A Public Health Leader
DAVID SATCHER, MD PhD
David Satcher, MD, PhD, is the Founding Director and Senior Advisor of the Satcher Health Leadership Institute at Morehouse School of Medicine, which he helped establish in 2006. His mission is to cultivate diverse health leaders, support comprehensive health strategies and advocate for policies to reduce health disparities. Satcher served as the 16th U.S. Surgeon General (1998-2002) and the 10th Assistant Secretary for Health (1998-2001), holding both positions simultaneously. He also directed the CDC and administered the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, making him the only person to have done so. After his term as Surgeon General, he became Director of the National Center for Primary Care and later president of Morehouse School of Medicine. Satcher has held leadership roles at Charles R. Drew University and Meharry Medical College and has received over 50 honorary degrees and numerous awards, including the Benjamin E. Mays Trailblazer Award and the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Humanitarian Award. He has also served on various boards, including Johnson & Johnson and the CDC Foundation. Satcher graduated from Morehouse College in 1963 and earned his MD and PhD from Case Western Reserve University. He is an active member of several honor societies and academies and is known for his advocacy of healthy lifestyles.
8 – 9 a.m.
WELCOME
9 – 9:10 a.m.
OPENING REMARKS
Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice, President and CEO Morehouse School of Medicine
9:10 – 10 a.m.
KEYNOTE ADDRESS & AWARD
“The Quest for Global Health Equity”
Dr. John N. Nkengasong
Executive Director, Higher Education, Collaboratives, and Strategic Initiatives, Mastercard Foundation
10 – 10:30 a.m.
PRESENTATION
“Achieving Health Equity in Low Income Settings”
Dr. Florence Akiiki Bitalabeho
University of Global Health Equity, Rwanda
10:30 – 10:50 a.m.
BREAK
“Public-Private Partnerships for Global Health”
Delali Attiogbe Attipoe, North American Executive Director, Drugs for Neglected Tropical Diseases
11:20 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.
PANEL DISCUSSION
“Challenges in Achieving Global Health Equity”
Dr. Florence Akiiki Bitalabeho | Dr. Sandra Isano
Delali Attiogbe Attipoe | Nikita Toppin
Dr. Omavi Bailey (President, PROMETRA USA) Moderated by Dr. Virginia Floyd
12:15 – 1:15 p.m.
LUNCH & NETWORKING
1:15 – 1:45 p.m.
INSTITUTE OVERVIEW
David Satcher Global Health Equity Institute
Dr. Barney Graham, Director, DSGHEI Morehouse School of Medicine
PRESENTATION
“Advancing Disease Prevention in Low Income Countries”
Dr. Kathleen Neuzil
Former Director, Fogarty International Center
2:15 – 3:05 p.m.
PANEL DISCUSSION
“MSM Learners Global Experiences”
Dr. Francois Williams (Costa Rica University for Peace)
Maria Gabriella Seplovich (India Siddha Medicine
Elective) | Austin Williams (Ghana Fogarty Program)
Brianna Young (Jamaica Fogarty Program)
Moderated by Dr. Chima Ohuabunwo and Kofi Kondwani
3:05 – 3:20 p.m.
BREAK
3:20 – 4:10 p.m.
PANEL DISCUSSION
“Advancing Health Equity for Migrant Populations”
Dr. Elizabeth Cardenas Bautista
Dr. Christopher Villongco
Moderated by Dr. Gilberte Bastien
PRESENTATION
Cancer Biology Equity (SAMBAI Project)
Dr. Melissa Davis
Director, Institute of Translational Genomic Medicine
Morehouse School of Medicine
4:40 – 5 p.m.
CLOSING REMARKS
Speakers
Valerie Montgomery Rice, MD, FACOG, is the sixth President of Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) and the first woman in history to lead the free-standing medical institution, where she serves as both the President and CEO. Her tenure at MSM began in 2011, when she was appointed Dean and Executive Vice President. A renowned infertility specialist and researcher, Dr. Montgomery Rice held faculty positions and leadership roles at various health centers, including academic health centers. Most notably, she was the founding Director of the Center for Women’s Health Research at Meharry Medical College, one of the nation’s first research centers devoted to studying diseases that disproportionately impact women of color.
