The University Record, December 12, 1995
Medstart conference to be held at U-M January 19-20
By Deborah Gilbert
News and Information Services
Four of the nation’s most prominent public health and child advocacy experts will speak at the Fourth Annual Medstart Conference here Jan. 19-20. They include:
Marian Wright Edelman, founder and president of the Children’s Defense Fund.
Henry W. Foster Jr., founder of the “I Have a Future” program and President Clinton’s nominee for Surgeon General.
Sarah Kemp Brady, chair of the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence.
Deborah Prothrow-Stith, associate dean of the Harvard School of Public Health and author of Deadly Consequences, the first book to present the public health perspective on violence to a mass audience.
Medstart was organized by U-M medical, nursing and public health students in 1991 and now includes students in social work, education and law.
“The goal of the Medstart Conference is to raise the level of awareness about vital issues affecting the welfare of children and expand the coalition of child advocates,” says co-chair Jeffrey Adams. “We are particularly interested in reaching students at the outset of their careers.”
Prothrow-Stith will speak at 5 p.m. Jan. 19 at the Michigan Theater. On Jan. 20, the conference will be held at the Towsley Center for Continuing Medical Education. Brady will speak about the need to control handgun violence at 9 a.m., Foster will speak about teen pregnancy at 11 a.m., and Edelman will give a closing address about the critical importance of early education and preventive care for children at 5:15 p.m.
The conference also will include a wide range of workshops led by experts in their fields, including Leonard Eron, a pioneer in the study of the behavioral impact of televised violence and director of the
U-M’s Aggression Research Group, and Alexa Canaday, pediatric neurosurgeon at Children’s Hospital of Michigan.
Pre-registration by Jan. 5 is recommended. The fees, which include a continental breakfast, lunch, refreshments and conference materials, are $15 for students and $35 for non-students.
Checks payable to “Medstart” can be sent to: Medstart Conference, Office of Continuing Medical Education, Towsley Center 1157, Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1157. For information, call 662-3392 or 930-9483.
