Paul A. Godley Health Equity Symposium
About
The School of Medicine, Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, Gillings School of Global Public Health, and Center for Health Equity Research hosts the annual Paul A. Godley Health Equity Symposium in early March to bring together faculty, staff, students, and the community to:
- Highlight and encourage health equity research;
- Promote collaboration and networking; and
- Encourage strategic planning and partnerships at the School of Medicine.
2022 Paul A. Godley Health Equity Symposium
March 9, 2022 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm
The event is free and open to the public. Registration is required for the symposium:
If you have any questions about the Paul A. Godley Health Equity Symposium, please contact CHER Research Assistant, Airianne Posey (airianne_posey@med.unc.edu).
Celebrating Paul A. Godley
The annual Health Equity Symposium celebrates the contributions of Dr. Paul Godley to the School of Medicine in health equity research, and workforce diversity and inclusion. Dr. Godley became the School of Medicine’s first Vice Dean for Diversity and Inclusion in 2017. In this role, Dr. Godley led the School of Medicine’s efforts to build a diverse and inclusive work and learning environment. Prior to this role, he served as Executive Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Associate Dean for Finance and Administration.
While serving as Executive Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs, Dr. Godley, founded The Academic Career Leadership Academy in Medicine (ACCLAIM) program. The one-year program provides leadership training and career development opportunities to faculty members, with a particular emphasis on those underrepresented in medicine. More than 100 faculty members have participated in the program since it was founded in 2012.
As the Rush S. Dickson Distinguished Professor of Hematology/Oncology in the Department of Medicine and a member of the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, Dr. Godley dedicated his career to researching and treating prostate cancer. He also worked tirelessly to identify, understand, and eliminate racial health disparities, directing the Program on Ethnicity, Culture, and Health Outcomes (ECHO) and co-directed the Program on Health Disparities at the Sheps Center for Health Services Research. This UNC-wide initiative uses multidisciplinary research, education and training, and community partnerships to advance understanding of racial health disparities in order to eliminate them.
Dr. Godley was also an avid traveler and passionate photographer. Photographs of people taken during his travels lined the walls of his office. In this 2012 video, he discussed his love of photography and how it related to his work as an oncologist.
Dr. Godley grew up in a home where health care was front and center. His father was an internist, and his mother was a nurse. When he attended Yale University as an undergraduate, his sister was in medical school. As he was earning his MD from Harvard Medical School, his mother died of colon cancer, which influenced his choice of medical specialty and sparked a research interest in cancer prevention.
Dr. Godley earned a Master of Public Policy degree from Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. He completed his internship and residency at the Case Western Reserve University Hospitals, University Hospitals of Cleveland, and the Cleveland VA Medical Center. He came to UNC in 1987 for a research fellowship in cancer epidemiology, earning a PhD from the Gillings School of Global Public Health in 1993, and completing his subspecialty training in hematology and oncology at the UNC Medical Center.
Dr. Godley’s loss continues to be felt deeply across the UNC and Chapel Hill community; his contributions to research, our community, and our institutional commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion cannot be overstated.
Previous Symposium Schedule
| Time | Event | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 9:00 am | Registration | G100 Bondurant Lobby |
| 9:30 am | Welcome | G100 Bondurant |
| 10:00 – 11:00 am | Research Presentations | G100 Bondurant |
| 11:00 – 12:00 pm | Panel: Partnerships to Achieve Health Equity | G100 Bondurant |
| 12:00 – 1:00 pm | Lunch | Bondurant Lobby |
| 1:00 pm | Faculty Spotlight | G100 Bondurant |
| 1:15 – 2:15 pm | Research Presentations | G100 Bondurant |
| 2:15 pm | Faculty Spotlight | G100 Bondurant |
| 2:30 – 3:30 pm | Panel: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusions Efforts | G100 Bondurant |
| 3:30 pm | Faculty Spotlight | G100 Bondurant |
| 4:00 – 5:00 pm | Featured Keynote: Otis Brawley, MD, MACP, FASCO, FACE “Cancer Control in the 21st Century” | Kirkland Auditorium (UNC-CH Adams School of Dentistry) |
| 5:00 – 5:15 pm | Closing | Kirkland Auditorium (UNC-CH Adams School of Dentistry) |
| 5:15 pm | Reception | UNC-CH Adams School of Dentistry Lobby |
Otis W. Brawley, M.D., is the Bloomberg Distinguished Professor of Oncology and Epidemiology at Johns Hopkins University. He is an authority on cancer screening and prevention and leads a broad interdisciplinary research effort focused on cancer health disparities at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, the Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center. He is a member of the National Cancer Institute Board of Scientific Advisors and the National Academy of Medicine.
His work focuses on how to close racial, economic, and social inequalities in the prevention, detection, and treatment of cancer. It is concentrated on the appropriate practice of evidence-based medicine, efficiency in healthcare and the waste that occurs when there is not an orthodox interpretation of science.
Dr. Brawley was the chief medical and scientific officer of the American Cancer Society from 2007 to 2018. He oversaw the largest private program funding cancer research in the US. From 2001 to 2007, he was director of the Georgia Cancer Center at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta. From 2001 to 2018 he served as a professor of hematology, oncology, medicine, and epidemiology at Emory University.
Among numerous awards, he was a Georgia Cancer Coalition Scholar and received the Key to St. Bernard Parish and the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) Meritorious Service Medal for his work as a PHS Commissioned Officer in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. He is also a recipient of the Department of Defense Uniformed Services University Distinguished Service Award for his contributions to military medical education. He is a Fellow of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, a Fellow of the American College of Epidemiology and one of the few physicians to be named a Master of the American College of Physicians.
Dr. Brawley is a graduate of the University of Chicago, Pritzker School of Medicine. He completed an internal medicine residency at Case-Western Reserve University and a fellowship in medical oncology at the National Cancer Institute. He is board-certified in Internal medicine and medical oncology.
Contact Info
If you have any questions, please email cher@unc.edu.
Hosted by the School of Medicine, Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, Gillings School of Global Public Health, Center for Health Equity Research
Symposium Planning Committee:
- Michelle Floris-Moore, MD, MS (Chair)
- Crystal Wiley Cené, MD, MPH, FAHA
- Benny Joyner Jr., MD, MPH
- Raúl Necochea, PhD, MSc
- Becky White, MD, MPH
- Sharon Williams, PhD