HELEN News

Join Daniel E. Dawes and Dr. David Satcher for a discussion about health equity with Erwin J. Tan, MD, the Director of Thought Leadership Health at AARP. As part of AARP’s ongoing commitment to create a future that embraces equity and innovation across the lifespan, the first 200 people to register for this event will receive one free book: Daniel Dawes' "The Political Determinants of Health" or Dr. Satcher's "My Quest for Health Equity." (selected upon event registration)

David Satcher, MD, PhD is the founding director and senior advisor of the Satcher Health Leadership Institute and a professor at Morehouse School of Medicine. Formerly the director of the Centers for Disease Control and the 16th Surgeon General of the United States, he is a lifelong leader for civil rights and health equity – and is one of the most widely known and well-regarded physicians of our time.

In his new book, "MY QUEST FOR HEALTH EQUITY" Dr. Satcher takes an inspiring and instructive look inside his own fifty-year career to share hard-won lessons in eliminating health disparities. Born Black and poor in the deep South, Dr. Satcher was a victim of an unjust health care system: he almost died of whooping cough at the age of two because Jim Crow laws meant that his Black doctor could not admit him to a hospital. That experience was the first of many that shaped him as a leader and a healer deeply attuned to social inequity—someone who was determined to make a positive difference.

Attorney Daniel E. Dawes is a nationally recognized leader in the health equity movement and has led numerous efforts to address health policy issues impacting vulnerable, underserved, and marginalized populations. He is a health care attorney and administrator, and serves as the director of the Satcher Health Leadership Institute at Morehouse School of Medicine.

In his new book, THE POLITICAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH, Dawes draws on his firsthand experience helping to shape major federal policies, including the Affordable Care Act, to address the systemic barriers preventing the United States from becoming the healthiest nation in the world. He argues that political determinants of health create the social drivers—including poor environmental conditions, inadequate transportation, unsafe neighborhoods, and lack of healthy food options—that affect all other dynamics of health. He offers a framework to develop and implement actionable solutions to close the health gap.

Erwin J. Tan MD is a physician and with fellowship training in geriatric medicine and integrative medicine. He is a nationally recognized thought leader on healthy longevity, volunteering and the health effects of perceptions on aging. He has held leadership positions in the academic, public and nonprofit sectors. Dr. Tan is the Director of Thought Leadership Health at AARP. In this role, he provides strategic vision, leadership and technical expertise to identify emerging provocative ideas, curating cross-sector collaborations and driving bold solutions to change systems and promote healthy longevity.

This is a free event from Politics and Prose Bookstore in Washington, DC. If you feel moved to make a donation to our bookstore in support of this event, we are so grateful.