A passionate advocate for health equity, Dr. Montgomery Rice lends her vast experience and talents to a number of nonprofit and corporate boards such as: the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Capital Financing Advisory Board, Board of Directors for UnitedHealth Group, Wellpath, 23&Me, Nemours, Chartis Health Equity Advisory Board, Georgia Research Alliance, CARE USA, Josiah Macy Jr Foundation, Moffit Cancer Center (Institute), and serves as a special Advisor to the Chairman, CEO and Board of Directors of GeoVax Labs, Inc. Among her efforts are the Danforth Dialogues podcast series: Leadership Lessons from the Frontlines of The Pandemic, which serves as a resource for faculty, staff, students, and the wider academic and professional community.
She was appointed to the President’s Committee on the National Medal of Science by President Joe Biden in March 2022. Dr. Montgomery Rice was appointed in 2021 by Georgia Governor Brian Kemp to serve on the Georgia Commission on Women, where she utilizes her expertise and knowledge to improve the lives of women and their families.
The National Medical Association (NMA) bestowed its highest honor upon her, the Scroll of Merit Award (2023). She was listed among STAT’s 46 influential and important people in health, medicine, and science; selected as Georgia Trend Magazines 100 Most Influential Georgians from 20162018, and again in 2021 & 2022; received the National Alumni Lifetime Achievement Award from National Medical Fellowships, Inc. (NMF, 2022); a recipient of the W. Montague Cobb Lifetime Achievement Award by the Cobb/NMA Health Institute (2022); and selected as the National Medical Association OB/GYN 2019 Legend of the Section Award. Her memberships in the Horatio Alger Association and the National Academy of Medicine highlight her distinguished career.
Dr. Gilberte (“Gigi”) Bastien, a clinical psychologist and Haiti native, is a licensed clinical psychologist and serves as Deputy Director for the David Satcher Global Health Equity Institute at Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM). Dr. Bastien is Assistant Professor in MSM’s Department of Community Health & Preventive Medicine, with a secondary appointment in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. Dr. Bastien’s research and clinical interests focus on the intersection of culture and mental health aimed at improving accessibility, acceptability, and efficacy of mental health services for underserved populations. Her complimentary interests in disaster mental health and global mental health capacity building were shaped by engagement in the mental health response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake. As an NIH Fogarty Global Health Research Fellow, Dr. Bastien spent a year in Liberia working with the Carter Center’s Mental Health Program and in-country partners to conduct research focusing on understanding mental health and resilience in Ebola affected communities. Dr. Bastien has also collaborated with colleagues at Emory University to examine the relationship between ebola related vision impairment and quality of life and mental health functioning within pediatric populations in Sierra Leone. Dr. Bastien is currently leading collaborations between MSM, faith-based organizations, and other community-based organizations to better understand mental health priorities and to address mental health disparities impacting immigrant and refugee populations in the U.S., with a focus on the Haitian diaspora. Ultimately, Dr. Bastien’s passion is to help create environments where individuals and communities affected by adversity can move towards healthy and meaningful lives.
Barney S. Graham is an infectious diseases physician and scientist. He has a BA from Rice University, MD from the University of Kansas, and PhD from Vanderbilt University. He retired as Deputy Director of the NIAID Vaccine Research Center in 2021 and is now Professor and Director of the David Satcher Global Health Equity Institute at Morehouse School of Medicine. He is an inventor on vaccines and monoclonal antibodies approved for human use to prevent or treat RSV, COVID-19, and Ebola. He has authored >500 scientific publications, is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Inventors Hall-of-Fame and has received multiple awards for the advancement of science. Time magazine recognized him as one of the world’s 100 most influential individuals and a Hero of the Year in 2021 and as one of the 100 most influential in health in 2024.
Dr. Florence Akiiki Bitalabeho, is the Godley-St.Goar chair for the Department of Community Health and Social Medicine at the University of Global Health Equity in Rwanda since 2022. Prior to that, she was the Director for Training and Quality Improvement at Partners in Health in Rwanda for 5 years.
Her passion is equipping the future Health Care providers and leaders with values and tools that respond holistically, equitably, with quality and respect to the health needs of their communities locally and globally.
East and Southern Africa trained her to be a clinician, teacher, researcher and leader. The HIV epidemic aided her to unlearn medical and health care solitary supremacy and replaced it with the importance of people and patients as central to the agency of their own health.
