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Black Men's Health Town Hall 

The challenges facing Black men, the tools to overcome them.

During this panel a discussion around the challenges facing Black men and their health with follow up on what can be done to help overcome these challenges.

 

 

Session Sources

  • Information & Resources for Black Mental Health – NAM

  • Ducharme, J., & Wolfson, E. (2019). Your ZIP code might determine how long you live—and the difference could be decades. Time.

  • Griffith, E. E., Jones, B. E., & Stewart, A. J. (2018). Black mental health: patients, providers, and systems. American Psychiatric Pub.

  • Jackson, I., Deville Jr, C., Tsai, J., Goyal, S., Hintenlang, K. M., Videtic, G. M., ... & Miller, R. C. (2020). Addressing the Impact of Systemic Racism in Radiation Oncology: Advances in Radiation Oncology commits to addressing systemic, institutionalized racism in academic medicine. Advances in radiation oncology, 5(5), 791.

  • Shim, R. S., & Compton, M. T. (2018). Addressing the social determinants of mental health: If not now, when? If not us, who?. Psychiatric services, 69(8), 844-846.

  • Shim, R. S., & Vinson, S. Y. (Eds.). (2020). Social (in) justice and Mental Health. American Psychiatric Pub.

  • Tweedy, D. (2015). Black man in a white coat: A doctor's reflections on race and medicine. Picador.

  • Washington, H. A. (2006). Medical apartheid: The dark history of medical experimentation on Black Americans from colonial times to the present. Doubleday Books.

  • Whaley, A. L. (2018). Book Review: Mind Matters: A Resource Guide to Psychiatry for Black Communities.

  •  Deville Jr, C., Cruickshank Jr, I., Chapman, C. H., Hwang, W. T., Wyse, R., Ahmed, A. A., ... & Gibbs, I. C. (2020). I can’t breathe: the continued disproportionate exclusion of black physicians in the United States radiation oncology workforce. International Journal of Radiation Oncology* Biology* Physics, 108(4), 856-863.

  • Chapman, C. H., Gabeau, D., Pinnix, C. C., Deville Jr, C., Gibbs, I. C., & Winkfield, K. M. (2020). Why racial justice matters in radiation oncology. Advances in radiation oncology, 5(5), 783-790.

  • Watts, V. (2021). Actor Chad Boseman’s Death Raises Questions about Colorectal Cancer in African Americans. Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered.

 

Speakers

Chino

Curtiland Deville, MD
Johns Hopkins University
Host

Dr. Curtiland Deville is an Associate Professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology and Molecular Radiation Sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He serves as Clinical Director of Sibley Radiation Oncology and Medical Director of the Johns Hopkins Proton Therapy Center. With around 100 proton therapy centers worldwide, Dr. Deville is the first and only Black Medical Director.
 
Dr. Deville’s clinical and research expertise involve prostate cancer radiotherapy. His research interests include improving tumor targeting and assessing toxicity profiles using modern radiation techniques such as proton and photon therapy. He has co-authored over 100 peer-reviewed publications and serves as a Senior GU editor for the journal, Advances in Radiation Oncology.
 
Dr. Deville has a research interest in physician workforce diversity as a means to address health equity. He is a leading voice in health equity, diversity, and inclusion in Radiation Oncology. He serves as the Immediate Past Chair of the American Society for Radiation Oncology’s (ASTRO) Committee on Health Equity, Diversity and Inclusion and recently appointed to the ASTRO Board of Directors as an ex-officio member.
 
