(April 26, 2024, New York, NY) The National Kidney Foundation (NKF) is excited to announce that renowned health equity expert Dr. Lisa Angeline Cooper will be the keynote speaker at the annual NKF 2024 Spring Clinical Meetings (SCM) in Long Beach, CA, which takes place from May 14 -18. Lisa A. Cooper, MD, MPH, is the Bloomberg Distinguished Professor of Equity in Health and Health Care at Johns Hopkins University Schools of Medicine, Nursing, and Public Health. She’s also the James F. Fries Professor of Medicine in the Division of General Internal Medicine and a core faculty member in the Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology, and Clinical Research. Dr. Cooper will give her keynote address entitled, “Advancing Equity in the Treatment and Outcomes of Kidney Disease” on Wednesday, May 15, 2024.
Witnessing the effects of social deprivation on the health of many fellow citizens in her birth country, Liberia, West Africa, fueled Dr. Cooper’s passion for a career in medicine and public health. She received a BA in Chemistry from Emory University, an MD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and an MPH from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health while completing a postdoctoral fellowship in general internal medicine at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
“I’m honored to give the keynote presentation at the annual NKF 2024 Spring Clinical Meetings,” said Dr. Cooper. “Health Equity is our ‘North Star’ – something we all want to attain one day. To achieve health equity, we have to address the contributors to health disparities at multiple levels, including at the level of individuals, social networks, organizations, communities, and policies. Everyone should care about health equity because we all benefit when health equity is advanced. Although the road ahead will bring challenges, it’s also illuminated by research and evidence-based practices that can help us realize our vision. In 2021, I published my book, Why Are Health Disparities Everyone's Problem? as a call to action, roadmap, and testament to the moral imperative that compels us to confront avoidable inequalities and current injustices that lead to health disparities.”
She is the Founder and Director of The Johns Hopkins Center for Health Equity, where her team identified interventions that alleviate racial and income health disparities and translates them into practice and policy changes resulting in better health for communities. The Center is training a new generation of health equity researchers, practitioners, and leaders. As the first scientist to document disparities in the quality of relationships between physicians and patients from racially and ethnically minoritized groups, she went on to design innovative community-informed behavioral and organizational interventions that reduced disparities in cardiovascular disease and depression.
Dr. Cooper also directs the Johns Hopkins Urban Health Institute which works across the university to advance health and health equity in Baltimore through an array of programs, fellowships, events, education, funding, and capacity-building workshops.
Throughout her illustrious career, she’s been the recipient of several awards – the Distinguished Scientist Award from the American Heart Association, the Baxter International William B. Graham Prize for Health Services Research, the Herbert W. Nickens Award for outstanding contributions to promoting social justice in medical education and equity in health care from the Association of American Medical Colleges, and the Helen Rodriquez-Trias Social Justice Award from the American Public Health Association.
“Dr. Cooper is a health equity expert who is a devoted mentor, compassionate physician, and outstanding researcher so we’re excited to hear her keynote presentation at the annual NKF 2024 Spring Clinical Meetings,” said NKF President Dr. Sylvia Rosas. “Her groundbreaking research documenting disparities in the quality of relationships between physicians and patients followed by innovative solutions to address these concerns have had a significant impact in patient care. She’s also training a new generation of health equity scholars and advocates for social change, which is exactly what is needed so everyone gets the health care services and support they need.”
Dr. Cooper has been a leading advisor to policymakers and the media regarding health and healthcare disparities. In September 2021, President Biden appointed her to the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.
She received the prestigious 2007 MacArthur Fellowship and is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, the American Society for Clinical Investigation, and the Association of American Physicians.
“Health is shaped, to a large extent, by where people live and their life experiences before they are seen in the healthcare system,” said Dr. Cooper. “As health professionals, we don’t go into our fields thinking we’re going to treat people differently based on their backgrounds, but communication problems can compromise diagnosis and treatment. Ensuring access to care for all, reducing disparities in the quality of care, and addressing patients' social needs are some of the ways health professionals can advance health equity.”
NKF Spring Clinical Meetings
For the past 32 years, nephrology healthcare professionals from across the country have come to NKF’s Spring Clinical Meetings to learn about the newest developments related to all aspects of nephrology practice; network with colleagues; and present their research findings. The NKF Spring Clinical Meetings is designed for meaningful change in the multidisciplinary healthcare teams’ skills, performance, and patient health outcomes. It is the only conference of its kind that focuses on translating science into practice for the entire healthcare team.
About Kidney Disease
In the United States, more than 37 million adults are estimated to have kidney disease, also known as chronic kidney disease (CKD)—and approximately 90 percent don’t know they have it. About 1 in 3 adults in the U.S. are at risk for kidney disease. Risk factors for kidney disease include: diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, and family history. People of Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian American, or Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander descent are at increased risk for developing the disease. Black or African American people are about four times as likely as White people to have kidney failure. Hispanics experience kidney failure at about double the rate of White people.
NKF Professional Membership
Healthcare professionals can join NKF to receive access to tools and resources for both patients and professionals, discounts on professional education, and access to a network of thousands of individuals who treat patients with kidney disease.
About the National Kidney Foundation
The National Kidney Foundation is revolutionizing the fight to save lives by eliminating preventable kidney disease, accelerating innovation for the dignity of the patient experience, and dismantling structural inequities in kidney care, dialysis, and transplantation. For more information about kidney disease, please visit www.kidney.org/.
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