A Global Perspective on Obesity-Related Health Disparities in the United States

The BUSPH Public Health Fora, the premier academic forum of our academic calendar, welcomes speakers whose work engages and challenges the school community around our guiding principles and research directions.

SPEAKER: Shiriki K. Kumanyika

Research Professor, Drexel University Dornsife School of Public Health

Shiriki Kumanyika is emeritus professor of epidemiology at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine and research professor in the Department of Community Health & Prevention at the Dornsife School of Public Health at Drexel University. She founded and continues to chair the African American Collaborative Obesity Research Network (AACORN), which now has its national office at the Dornsife School. AACORN is a national network that seeks to advance the health of black American communities with a particular focus on nutrition, physical activity, and obesity. Kumanyika’s research- and policy-related activities on prevention and treatment of obesity and other diet-related chronic diseases have spanned more than three decades, often emphasizing health equity issues. Her engagement in efforts to find solutions to obesity include prior service on several relevant committees at the National Academy of Medicine NAM and current membership in the NAM Roundtable on Obesity Solutions. She is also co-chair of the Policy & Prevention Section of the World Obesity Federation, a member of the Lancet Commission on Obesity, and a nutrition advisor to the World Health Organization and the World Cancer Research Fund.