Based in WHO-Geneva for 9 years, global health policy, advocacy and health system strengthening formed the core of her work. Her main countries of health system strengthening through direct equipping of Clinical practitioners with HIV treatment and management skills were in East, South and West Africa and China.
She attributes all she has been privileged to contribute to in health care to be a result of shared mastery and humility within interdisciplinary health care giver teams and partnerships.
Her family is blessed to call South Africa, Rwanda and Uganda home.
Delali Attiogbe Attipoe joined DNDi as the Executive Director of DNDi North America in August 2023. Delali is an accomplished global executive leader and board member within the biopharma and health sector. Her 20-year plus career has focused on patient access from bench to bedside to address unmet medical needs and health inequities through her diverse work from manufacturing and clinical trial support to marketing, fundraising, and regulatory support across numerous disease areas. Prior to joining DNDi, she had served as Chief Operating Officer (COO) for 54gene, a life science, health tech start-up addressing disparities in genomics research for drug discovery as well as Head of Market Access in East Africa for Roche Pharmaceuticals and held various positions within Genentech, Inc. before her COO role.
Delali also sits on the board of ReSurge International, a global health, non-profit focused on training medical teams on life-saving reconstructive surgery and providing quality surgical care in low-and-middle income (LMIC) countries within Africa, Asia, and South America.
Delali holds a Bachelors of Science in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Rochester; a Masters in Biotechnology (MB) from the University of Pennsylvania; a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from Babson College, F.W. Olin School of Business; and received a Certificate in Health Economics and Outcomes Research from the University of Washington.
She considers herself a global denizen having been born in the US to Ghanaian parents as well as lived in Canada, Kuwait and Kenya; and a global advocate having been fortunate to participate as a speaker and/or author at conferences,
media outlets and through scientific journals. In her spare time, her other passions include creative writing and advising through her personal agency, R8 Collective, when she is not enjoying travels.
Sandra Isano is a clinical pharmacist, lecturer, and community engagement specialist with over ten years of experience in global health and equity-focused research.
For the past six years, she has served as faculty in the Department of Community Health and Social Medicine at the University of Global Health Equity (UGHE), where she coordinates the Global Community-Based Education (CBE) program. This program provides international medical & health students with hands-on learning experiences in diverse Rwandan communities. Her research focuses on improving health outcomes for women and marginalized populations through the analysis of structural, community, and individual determinants of sexual and reproductive health. She is completing her doctoral research at the University of Geneva, investigating the complex drivers of adolescent pregnancy in Rwanda to inform culturally sensitive, inclusive, and equity-driven interventions.
Beyond academia, Sandra has held leadership roles at frontline organizations, including overseeing operations for drone-based medical supply delivery at Zipline and contributing to initiatives expanding cancer care access at the City Cancer Challenge Foundation. She has been recognized for her work with awards, including an award from the Packard Foundation for her contributions to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), the 2020 Changemaker Award for the Isibindi Program, and the 2021 Northwestern Institute for Sexual and Gender Minority Health & Wellbeing Data Science & SGM Health Equity Paper Competition.
Nikita Toppin Dera, MPH is a global health strategist and the Director of Global Health Programs at Morehouse School of Medicine’s National Center for Primary Care. With over a decade of experience advancing health equity through strategic partnerships, Nikita leads cross-continental efforts in telemedicine, health workforce development, and HIV care integration across Sub-Saharan Africa.
As the current project director for the HBCU Global Health Consortium’s programs in Zambia and Malawi, Nikita is spearheading the transition of the first telemedicine-based HIV program in Zambia to full Ministry of Health ownership— aligning service delivery with national digital health strategies and sustainable leadership models. She is also a Doctor of Public Health candidate at Indiana University, where her research examines the role of leadership in accelerating telemedicine adoption within national health systems.
Nikita’s work sits at the intersection of technology, systems strengthening, and
health justice. She is passionate about reimagining digital health solutions that are locally led, equity-driven, and culturally responsive. Her leadership has shaped technical assistance models that prioritize workforce training, policy alignment, and long-term capacity building.
She brings a global perspective to the virtual care conversation—bridging U.S. digital health innovations with the real-world complexities of scaling telehealth in low-resource settings.
