From Division to Unity: Healing Health Disparities and Building Bridges

Laundette Jones, PhD, MPH, an associate professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, presented her TedTalk-style lecture, “Building Bridges, Healing Divides” during the University of Maryland, Baltimore Faculty Convocation on Sept. 14, 2023.Jones also shares her story of experiencing homelessness at a young age growing up in Greenbelt, Maryland, where at one time she lived in a tent, and how that experience shapes her lens of helping people from all situations with health challenges.Laundette Jones addresses in her talk about the issue of researchers that study health disparities, and the actual communities that are directly impacted by health disparities. Part of Jones' work as a researcher at the School of Medicine, is to create safe spaces for academics and non-academic communities, to come together to have dialogue, combining the wisdom and lived experiences of communities with the tools and the expertise of researchers to co generate context specific and comprehensive solutions for addressing health disparities.