Our 2021 Book Celebration
Doing the Undoable during COVID-19
In May 2021, Healthy NewsWork staged a virtual celebration to mark the publication of Leading Healthy Change In Our Communities 2021: Doing the Undoable in a Pandemic, the program’s 10th book. Watch a replay of our event below.
Featured Guests
Kenneth Frazier, J.D.
Kenneth Frazier, J.D. is chairman and CEO of Merck. A strong advocate for social justice and economic inclusion, he has been the recipient of such awards as the Anti-Defamation League Courage Against Hate Award, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund National Equal Justice Award, and the National Minority Quality Forum’s Lifetime Achievement Award. He has made numerous contributions to the legal, business, and humanitarian fields.
Malcolm Jenkins
Malcolm Jenkins is an NFL safety who has played for both the New Orleans Saints and the Philadelphia Eagles. He’s won two Super Bowls — one with each team. He is the founder of the Malcolm Jenkins Foundation, which aims to effectuate positive change in the lives of youth, particularly those in underserved communities. It operates in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio, and Louisiana.
Michael Osterholm, Ph.D., M.P.H
Michael Osterholm, Ph.D., M.P.H. is director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. An epidemiologist, he was a member of President-elect Joe Biden’s Transition COVID-19 Advisory Board. He is the author of the 2017 best seller, Deadliest Enemy: Our War Against Killer Germs.
See Who’s in Our 2021 Book
Our student reporters spoke with a broadly representative group of frontline workers, essential workers, communicators, counselors, artists, and others who could shed light on the complexities of the COVID-19 pandemic. (Titles and affiliations shown are as of 2021.)
Diane Amati
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Diane Amati is the quality control/quality assurance lead technologist for infectious disease at Quest Diagnostics Horsham Laboratory.
Cydney Brown
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Cydney Brown is Philadelphia’s Youth Poet Laureate and the author of Daydreaming, a collection of poems. She is a junior at Abington Friends School.
Lorraine Brown, BSN, RN
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Lorraine Brown, B.S.N., R.N., is a registered nurse with Einstein Healthcare Network’s Emergency Department, Level I Trauma.
Kevin R. Carter, M.S.W.
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Kevin R. Carter, M.S.W., is the clinical director at the Uplift Center for Grieving Children in the East Falls section of Philadelphia.
Pierre Chanoine, M.D.
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Pierre Chanoine, M.D., is a pediatrician based in Abington and Jamison.
Lesa Cline-Ransome
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Lesa Cline-Ransome is the author of several children’s books and novels celebrating the hidden stories of American history. Her book Overground Railroad was selected as a 2021 Notable Children’s Book by the Association for Library Service to Children.
Duriel Hardy, M.D.
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Duriel Hardy, M.D., is a pediatric neurologist and a fellow in pediatric neuroimmunology and neuroinflammatory disorders at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. He competed in the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in 2020.
Erika Keith
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Erika Keith is a customer service representative at the Brown Family ShopRite in East Norriton. She has worked in grocery stores since she was a teenager.
Perla Lara
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Perla Lara is editor-in-chief of the community newspaper Impacto. She is a multimedia journalist who was news director for Televisa Estado de Mexico and has worked freelance for WHYY.
Dong Lien
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Dong Lien has spent 17 seasons in professional baseball and 10 seasons working in Major League Baseball, including his current role with the Philadelphia Phillies as assist.
Sherri McClintock
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Sherri McClintock is the hematology supervisor for the Quest Diagnostics Horsham Laboratory.
Paul Offit, M.D.
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Paul Offit, M.D., is director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and co-inventor of a rotavirus vaccine. He is a professor of pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine.
Jane Reedy
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Kerri Ryan
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Kerri Ryan is assistant principal violist in the Philadelphia Orchestra. Ms. Ryan and her husband, violinist William Polk, are founding members of the award-winning Minneapolis Quartet.
Bhavna Sharma, M.D.
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Bhavna Sharma, M.D., is a specialist in critical care medicine, pulmonology, and sleep medicine at Einstein Healthcare Network.
Michael Solomonov
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Michael Solomonov is co-owner of CookNSolo Restaurants with hospitality entrepreneur Steve Cook. Their Zahav restaurant won the James Beard Outstanding Restaurant award in 2019.
Howard Stevenson, Ph.D.
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Howard Stevenson, Ph.D., is the Constance Clayton Professor of Urban Education and Professor of Africana Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. He is executive director of the Racial Empowerment Collaborative.
The Rev. Dr. Alyn E. Waller
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Rev. Dr. Alyn E. Waller is the senior pastor of the Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church in Philadelphia.
Patrick Walsh
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Patrick Walsh is director of programs of Catholic Social Services’ model food pantry, Martha’s Choice Marketplace, in Norristown.