Dr. Omavi Bailey serves in his capacity as the President of PROMETRA USA functioning as a bridge between Africa and the Diaspora with the purpose of promoting and participating in the development and discovery of solutions to address the global health crisis and heal the much deeper wounds suffered by humanity.
His experience and training span from initiations in sacred temples to studying at the feet of African traditional healers and spiritual leaders. However, his formal training as a Somnologist, Epidemiologist, and Medical Doctor has also allowed him to bridge his traditional knowledge with his western training to serve patients through his clinical practice. Dr Bailey currently holds board certifications from the American Board of Family Practice and the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, and American Board of Obesity Medicine. His depth of knowledge and enthusiasm about natural and novel treatments for chronic and ‘incurable’ diseases influences his use of innovative natural therapies as an intervention to treat and prevent chronic illnesses and restore bio-psycho-spiritual harmony with his patients.
In addition to his clinical practice, Dr. Bailey’s commitment to scholarship is exemplified in his record of engagement in NIH-funded research and community based research, which has contributed to the publication of multiple articles on sleep and health disparities in peer reviewed journals such as the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine and others.
Dr. Bailey’s introduction to healing began as a college student at the age of 19 years old when he was invited to study under a group of Traditional Healers in Bushenyi Uganda. This led him on a journey to discover the way of healing not just the individual but the collective. Shortly thereafter, Dr. Bailey was introduced to Dr Virginia Floyd and Dr Erick Gbodossou who have been his greatest mentors and have guided him through numerous experiences and training in Healing the African Way.
During this journey, Dr. Bailey began his medical career in Havana, Cuba where he became fluent in Spanish and continued his training in traditional African healing systems. While in medical school, he started a student organization named the “Organization of African Doctors” and led a medical brigade to work with PROMETRA Ghana’s President Paramount Chief Togbega Dabra IV and traditional
healers in Logba, Ghana. He successfully completed his medical training and received his Medical Degree, while continuing his quest to deepen his knowledge of traditional African medicine.
He completed his residency and fellowship training in Family Medicine and Sleep medicine at the University of Arizona where he was the first in the Department of Medicine to be awarded the prestigious NIH-funded K-12 Award in Sleep Medicine for his work on sleep and health disparities. Additionally, he received certification in Integrative medicine with the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine and also completed rotations in herbal medicine at PROMETRA UGANDA’s Forrest School with Dr Sekagya. He also completed his Psychiatry rotation at Hospital Fann in Dakar with special training from the leaders of the Ndept healing system in Rufisque under the guidance of Dr Erick Gbodossou in Senegal. All of which has contributed greatly to the incorporation of natural therapies in his clinical practice.
Today, Dr. Bailey proudly holds the prestigious honor of leading the USA chapter of PROMETRA and has dedicated his efforts to continue the work to realize PROMETRAs mission to promote traditional medicine and treatments from Africa. He and his team continue to lead the ‘Way of Remembering Pilgrimage’ that guides Africans from the Diaspora back home to heal the wounds inflicted through slavery and colonialism. All of these efforts are directed towards serving humanity and restoring harmony through the value traditional African healing systems. However, Dr Bailey is most proud to be a husband and father of 4 daughters who have joined him in the journey to realize this great mission of Peace, Love, Harmony and Healing for Humanity.
Virginia Davis Floyd, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor, Departments of Community Health and Preventive Medicine and Family Medicine, serves as an advisor to the MSM Office of Global Health Equity. With extensive experience in global health, she served as the Director of Human Development, Sexuality and Reproductive Health for the Ford Foundation. There she provided leadership to a global team of program officers in grant making activities in the US and overseas focusing on developing countries.
Prior to Ford, she served as the Director of the Family Health Branch, Division of Public Health for the Georgia Department of Human Resources. Programs under her direction included Child and Adolescent Health, Women’s Health, WIC & Nutrition Program, Immunization, Family Planning, Children with Special Health Care Needs (Children’s Medical Services, Genetics and Children 1st Early Intervention Program). She served as a principal investigator for the World Health Organization Collaborating Center in Perinatal Care and Health Services Research in Maternal & Child Health and was selected as a W.K. Kellogg Foundation National Leadership Fellow.
Her board membership includes National March of Dimes, PROMETRA International, the Andrew J Young Foundation and the African Women’s
Millennium Initiative (AWOMI). Virginia has been elected to membership in Phi Beta Kappa National Honor Society and the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society.
