The College of Medicine held the 2024 Frank M. Norfleet Forum for the Advancement of Health on Friday, April 12. More than 140 individuals attended this year’s forum, which was held at the National Civil Rights Museum.
The Department of Pediatrics was selected to host the forum. Toni Whitaker, MD, FAAP, and Jason A. Yaun, MD, FAAP, served as medical directors for the event. Drs. Whitaker and Yaun chose the topic, Promoting Safe and Stable Relationships: The Power of Positive Childhood Experiences on Resilience Against Toxic Stress.
Robert Sege, MD, PhD, FAAP, the director of the Center for Community-Engaged Medicine and co-director at the Tufts University School of Medicine Clinical and Translational Science Institute, was the keynote speaker. Dr. Sege presented the topic, The Science of HOPE – Healthy Outcomes from Positive Experiences.
Additional speakers included Angela Miller, PhD, MSPH, deputy director for Child Health, Division of Family Health and Wellness at the Tennessee Department of Health; Altha J. Stewart, MD, senior associate dean for Community Health Engagement and director of the Center for Youth Advocacy and Well-Being at UT Health Science Center; and Mindy Kronenberg, PhD, a clinical psychologist.
The forum’s format was designed to provide interactive educational activities to enhance knowledge and allow participants to discuss evidence-based data related to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). A panel discussion, along with question-and-answer sessions allowed participants to collaboratively share information with the speakers, as well as other health care professionals who were in attendance.
The audience was an interprofessional group that included health and social care professionals. The attendance consisted of physicians, psychologists, nurse practitioners, social workers, community health workers, residents, students, and leaders of various outreach organizations.
The first Norfleet Forum was held in 1980 at UT Health Science Center. The conference was created to focus on the improvement of health in the community, the state, and around the world through discussion of health policies and developments. It was funded by a gift to the university in honor of Memphis businessman Frank M. Norfleet through the Community Foundation of Greater Memphis. Topics have included kidney disease in the African American community, childhood obesity, alcohol use disorders, and sickle cell disease.