Hilltop Conference 2021

What is GlobeMed?

GlobeMed is a student-run nonprofit and national network dedicated to global health equity that creates long-term partnerships between university chapters and grassroots NGOs in developing countries to support, engage in, and advocate for a sustainable, community-based health project. GlobeMed at Columbia University partners with Gulu Women's Economic Development and Globalization (GWED-G) in Uganda.

What is HillTop?

HillTop serves as an educational opportunity for undergraduate students from over fifteen universities across the East Coast to learn from individuals and organizations that are spearheading movements for health equity. This year, HillTop will explore past and present health inequalities that have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

HillTop 2021:

Pandemics and Protocols: A Multi-faceted Examination of the

International Covid-19 Response

ABOUT.

During our conference, we want to take a closer look at the factors that shaped the international response to COVID-19 and how a country’s success at managing the pandemic was mitigated by factors such as economic status and access to advanced technology and medicines

Hear from the HillTop directors!

Meet our two co-directors of this year's conference who have been working so hard to make everything happen! Hear them speak about the topic of this year's conference and the important discussions we hope to have during the weekend.

Schedule.

Friday, November 5

5:00-5:20 PM
A Welcome from Hilltop Co-Directors
5:20 - 5:30 PM
A Welcome from GlobeMed Co-Presidents
5:30-6:00 PM
Policy Challenge Team Meeting: Ice Breakers
6:00-6:30PM
Presentation of Case Policy Challenge Prompt and Rules
6:30-6:45PM
Teams Meet: Initial Policy Planning
6:45PM -
Night Market!

Saturday, November 6

11:00 AM - 12:00PM
Dr. Paul Wilson's Presentation and Q/A!
12:00-1:00PM
Dr. Tsion Firew's Presentation and Q/A!
1:00-2:00PM
Lunch Break!
2:00-2:20PM
U.C Berkeley School of Public Health Networking Panel
2:20-2:40PM
Harvard T.C. Chan School of Public Health Networking Panel
2:40 - 3:OOPM
Policy Challenge Team Meetings and Planning
3:00 - 4:OOPM
Policy Challenge Team Work with Mentors
4:00 - 5:OOPM
Policy Challenge Team Work Individually
5:00-5:30 PM
Cool Down: Community Bonding

Sunday, November 7

11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Dr. Angela Aidala's Presentation and Q/A!
12:00-1:00PM
Policy Challenge Team Work w/Mentors!
1:00 - 2:00 PM
Policy Challenge Team Work Individually!
2:00-3:00PM
Lunch Break!
3:00-4:00PM
Team Policy Presentations
4:00-5:30PM
Judging (break for teams)
5:30-5:45PM
Policy Challenge Winner Announcement!
5:45-6:00PM
Closing Remarks!

Policy Challenge

This year, HillTop will allow participants' to test their critical thinking skills and public policy knowledge with a case policy challenge based on one of the most challenging aspects of pandemic response. Participants will compete in teams to develop a vaccine distribution plan for one of four countries, ranging wildly in geographic location and level of development. Their plan should address questions about vaccine hesitancy and availability that have provided an obstacle to high vaccination rates in several countries. Participants will have the option to register as a team, or as an individual who will be randomly assigned to a team. To participate in the case policy challenge, please fill out the interest form linked below!
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1_Kw_btlxtFnIlP3jzEui1cmcbNXabEFjnkh9lRIKN1E/formrestricted

Policy Challenge Prompt: addressing_the_challenges_of_equitable_covid-19_vaccine_distribution_in_bangladesh_brazil_kenya_and_south_africa.pdf

Policy Challenge Guidebook: participant_guidebook_.pdf

Speakers.

Dr. Susan Michaels-Strasser, PhD is a Yale Fellow in International Health and Assistant Professor of Epidemiology at Columbia's Mailman School of Public Health. Dr. Strasser is a member of ICAP's leadership team as well as Senior Director for Human Resources for Health Development providing leadership, guidance, and direction for the development, implementation, and assessment of programs to develop the capacity of health care providers across ICAP's portfolio of programs. Those human resources, on the ground and on the frontlines, are very often nurses who step up to provide highly skilled care in areas with an acute shortage of doctors. For 30 years, Dr. Michaels-Strasser has been on a mission to empower nurses and get them the training, the equipment, and the respect that their work requires and deserves. Utilizing the full capacity of frontline nurses and midwives is having a transformative impact on access to quality and the delivery of health care, especially in resource-limited places.
Research Fields/Areas of Interest: Child and adolescent health, global health, healthcare policy, HIV/AIDS, infectious disease, and maternal and reproductive health.