Links:
Johns Hopkins Medicine profile
Pubmed
Orcid
Google Schola
Chino

Virgil Parker
Collegiate 100 of Howard University
Co-Moderator

Virgil Parker is a Howard University graduate with a degree in Journalism and minor in Afro-American studies. Mr. Parker plans to commit his life to helping others.Virgil became is a member of the Collegiate 100 of Howard University, an organization of students who helped to mentor young Black men in the D.C., Maryland and Virginia area. Most recently, Virgil was chosen to be a U.S. Fulbright Scholar for the 2021-2022 academic year. This award will give him $20,000 to learn how to strengthen woman-owned and minority-owned companies in the U.S., as they trade with Canada.
Chino

Ben James Brown
DC Mayor’s Commission on Father’s Men and Boys
Panelist

Ben-James Brown, a native of Los Angeles California, started his career at Wells Fargo in 2001. Brown has served in several markets, to include, Northern/ Southern California, Las Vegas, Nevada, Northern Virginia and Washington D.C. Ben-James serves as Regional Banking District Manager for Wells Fargo Bank and has overseen territories in the District of Columbia and Maryland Markets, leading more than 42 branches and 500 employees in his career. Ben-James is the founding manager for a two digital concepts of banking in Wells Fargo called The Neighborhood Branch and Express Center. 

Ben-James holds his Bachelors of Sciences degree in Business Management. He is a Commissioner for the Mayor’s Office of Fathers, Men and Boys and is Vice President for 100 Black Men of Greater Washington D.C. Brown gives back countless hours of volunteer time to help underserved communities across the District of Columbia. Brown recently was named Vice-Treasure for a non- profit organization DC Scores, serving 2000+ students across Washington, D.C.

Brown has giving more than 450 volunteer hours from 2016 through 2021. He’s mentored groups of young men to compete in a competition sponsored by Wells Fargo Bank at the 32nd and 33rd Annual 100 Black Men of America Conference, where they developed a Child Tracking System called “LOST” and job readiness application called “IMPRESS”. Brown volunteered more than 100 hours towards this effort alone which helped these team place 2nd and 3rd of 15 teams nationally. Brown plans on further developing these apps with the young men with hopes to launch.

Brown was the proud recipient of the DC Made Man award in 2018 and Black Enterprise’s 2019 Modern Man honoree. Brown has 1 son, Deshawn-James, and instills his passion of always paying it forward; giving back whenever possible.
Chino

Dan Gillison Jr.
National Alliance on Mental Illness
Panelist

Daniel H. Gillison Jr., is the chief executive officer of NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness). Prior to his work at NAMI, he served as executive director of the American Psychiatric Association Foundation (APAF) in addition to several other leadership roles at various large corporations such as Xerox, Nextel and Sprint. He is passionate about making inclusive, culturally competent mental health resources available to all people, spending time with his family and playing tennis.
Chino

Reginald L. Robinson, MD
Medstar Washington Hospital Center 
Panelist


Dr. Reginald L. Robinson specializes in Non-invasive Cardiology. Dr. Robinson is currently a cardiologist in the Washington, D.C., area with MedStar Cardiology Associates, LLC. His clinical expertise is in cardiology with a  practice focused on lifestyle changes and healthier living through prevention. Other areas of expertise include preventive cardiology, vascular medicine and congestive heart failure. He is also a current member of the 100 Black Men Washington, D.C. Chapter and a Board Member of the MedStar Cardiology Associates, LLC. He is currently a board member and past president Greater Washington American Heart Association and President Elect Eastern States board of the AHA covering 33 local boards from VA to Maine including West VA. He also is a prior board member and secretary Medical Society of DC.
Chino

Vabren Watts, PhD
Health Affairs
Panelist

Dr. Vabren Watts is the Director of Health Equity at Health Affairs and is a national science/health communicator and healthy equity expert with a proven experience in enhancing visibility of high-profile organizations. He has published in multiple peer-reviewed science and medical journals and authored more than 300 articles in news media outlets such as WebMD, Psychiatric News, and Philadelphia Inquirer. Dr, Watts has a deep background in advocating for health equity for marginalized and minority populations, having served as a spokesperson on such topics for the American Heart Association, American Stroke Association, American Psychiatric Association and most recently the public health journal Health Affairs, where he serves as Director of Health Equity. Dr. Watts received a Doctor of Philosophy in pharmacology from Meharry Medical College in Nashville, TN and completed his postdoctoral training in Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in the Division of Cardiology.  
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