Kennedy Krieger Institute hosts 9th Annual Room to Grow: Journey to Cultural and Linguistic Competency Conference (MD UCEDD/LEND)

November 7, 2019

Kennedy Krieger Institute hosted the 9th Annual Room to Grow: Journey to Cultural and Linguistic Competency Conference on September 17th 2019. Harolyn Belcher, MD, MHS, Director for the Center for Diversity in Public Health Leadership at Kennedy Krieger Institute welcomed over 180 attendees and addressed this year's theme of ensuring inclusion and provided updates on what we have learned since the publication of the National Academies of Sciences' important report entitled, "Neurons to Neighborhoods".

The morning presenters also included Elizabeth Hall, MSW, Director of Interagency Affairs at the Maryland Department of Disabilities who presented on Disability, the Life Perspective, and Legislative Policy and Kisha B. Holden, Ph.D., MSCR, Associate Director and Pouissaint-Satcher Endowed Chair in Mental Health at the Satcher Health Leadership Institute at the Morehouse School of Medicine who spoke on Advancing Health Equity in Diverse Communities: Mental Health and Health Policy Considerations.

AZA Stephen Allsop, MD, PH.D, a researcher and resident in the Department of Psychiatry at Yale University and Bruce Birren, Ph.D., Institute Scientist and Director at Broad Institute Genomic Center for Infectious Diseases conducted an interactive workshop in the afternoon entitled, Bias: How the Brain Takes Short Cuts. The presenters discussed implicit bias and shared strategies to address implicit bias and microaggressions.