Dr. Tsion Firew, MD, MPH is an emergency physician and assistant professor of Emergency Medicine at Columbia University in New York and an advisor to the Ministry of Health for the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. In her role at the ministry, she supports and oversees several programs, including emergency care capacity building through training and research, emergency preparedness, and the response of Ethiopia’s Public Health Institute to mobilize resources with initiatives to assist in the attainment of Ethiopia’s Health Sector Transformation Plan. At the ministry, she established a women's leadership forum for all management and executive committee leaders. She created a platform for both men and women to engage in dialogues of tackling gender-based violence and implicit biases in the workplace. Dr. Firew received her undergraduate degree in biochemistry and molecular biology from the University of Georgia. She received her medical education at New York Medical College and completed her residency in emergency medicine at New York University and Bellevue Hospital. During her fellowship, she received her masters in public health from Columba University in population and family health along with a certificate in humanitarian assistance. She has had the opportunity to respond in a humanitarian crisis in Haiti and recently in Mosul Iraq during the war against ISIS. Before joining the ministry, she worked on emergency medicine assessment and capacity building in Ghana, Ethiopia and worked as an intern at the World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters in Geneva under the WHO’s emergency, trauma, and acute care program. Firew played a vital role in advocating for the proposal of the resolution on emergency care and co-authored the resolution with colleagues at the Ethiopian Ministry of Health and garnered support from member states to lead the adoption of the resolution at the World Health Assembly.
Research Fields/Areas of Interest: Global Emergency Medicine, Health of Migrants and Internally Displaced People, International Health Policy and Universal Health Coverage, Women in Global Health

Dr. Paul Wilson, PhD is a scientist and economist working on global health policy. Some of his recent projects have focused on malaria drug subsidies, vaccine financing, and India's role in developing new drugs and vaccines for neglected diseases. He has also worked on international AIDS policy and is the lead author of the UN Millennium Project report Combating AIDS in the Developing World. Currently a consultant to NGOs and international organizations, Paul has been Director of Policy Analysis at the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative and Associate Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University. Before moving to Columbia to work on global health policy, Dr. Wilson held research positions at Harvard, Rockefeller University, and Cornell Medical College, where he was Assistant Professor of Cell Biology. He has degrees in Zoology, Economics, and Physics. At the Mailman School, Paul and his colleague Ahmed Shelbaya teach Priorities in Global Health, a survey course for Masters students pursuing the Global Health certificate.
Research Fields/Areas of Interest: Global Health, Infectious Disease and Healthcare Policy

Policy Challenge Mentors.

Preetika Banerjee, MSPH
Institution: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Preetika Banerjee is a Research Associate on the Epidemiology team at IVAC. She works on coordinating and managing projects under the Johns Hopkins- Maternal and Child Health Center India Initiative. Her work focuses on identifying and addressing gaps in maternal and child health research priorities in India with a focus on the state of West Bengal. Preetika received her MSPH in Global Disease Epidemiology with certificates in Vaccine Science and Policy and Evaluation of International Health programs. She has previous experience working in India and carried out her undergraduate degree in Biotechnology Engineering in Bangalore, India.

Baldeep Dhaliwal, MSPH
Institution: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Baldeep is a researcher with an interest in utilizing qualitative research skills and behavioral science in order to improve vaccine uptake and acceptance. Baldeep is dedicated to working to understand multi-level perceptions that impact vaccine-seeking behavior, while simultaneously supporting policy change to improve vaccine coverage. She has policy and programmatic healthcare experience, with extensive experience in working with stakeholders and effectively communicating with partners, community leaders, funders, and peers. Baldeep is a co-investigator on several projects at the International Vaccine Access Center and serves as a mentor to several masters students. Formative research that Baldeep led and contributed to laid the groundwork for a project that relies on community-based participatory research strategies and human-centered design. This project aims to develop an intervention in tandem with community health workers and community leaders to motivate vaccine uptake and acceptance in the community, and lead to long-term sustainable change. Baldeep led the study design, and she serves as a Co-PI on this project. Previously, Baldeep worked as a healthcare consultant with a specific focus on the implementation of the Affordable Care Act at the state Health Exchange level.

Emily Miller, MS
Institution: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Emily Miller earned her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Maryland - College Park where she studied Public Health with a concentration on Spanish Language and Cultures. She earned her Master of Science degree in Global Health from the Universitat de Barcelona. Now, as the Education and Training Coordinator at the Maternal and Child Health Center India at Johns Hopkins University, Miller has played a critical role in designing and planning a two-part course series on India’s COVID-19 response.

Meet the HillTop Co-Directors!

MALEEHA RAHMAN

Maleeha is a junior at Barnard College ('23) double majoring in Biochemistry and Economics on the pre-medical track. Aside from her involvement in GlobeMed, she conducts organic chemistry in the Norton Laboratory at Columbia University. She also works as a medical scribe at New York Presbyterian.

What are you most looking forward to about Hilltop?

Hearing from all our wonderful speakers and getting to see the Policy Challenge underway for the very first time!

MERON TADESSE

Meron is a sophomore at Columbia College ('24) majoring in Neuroscience and Behavior. Beyond co-directing this year's Hilltop Conference, she serves as Vice President of Operations for Columbia Synapse, a NYC-based service organization advocating for the community of individuals with brain injury and other invisible diabetes.

What are you most looking forward to about Hilltop?

Seeing the unique ways in which the case policy challenge teams draw on knowledge from our esteemed mentors and speakers to curate innovative vaccination programs!