Around the Table, a newly created, quarterly series of roundtable discussions, focuses on relevant health equity issues and offers tested, actionable solutions. Featuring Dr. Judith A. Salerno, President of NYAM and Dr. Wayne J. Riley, Board Chair of NYAM, President of SUNY Downstate, with a rotating list of expert guest panelists, each program will define the issue, share information, answer questions and provide action items for the viewer to take.
The first Around the Table discussion focused on turning vaccine hesitance into vaccine confidence. Guest panelist Dr. Bernard Lo, Professor Emeritus of Medicine and Director Emeritus of the Program in Medical Ethics at the University of California San Francisco, examined the role clinicians can play in mitigating vaccine mistrust among patients of color and offered specific communication strategies to help promote confidence. At a time when there are efforts underway to further anti-vaccination sentiment, this program could not be more relevant.
A key feature of the program will be a “What can I do?” segment at the end of each discussion. These action items will be shared during the program and shared with attendees and the public following the event on NYAM’s whatcanido.nyc website.
About the Speakers
Bernard Lo, MD
Professor Emeritus of Medicine and Director Emeritus of the Program in Medical Ethics at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) and President Emeritus of the Greenwall Foundation. A member of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM), Dr. Lo has chaired National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) committees on Sharing Clinical Trial Data (2015) and Conflicts of Interest in Medical Research, Education, and Practice (2009) and currently co-chairs the committee on Neural Cell Transplantation, Chimeras and Organoids.
Dr. Lo serves on the California COVID-19 Vaccine Drafting Guidelines Workgroup. He chairs the external advisory board of the Multiregional Clinical Trials Network and serves on the Medical Advisory Panel of Blue Cross/Blue Shield and the Ethics Advisory Council for Takeda Pharmaceuticals.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Lo has written articles on addressing vaccine hesitancy among persons of color and on the allocation of ventilators, inpatient medications, and cardiopulmonary resuscitation. He is the author of Resolving Ethical Dilemmas: A Guide for Clinicians (6th ed., 2019). He continues to care for a panel of primary care internal medicine patients at UCSF.
Wayne J. Riley, MD, MPH, MBA, MACP
Dr. Riley is the 17th president of the Brooklyn-based SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University, where he also holds tenured professorships in internal medicine, health policy, and management. Dr. Riley joined the NYAM Board of Trustees in 2017 and was elected Chair in October 2020. Prior to joining SUNY Downstate in 2017, Dr. Riley served as clinical professor of medicine and adjunct professor of Health Policy & Management at the Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management and the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. Before that, Dr. Riley served from 2007-2013 with distinction as the 10th president and chief executive officer and professor of medicine at the historic Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee. An academic, primary care general internist, Dr. Riley has more than 25 years of progressively senior executive level management, policy, and leadership experiences in academic medicine, patient care, research administration, academic health center administration, healthcare management, health policy, biotechnology, the corporate sector, government service, advocacy, and organized medicine.
Judith A. Salerno, MD, MS
Dr. Salerno is President of The New York Academy of Medicine and is leading its strategic vision to advance health equity. A physician executive and one of the nation’s pre-eminent leaders in health and healthcare, Dr. Salerno most recently served as President and CEO of Susan G. Komen ™, the world’s largest breast cancer organization. She also served as the Leonard D. Schaeffer Executive Officer of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, Deputy Director of the National Institute on Aging at the National Institutes of Health, and Chief Consultant for Geriatrics and Extended Care for the U.S. Veterans Health Administration. Dr. Salerno is board-certified in internal medicine and holds an MD degree from Harvard Medical School and a Master of Science in Health Policy from the Harvard School of Public Health. She was elected a member of the National Academy of Medicine in 2018.
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