Prof Ora Paltiel (Senior Hematologist, Hadassah; Professor of Epidemiology, Braun School of Public Health, Hadassah / Hebrew University)
She graduated BSc from University of Toronto; and MD MSc. from McGill University, where she trained in Internal Medicine, Haematology and Oncology, and Epidemiology and Biostatistics. Her main research focus is Cancer Epidemiology.
During the Covid crisis she has focused on international policy comparisons, the collateral damage of these policies for patients with acute non-Covid-related conditions, and the role of children and school closures in the pandemic.
The objectives of her talk are to learn about the epidemiology of the first, second and third waves of SARS-Cov2 infection in Israel; and to relate aspects of Israel’s epidemic to the country’s demographic and health.
You can watch a recording of the event here.
Prof Sir Michael Marmot (Professor of Epidemiology at UCL since 1985, where he set up the Whitehall II and Ageing Longitudinal Studies) inter alia conducted the British Government’s 2008 Strategic Review of Health Inequalities in England post 2010 [‘Fair Society, Healthy Lives’ (2010)], followed by the European Review of Social Determinants of Health and the Health Divide (2014). He was author of The Health Gap: the challenge of an unequal world (2015), and recently published Health Equity in England: Marmot Review 10 Years On (2020). He chaired the WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health (2005) reported in ‘Closing the Gap in a Generation’ (2008) and is Advisor to the WHO Director-General. He was President of the BMA and the WMA. A more detailed biosketch listing his past and current activities and numerous honours and awards, can be accessed here.
In his talk he will explain how addressing health inequalities is social justice, and that strategies for tackling health inequalities need to confront the social gradient in health not just the worst off and everybody else. National policies make a difference. Much can be done, but policies and interventions need to address how people are born, grow, live, work and age. Economic circumstances are important but not sole drivers of health inequalities. Resolving the health gap needs evidence based action across society. The pandemic has exposed and amplified underlying inequalities in society that lead to inequalities in health. A full abstract of his talk can be accessed here.
You can watch a recording of the event here.
Speaker: Prof Tim Spector
Professor of Genetic Epidemiology and Director of TwinsUK
Tim Spector is a Professor of Genetic Epidemiology at Kings College London and honorary consultant Physician at Guys and St Thomas’ Hospitals. He is also an expert in personalised medicine and the gut microbiome and started the famous UK Twin Registry in 1993. He is lead researcher behind the world’s biggest citizen science health project – the Covid Symptom study app.
Prof Spector will discuss how Artificial Intelligence and citizen science came together to create the Covid symptom study app to accelerate testing, support contact tracing, expedite any future lockdowns and predict future virus waves by region.
You can watch a recording of the event here.
Before Pesach 2020 all Association members were contacted by email. The letter sent to them can be accessed here.
In addition the Association was able to support a Pesach meal as part of the groundswell of support for those working hard to address the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic. This they could take to work – or have at home in rest time – as a gesture of appreciation for their efforts.
Speaker: Dr Adrian Tookman
Medical Director, Marie Curie Hospice, Hampstead; Trustee / Medical Advisory Panel lead, Chai Cancer Care; Chair, RCGP End of Life Care Primary Care Planning Group weekly meeting.
Dr Adrian Tookman is a Palliative Care Physician and has worked for Marie Curie for 35 years. He is also ex-medical Director, Royal Free NHS Trust
Dr Tookman will be focus on the impact of COVID on end of life care and the potential unintended consequences of the pandemic. He will include discussion arising from weekly RCGP meetings that have been held for the last six months to ensure that potential consequences can be mitigated. This weekly meeting is attended by national experts from a wide range of settings who advise the RCGP.
You can watch a recording of the event here.
Speaker: Dr Suzanne Joels
Consultant Psychiatrist in Old Age; Clinical Director for Services for Ageing and Perinatal Mental Health at Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust (2010-); Clinical Lead for Dementia at NHS London Dementia Clinical Network (2019-).
