Carol Easley Allen, PhD, RN. 

Easley and Allen are partners and co-owners of Twin Solutions LLC, consultants in nursing and healthcare education. Easley has spoken for the American Public Health Association (APHA), the World Public Health Congress and the National Association for Home Care. She is an active member of the APHA, having served as its president from 2008-2009, as chair of its Education Board, co-chair of its Joint Policy Committee and as a member of its International Human Rights Committee and Executive Board. 

Allen is a public health nurse, and has developed and taught courses and provided academic leadership at the undergraduate and graduate levels. She is a past president and past chair of the Executive Board of the American Public Health Association (APHA), where she is presently active on its International Human Rights Committee. She is a past chair of APHA’s Public Health Nursing Section and holds the Ruth B. Freeman Award for lifetime achievement in public health nursing from the section.

Additional conference topics will include:

"The Affordable Care Act and vulnerable populations" by Serdar Atav, associate professor at the Decker School of Nursing

"Power for the People: Examining energy insecurity as a hidden dimension of risk among vulnerable populations" by Diana Hernandez, assistant professor of sociomedical sciences at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health

"Confronting inequities associated with teen pregnancy and parenting: The Federal Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program" by Sue Seibold Simpson, assistant professor at the Decker School of Nursing

"Using GIS to address nutritional health inequities" by Lucius Willis, computer cartographer and GIS analysis

Lunch will be provided. For more information or to RSVP by April 7, contact Gale Spencer at gspencer@binghamton.edu.