Social Connection and Health Across Adulthood and Later Life
Please join us for an SBS seminar session led by Visiting Professor, Dr. Anthony Ong, as he discusses the importance of social connection, a central determinant of health across the life course. This talk synthesizes evidence on age-related patterns in loneliness and social isolation, the ways pandemic conditions disrupted connection, and why mismatches between objective isolation and subjective loneliness (social asymmetry) carry distinct health risks. Comments on the construct of cumulative social advantage—a multidimensional profile of sustained connections across family, community, religious/civic, and emotional domains—will be made, showing that stronger profiles are associated with slower biological aging and a lower inflammatory burden.
Speaker Information
Anthony Ong
Organizers
Brown Bag Seminar: Can remote personalized digital counseling improve postpartum contraceptive use?
Ibou Dieye is a PhD candidate in health policy (economics track) at Harvard University. His research lies at the intersection of health economics, public policy, and behavioral economics. He uses experimental and quasi-experimental methods to study how government financing reforms and emerging digital tools can improve access to and quality of health care in developing countries. He is also interested in how factors outside the health sector shape health outcomes. Before starting his PhD, he studied Applied Mathematics and Economics at Macalester College and worked at Analysis Group as an analyst and data scientist specializing in health economics and outcomes research (HEOR).
Speaker Information
Organizers
Presented jointly with the American Repertory Theater at Harvard University
Inspired by the world premiere musical, Wonder, performing December 9th through February 8th at the American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.), this panel discussion explores the power of empathy and kindness in the face of bullying. Drawing on Wonder’s story of Auggie Pullman—a young boy with a facial difference navigating a new school—the conversation will examine the challenges of social belonging and the importance of creating inclusive environments where differences are celebrated. This event will feature a sharing of a song from the musical composed by Ian Axel and Chad King, the GRAMMY Award-winning duo behind A Great Big World.
Register for free to submit your questions.
An on-demand video will be posted after the event.
Speakers
Moderator
About The Studio
MELD Seminar: Peng Gao
The Department of Environmental Health invites you to next the Mechanisms of Environmental and Lung Diseases (MELD) T32 Seminar.
Title: Integrating Exposomics and Multi-omics to Investigate the Etiology of Complex Respiratory Diseases
Speaker: Peng Gao, PhD, Assistant Professor of Environmental Health and Exposomics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Location: Building 1, Room 1302
Speaker Information
Organizers
Occupational and Environmental Medicine Grand Rounds
The Department of Environmental Health and the Occupational and Environmental Medicine Residency Program invite you to the Occupational and Environmental Medicine Grand Rounds.
Topic: Accelerated Silicosis: The Australian Occupational Health Response
Presenter: Tiffany Tam, MD, MPH, 2nd year OEM Resident
Discussant: Dominic Yong, MBBS, FAFOEM (RACP), MastersOccEnvHealth, FRACGP, GAICD
Specialist Occupational Physician, Coolaroo Clinic; Immediate Past President, Australian and New Zealand Society of Occupational Medicine (ANZSOM); Presiding Member and Mentor, Victorian Medical Panels; Adjunct Lecturer, Monash Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health (MonCOEH), Monash University
Learning objectives:
- Explain how hazard identification, surveillance, and case-finding can detect early accelerated silicosis in exposed workers.
- Describe the regulatory, policy, and advocacy framework leading to Australia’s national ban on engineered stone.
- Apply occupational medicine principles to evaluate and manage cases of silica-related lung disease.
- Formulate prevention strategies for workplaces using engineered stone in the U.S.
Location: Building 1, Room 1302 and Zoom.*
RSVP: Please click here to register to attend Zoom.
CMEs for US licensed physicians
This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the Harvard Chan Education and Research Center. The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health designates this live activity for 1.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Speaker Information
Dominic Yong
Organizers
Guest Lecture: Emotion Regulation Across Generations
Emotion Regulation Across Generations: Evidence-Based Interventions and Personal Practice
Learn how Archana Basu, PhD, and her team in the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital are supporting families through evidence-based interventions that target intergenerational emotion regulation strategies as part of their Integrated Primary Care program.
Location: Epi Library (Kresge 907) and on Zoom
We encourage Harvard affiliates to join us in-person for pizza and a chance to win a raffle! All are welcome to attend virtually! Register here.
