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Women in Global Health-Midwest Chapter event highlights ‘initiatives for gender equity in global health’

Written by Kate Gershwin, graduate research assistant, Department of Infectious Diseases, School of Medicine and MPH candidate, Brown School; and Katie Crowder, administrative coordinator, Global Health Center at the Institute for Public Health, Washington University in St. Louis


The Women in Global Health-Midwest Chapter recently hosted an event focusing on gender equity in global health at which attendees networked with global health colleagues and engaged in moving presentations from five leaders in the field.

  • Lori DiPrete Brown, MSPH, MTS, director of global health and human ecology and faculty at the School of Human Ecology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, discussed 4W LIFT, a model for global health practitioners to take stock of their social, emotional and physical assets.
  • Juliet Iwelunmor, PhD, associate professor at the College for Public Health and Social Justice at Saint Louis University, emphasized the need to “resist” and “reimagine” in order to expand the landscape of global health gender equity.
  • Ashti Doobay-Persaud, MD, assistant professor of medicine and co-director of the Center for Global Health Education at Northwestern University, shared several examples of how gender equity can be integrated into academics and research.
  • Rakhee Bhayani, MD, professor of medicine at Washington University in St. Louis, spoke about the Forum for Women in Medicine, a professional development initiative for female trainees.
  • Priti Lakhani, DPM, MHA, principal and health system physician specialist from the MITRE Corporation, discussed her experience optimizing the health and wellbeing of a diverse rural Kansas workforce.  

The event was a wonderful opportunity for global health practitioners to convene under a common vision of gender equity in the field. It was inspiring to see such enthusiastic support and engagement throughout the presentations.

On Tuesday, May 23 at 4 p.m., Women in Global Health-Midwest Chapter will host, “Funding Your Global Health Project.” Additional details are on the chapter’s website.

Women in Global Health (WGH) is an international network aiming to achieve gender equality in Global Health leadership through advocating for gender transformative leadership. The Midwest Chapter was launched in 2018 with support from former Provost Holden Thorp and William G. Powderly, MD, the Larry J. Shapiro Director of the Institute for Public Health.