Events

The Lown Scholars Program holds monthly conversations highlighting work in community prevention of cardiovascular disease.

Past Events

LSP Webinar on CVD and Cancer Registries with Dr. Natasha Sobers and Dr. Gregrey Agbonvihele Oko-Oboh – April 15, 2025 

Dr. Natasha Sobers, MBBS, PgDip, MPH, PhD, is a Senior Lecturer in Epidemiology at the University of the West Indies, Lead Researcher of the Barbados National Registry for Non-communicable diseases (BNR) and has been a medical doctor in Barbados for over 20 years. As lead researcher for the BNR (a multi-disease) Natasha provides primarily epidemiological oversight for the collection, collation, analysis and dissemination of data collected on myocardial infarction, strokes and cancers. She has produced several peer-reviewed articles and technical reports focusing on disseminating registry data. She won the Caribbean Public Health Agency’s David Picou Young Researcher award for her work in trends in cardiovascular diseases in the Caribbean, the Principal’s Award for Excellence in Research at the University of West Indies and the Paul Dudley White International Scholar Award from the American Heart Association for publications based on registry data. She has also supported feasibility and readiness assessments for registry development in UK overseas territories and led the development of cardiovascular disease (hypertension and diabetes) registries in St. Lucia, Anguilla and St Helena. Her work in this area explores the use of systems thinking to inform preparation, implementation and sustainability of registries/surveillance systems in low- and middle-income settings and small island developing states.

Dr. Gregrey A. Oko-Oboh, MBBS, MPH, MSc, FWACP, is an epidemiologist, consultant public health physician at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), and an adjunct lecturer at the University of Benin, Nigeria. Currently, Gregrey is a doctoral researcher at Tampere University in Finland, where he is pursuing a PhD in cancer epidemiology. In UBTH, Nigeria, Gregrey was the coordinator of the Benin Cancer Registry, and pioneer head of the Special Statistics Unit (now Data Intelligence and Innovation Unit).His current research focuses on evaluating data quality of cancer registries and applying statistical and population-based interventions to enhance cancer registration systems in sub-Saharan Africa. He leads the Network for Oncology Research in Africa (NORA) project in collaboration with the African Cancer Registry Network (AFCRN) as head of Research Task 1, which focuses on ‘strengthening cancer registration systems in 35 countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

Gregrey completed his medical education at the School of Medicine, University of Benin in 2005, where he also earned a master’s in public health (MPH) degree. Additionally, he holds a dual Master of Science (MSc) degrees in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from Cyprus University of Technology in association with the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He had specialist trainings on cancer registration systems at the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in Lyon, France, and the “Nordic Summer School in Cancer Epidemiology” in Denmark and Finland.

LSP Webinar with Natalie Slopen Sc.D., “Childhood and Adolescent Adversity and Cardiometabolic Health” – March 18, 2025

Dr. Natalie Slopen is a social epidemiologist with a focus on child development, health equity, and life course theory. She is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. She is also an affiliated faculty member at the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. Dr. Slopen’s research focuses on how social and environmental factors influence health and well-being in childhood and across the lifespan, including the role of socioeconomic disadvantage, trauma, racism, housing, and other adverse experiences for children’s mental and physical health outcomes. Using integrated perspectives and methods from epidemiology, psychology, sociology, psychiatry, and cardiology, Dr. Slopen is particularly interested in identifying modifiable social and structural determinants of health inequities to inform systemic intervention priorities addressing disparities in children’s well-being. Dr. Slopen is a member of the Early Childhood Scientific Council on Equity and the Environment, the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, and the Advisory Board of UNC’s Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute. In 2019, Dr. Slopen served on the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine committee that produced Vibrant and Healthy Kids: Aligning Science, Practice, and Policy to Advance Health Equity.  Her research program is funded by NIH and philanthropic organizations.

LSP Town Hall with Omar Yaxmehen Bello Chavolla -February 25, 2025

Dr. Omar Bello-Chavolla is an Associate Professor at the National Institute of Geriatrics in Mexico City, Mexico. He holds a PhD in Medical Research from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, where he focused in developing statistical models to characterize cardiometabolic diseases and aging in Mexican Population and a Specialty in Applied Statistics from the Institute of Research in Applied Mathematics and Systems. Dr. Bello Chavolla’s main research interest focuses in understanding of cardiometabolic disease risk factor epidemiology in high burden settings through the development of frameworks that characterize metabolic phenotypes of cardio-metabolic diseases, primarily focuses on diabetes, prediabetes and body composition, and their interaction with the aging process in Mexican and Latin American adults. His Lown Scholar project proposal is entitled “Characterizing heterogeneity in cardiovascular disease burden among Mexican adults with type 2 diabetes: a precision medicine approach to primary CVD prevention.”

Fall 2024 Conversation Series on NCDRisC and Adolescent Risk Factors

Dr. Goodarz Danaei is the Bernard Lown Professor of Cardiovascular Health and Faculty Affiliate in the Department of Epidemiology at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. His global health research focuses on quantifying the population-level impact of risk factors and preventive interventions on cardiovascular disease, globally with a focus on low- and middle-income countries.

Dr. Danaei chairs and directs the Bernard Lown Scholars in Cardiovascular Health Program. The program aims to train an international cadre of talented health professionals who will use public health tools and strategies to prevent cardiovascular diseases and promote cardiovascular health in developing countries.

Recording is available by request.