Description: This presentation has two goals. First, Dr. Basu will present trauma- and adversity-related epidemiological data for children and youth, including data from two psychotherapy programs that are part of the Broad Trauma Initiative at Massachusetts General Hospital. Second, presenters will discuss attendees’ experiences with some of the emotion regulation skills that are a part of the psychotherapy programs and engage attendees in hands-on practice with emotion regulation strategies.
If you would like to follow along with the sensory emotion regulation activity (beginning at 27:30), you can access the worksheets using the hyperlinks below:
Speaker Information
Archana Basu
Dana Allswede
Mia Owens
Organizers
Monday Nutrition Seminar | Intermittent Fasting and Diet Quality in Cardiometabolic Health and Aging
Please join the Department of Nutrition for the Monday Nutrition Seminar featuring Courtney M. Peterson, PhD, MSc, MS, MA, Associate Professor at the Department of Nutrition, Secondary Faculty at the Department of Molecular Metabolism, Director of Harvard-Chan Research Kitchen at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Dr. Peterson will present her talk on ” Intermittent Fasting and Diet Quality in Cardiometabolic Health and Aging” on November 17, 2025 at 1:00pm ET. This seminar will take place in FXB G-13 and via Zoom (registration is required).
The Monday Nutrition Seminar Series is free and open to the public. If you plan to attend this event and do not have an active HUID, please fill out the registration form by 3:00 p.m. Friday, November 14 to request a visitor pass to access the building.
Seminar speakers share their perspectives, they do not speak for Harvard.
Speaker Information
Courtney M. Peterson, PhD, MSc, MS, MA
Organizers
As foreign aid landscapes shift, we’ll explore whether smarter, more strategic collaboration—rather than simply more funding—is the key to sustainable, resilient healthcare in Africa. Lia Tadesse Gebremedhin, former Minister of Health (Ethiopia), and Rosine Sori-Coulibaly, former Minister of Economy, Finance and Development (Burkina Faso), will discuss how integrated national planning, efficient donor alignment, and strengthened governance can create health sovereignty.
Speaker Information
Rosine Sori-Coulibaly
Moderator
Fatou Jallow
Broadening diversity in an online preconception cohort study of the environment and reproduction with Lauren Wise, ScD
Please join the Harvard Chan NIEHS Center for Environmental Health and the Department of Environmental Health for a talk by Lauren Wise, ScD, of the Boston University School of Public Health. Dr. Wise will discuss “Broadening diversity in an online preconception cohort study of the environment and reproduction.”
This event will be held in person (HSPH Bldg. 1, 1302) and via Zoom. Register here
About the speaker
Dr. Lauren Wise joined the Boston University School of Public Health’s Department of Epidemiology in 2004 after completing her doctorate at the Harvard School of Public Health. She has an interest in reproductive and perinatal epidemiology. Her research involves the study of benign gynecologic conditions, delayed conception, and adverse pregnancy outcomes. Dr. Wise is principal investigator of Boston University Pregnancy Study Online (PRESTO) and co-investigator of Snart Gravid (“Soon Pregnant”) and Snart Foraeldre (“Soon Parents”) studies, web-based prospective cohort studies of time-to-pregnancy and birth outcomes in North America and Denmark (http://presto.bu.edu). Dr. Wise is also principal investigator of NIH-funded studies investigating environmental and genetic determinants of uterine fibroids in African-American women, including an ancillary R01 study of endocrine-disrupting chemicals and fibroids in the Study of Environment, Lifestyle, and Fibroids (SELF) in Detroit, Michigan (http://www.detroitself.org/).
Speaker Information
Organizers
Navigating a critical moment for public health education and research
We invite you to a faculty panel discussion exploring the current landscape and future of public health research and education. Department Chair Sarah Fortune will discuss how IID is navigating this pivotal moment, setting priorities, and looking ahead. Yonatan Grad will share insights on emerging research opportunities, while Flaminia Catteruccia will address the critical intersection of graduate education and international research. The panel will be moderated by Bailey Bowcutt, a PhD student in the Biological Sciences in Public Health Program, who will offer her perspective on building a scientific career during these uncertain times.
This 45-minute Zoom session includes 30 minutes of conversation followed by 15 minutes for your questions. Whether you’re an alumnus or friend of the department or School, we hope you’ll join us to learn about the exciting research underway in IID and the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.
All speakers will share their own perspectives; they do not speak for Harvard.
Speaker Information
Sarah Fortune
Yonatan Grad
Flaminia Catteruccia
Moderator
Bailey Bowcutt