Kathleen M. Neuzil, MD, MPH joined the Gates Foundation on September 29, 2025 as Director, Polio Program, with the goal to eradicate polio worldwide. An internationally recognized research scientist and advocate in the field of vaccinology, she has conducted clinical and epidemiologic studies on vaccinepreventable diseases including influenza, rotavirus, human papillomavirus, Japanese encephalitis, typhoid and Covid-19, yielding highprofile publications that inform policy decisions and public health actions. As a co-principal investigator of the National Institutes for Health-funded Leadership Group for the Vaccine and Treatment Evaluation Unit network, Neuzil was part of the strategic leadership team evaluating COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics in the US. She has more than 350 scientific publications on vaccines and infectious diseases. Her research capabilities are complemented by 20 years of involvement in domestic and international policy, including past membership on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. She is a member of the World Health Organization Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) and the prestigious National Academy of Medicine. Prior to her current role at the Gates Foundation, she was Associate Director for International Research and Director, Fogarty International Center at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). From 2015-2024, she was the Myron M. Levine Professor in Vaccinology, professor of medicine and pediatrics, and director of the Center for Vaccine Development and Global Health at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
Dr. Francois Williams is a board-certified psychiatrist, child and adolescent psychiatry fellow at Morehouse School of Medicine, and Adjunct faculty at University of Houston College of Medicine specializing in adult and adolescent mental health and group psychotherapy. He completed his undergraduate education at Xavier University of Louisiana, attended medical school at Morehouse School of Medicine, and pursued adult psychiatry training at Baylor College of Medicine. Dr. Williams further specialized in child and adolescent psychiatry, completing the first year of fellowship at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital and is in his final year of child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship at Morehouse School of Medicine.
Gabriela Seplovich is an MD/PhD student who works on traumatic brain injury from the perspective of blood-brain barrier pathobiology and physiology. She participated in the 4th year elective Rotation in Siddha Medicine where she travelled to Tamil Nadu, India to learn about the longstanding cultural practice of traditional Siddha medicine. She is pursuing a career as a clinical neurologist and is excited to incorporate many of the basic principles on healthy
living within a modern framework for patient centered care.
Austin Williams, DDS, is a second-year Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. candidate at Morehouse School of Medicine. His research focuses on the gut–oral–inflammation axis in sickle cell disease, integrating microbiome science, immunology, and genetics. He is interested in applying his dentistry background to biomedical research, advancing our understanding of systemic diseases, and developing innovative approaches to precision patient care. He is passionate about global health, research, and bridging the gap between science, healthcare, and community impact.
Brianna Young is a second-year medical student at MSM. She is interested in forensic pathology and global health, aiming to merge her biochemical research background with international health impact. In her free time, Brianna enjoys traveling, embracing new adventures, and listening to music.
Dr. Chima Ohuabunwo is an Infectious disease epidemiologist and public health physician. Currently, a professor of Global Health and Epidemiology in the Department of Community Health and Preventive Medicine, and a core-faculty in the David Satcher Institute of Global Health Equity at Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM). He also holds secondary appointment in the Department of Internal Medicine, adjunct Professor position at the Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health in Atlanta GA and is a visiting professor at the University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Dr Ohuabunwo is an alum of the US CDC Epidemic intelligence service fellowship, Emory Rollins School of Public Health, member of the American College of Epidemiology and a fellow of the West African College of Physicians. He is the immediate past Executive Director of the African Field Epidemiology Network (AFENET), a US CDC implementing partner with operations in over 30 sub-Saharan African countries. His global health work in collaboration with US CDC also includes servings as a the pioneer Program Coordinator of the CDC-supported Nigeria National Stop Transmission of Polio (NSTOP) program, foundation member of the National Polio Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and as the Coordinator for the Case Management and Infection Prevention team of the Nigeria Ebola Emergency Operations Center that worked with the Government, international and local partners to contain the July 2014 highly impactful West Africa Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) Outbreak as well as the eventual elimination of wild polio virus transmission in Nigeria in 2020. He also served as the pioneer Resident Advisor of the Ghana Field Epidemiology Training Program, Team lead, for the African Field Epidemiology Network (AFENET) One Health Initiative in Uganda, Lead Epidemiologist on the PEPFARfunded CDC-MSM 5-year Ghana HIV/AIDs Monitoring and Evaluation (GHAME) project and many other global opportunities. He led the founding of the AFENET Corps of Disease Detectives (ACODD) and the establishment of the Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health (JIEPH). He has presented papers at
multiple national/international conferences and authored over 60 peer-reviewed publications with over 1500 citations. Dr ‘Chima” loves training and mentoring the next generation of global health leaders/professionals.
