Videos
Speakers
Yvette Cozier
Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice, Boston University School of Public Health
Dr. Cozier is an investigator on the Black Women’s Health Study (BWHS) and the BWHS Sarcoidosis Study at the Slone Epidemiology Center. Her research interests include social and genetic determinants of health in African-American women — specifically, the influence of psychosocial stressors (e.g., racism, neighborhood socioeconomic status), and genetics in the development of cancer, cardiometabolic, and immune-mediated diseases (sarcoidosis, lupus). Additional research interests include oral health, and the role that religiosity/spirituality and the faith community, particularly the black church, plays in health promotion/disease prevention in the Black community.
Sudheer Koutha
Office of Preventive Health, Mississippi State Department of Health
Sudheer Koutha, MPH, BDS, serves as the Chronic Disease Epidemiology Team Lead in the Office of Preventive Health at the Mississippi State Department of Health, tackling the significant burden of chronic diseases in one of the nation’s most underserved states. He addresses critical public health challenges, including diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular diseases, using his expertise in data analysis to guide evidence-based interventions that enhance access to care and improve health outcomes statewide. As the Epidemiology Section Chair for the Mississippi Public Health Association, he leads capacity-building initiatives through workshops and cultural competency training. His advocacy efforts extend to the national level, emphasizing the chronic disease burden and the need to improve healthcare access for rural populations in Mississippi, with a focus on reducing health disparities.