Dr Joels qualified at the Middlesex, completed GP training, and then Psychiatry Training at the Royal Free. Old age psychiatry attracted her – it retains medical skills, and offers a diverse range of conditions and presentations of mental illness in the context of a rich complex biography allowed real insights into the individual. She became aware of the impact of institutionalised ageism: older adults voices were rarely heard / advocated in service design. This led to a second career in medical management, while working clinically in the Camden Memory Service and Camden Frailty Network.
Dr Joels will cover some developments over the past 10 years in dementia care, some of the current thinking behind the epidemiology and risk factors, and look at how people with dementia have fared in the pandemic.
You can watch a recording of the event here.
Speaker: Dr Ian Goodman
Dr Ian Goodman is a GP in Northwood and Chair of the Hillingdon CCG. He is chair of the Whole Systems Integrated Care Database Population Health Board and co-chair of the NW London Digital Strategy Board. He is a graduate of Cambridge University Medical School and did his GP training on the Northwick Park Vocational Training Scheme
Dr Goodman’s particular interests are the application of digital solutions to General Practice, General Practice Organisation and Care of the Elderly.
You can watch a recording of the event here.
Speaker: Professor Alan Salama
Prof Alan Salama is a Consultant in Nephrology and director of the UCL Department of Renal Medicine, at the UCL Faculty of Medical Sciences. He specializes in immunological kidney diseases, with expertise in vasculitis, autoimmunity and transplantation. Alan trained in Oxford and in London at The London Hospital, Guy’s Hospital and The Hammersmith Hospital, completing a PhD at the Royal Postgraduate Medical School and a post-doctoral period at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School.
Alan will discuss the impact COVID19 had on the kidneys of those patients without previous kidney disease, on those on dialysis, and with transplants; and outline the preparations needed for Part 2.
You can watch a recording of the event here.
Speaker: Prof Ora Paltiel
Senior Physician, Dept. of Hematology, Hadassah Ein Karem; Professor of Epidemiology and Director Hadassah Research Centre in Clinical Epidemiology; former Director, Braun School of Public Health, Hadassah-Hebrew University.
Prof Paltiel (Medicine and Epidemiology, McGill University, Canada) combines haematology research and clinical work with studies of lymphoma genetic, viral and environmental risk factors among Israelis and Palestinians. She is a co-investigator in the Jerusalem Perinatal Cohort study; a member of the Directorate of Israel’s Quality Indicators Program in Community Healthcare; and directed the International Master’s Programme in Public Health.
International comparisons are constantly raised in discussions about the Covid 19 pandemic. After apparently coping with an earlier outbreak, in the past month Israel has been severely affected. One of the most frequent questions about the pandemic is about the role of children and how they influence the pattern of disease. Prof Paltiel will discuss the Israeli Covid-19 response, focusing on the role of children in particular.
You can watch a recording of the event here.
Speaker: Dr Daniel Staetsky, Senior Research Fellow; Director of the European Jewish Demography Unit, Institute for Jewish Policy Research (JPR)
Dr Daniel Staetsky (MA Demography, Hebrew University, Jerusalem; PhD Social Statistics, Southampton), specialises in Jewish, European, Israeli and Middle Eastern demography. He focuses particularly on major puzzles of contemporary demography, of which Jewish longevity is one.
There is elevated Jewish mortality from COVID-19 in England and Wales. Clarifying why is vital, and has serious policy consequences. British BAME have well-documented ill health and vulnerability, but Jews are “long-lifers” making Jewish COVID-19 data rather incomprehensible. Do Jews resemble BAME with respect to the underlying vulnerability and this has been overlooked previously, or is Covid-19 an aberration? Does this relate to a particular Jewish subgroup (eg haredi)? Dr Staetsky will discuss possible reasons for the elevated Jewish mortality, and outline useful directions to be explored further.
You can watch a recording of the webinar here.