Kofi A. Kondwani, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Community Health and Preventive Medicine, at Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) in Atlanta Georgia, USA. Dr. Kondwani received his BS, MS, and Ph.D. in psychophysiology from Maharishi International University in Fairfield, Iowa. Dr. Kondwani developed Consciously Resting Meditation (CRM), a simple, natural, mental technique to treat and prevent the effects of stress on the mind, body, and behavior. Dr. Kondwani is currently the Principal Investigator of a NIH, Fogarty Global Health LAUNCH Consortium that includes MSM, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Johns Hopkins University, and Tulane University. This collaborative has developed year-long active mentored research sites for US medical students, post-doctorates, residents, and students from developing countries. This consortium is working in 22 countries in Africa, Asia, and South America. Dr. Kondwani also served as the Principal Investigator of a five-year President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). This grant supported the collaboration between the University of Ghana, School of Public Health, the Ghana AIDS Commission, and MSM. The purpose of the collaborative was to strengthen the monitoring and evaluation of HIV/AIDS in Ghana. Over the past 15 years, Dr. Kondwani has collaborated with PROMETRA International, headquartered in Dakar Senegal. PROMETRA International exist to preserve African medicine, culture, and the indigenous sciences. With Dr. Kondwani’s involvement, MSM has maintained a Memorandum of Understanding that allows for collaborative investigations. Currently, the Andrew Young Foundation, MSM, and PROMETRA International are investigating the use of herbal proteins to treat viral diseases that can improve health equity in vulnerable populations.
Elizabeth Cárdenas Bautista, PhD (she/hers/ella) is a Clinical Psychology Postdoctoral fellow with Morehouse School of Medicine. Dr. Cárdenas Bautista’s research-clinical practice centers mental health equity, resiliency, and advocacy of BIPOC, immigrant and underserved communities through the whole person and community lenses. Dr. Elizabeth Cárdenas Bautista operates from a Mujersita psychology framework emphasizing intersectionality and liberation practices of the BIPOC communities with the emphasis around immigration, trauma, and the effects of systemic racism on mental health.
Dr. Elizabeth Cárdenas Bautista received her Ph.D. from the University of Georgia’s Counseling Psychology program and completed her predoctoral clinical internship at Harvard Medical School, Cambridge Health Alliance in the Latinx Adult acute track. Dr. Cárdenas Bautista’s clinical experience includes working with communities across the lifespan and persistent mental illness, anxiety, depression, complex trauma, and comorbid medical conditions. Dr. Cárdenas Bautista has
worked on publications and research that centers on the experiences of Latinx psychology, Multicultural psychology, post-traumatic growth, the role of the socialpolitical climate on mental health, and the unique experiences of bilingual mental health counselors. Dr. Cárdenas Bautista has presented at various conferences on Latinx psychology, Liberation psychology, linguistic diversity in training programs, social justice, and advocacy. Dr. Cardenas Bautista is enthusiastic about providing competent and accessible multilingual and culturally competent mental health services.
Doctor Christopher Villongco is an assistant professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Morehouse School of Medicine. He received his bachelor’s degree in Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology from Emory University where he conducted research on Rhesus Monkeys for an animal model of early life trauma. He received his Doctor of Medicine (MD) and residency training in Psychiatry from Morehouse School of Medicine where he conducted research through USAID studying integrating mental health and substance use treatment at the community level in the Philippines. As faculty, he was accepted into the Clinical Research Education and Career Development program as well as the APA Research Colloquium for Junior Psychiatrist Investigators for his work focusing on Filipino Americans and substance use treatment. His work has been published in the American Journal of Primatology, Psychoneuroendocrinology, AJOB Neuroscience, and Current Psychiatry. Outside of research, he enjoys teaching medical students, being a husband, and working at Ethne Healtha Christian clinic serving a large refugee community.
Dr. Melissa Davis Director, Institute of Translational Genomic Medicine Morehouse School of Medicine
