Courtesy of MoreHouse School of Medicine
MoreHouse School of Medicine (MSM) will host the first part of the 27th annual Hela Symposium, “Light, Life-Saving, MSM Symposium on Maternal Death.” The event will take place in the National Center for Primary Care Auditorium on the National School of Medicine campus, 720 Westview Drive SW, Atlanta, GA 30310. Participants can register no later than January 21, 2025.
The 2025 MSM Hela Symposium aims to promote collaboration and knowledge sharing in Georgia and to reduce maternal mortality rates through research, collaboration and innovation. Featuring keynote addresses, panel discussions, and networking opportunities, the event is open to the public, especially health professionals and students, public health officials, police officers, researchers, advocates, and community partners. In addition, a maternal health pilot grant opportunity will be announced during the event, and participants will be able to earn continuing medical education (CME) credits for participating. The symposium is supported by an unrestricted educational grant from Merck for Mothers.
The annual symposium recognizes the lack of the late Henrietta, an African American woman with cervical cancer in 1951 who had saved them before being treated by a young resident doctor. The ladies’ shortage died a few months later, unaware that the first “immortal” human cell line was later made from salvaged cells. A cell line called Hela has been widely used in research and vaccine development for decades. For example, the polio virus died in hela cells shortly after the lady’s absence, leading to the development of a highly effective polio vaccine. Other uses of Hela cells have led to important medical advances, including in vitro fertilization, cloning, genomics, and stem cell research.
The January 23 event coincides with Maternal Health Awareness Day, an annual observance established by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). A second symposium will be held during Black Maternal Health Week in April 2025.
What: 27th Annual MoreHouse School of Medicine Hela Symposium (Part 1)
“Shedding Light, Saving Lives: MSM Symposium on Maternal Mortality”
Location: MoreHouse School of Medicine National Center for Primary Care Auditorium
720 Westview Drive SW, Atlanta, GA 30310
Speakers and panelists:
- Valerie Montgomery Rice, President and CEO of MSM
- Roland Matthews, MSM Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
- Michael Lindsay, former director of the Department of Maternal Medicine at Emory University School of Medicine
- Kalahn Taylor-Clark, Merck Vice President and Head of Social Impact and Sustainability
- Yosha Dotson, MSW
- Armand Kadima experienced the experience of his mother’s death
- Michelle Browder, artist, activist and creator of the Mothers of Gynecology Memorial
- Walter Conwell, MD, MBA, MSM is chief diversity and inclusion officer
- Renee McLeod-Sordjan, DNP, PHD, RN, FNP-BC, Medical Ethics and Family, Palliative and Acute Care Nurse Practitioner
- Anjli Hinman, CNM, FNP, MPH, Nurse Midwife and Father Founder and Midwife Director of Birth Center