UNITE FOR SIGHT SYMPOSIUM
GLOBAL PARTNERS: YOUTH, CORPORATIONS, AND ACADEMIA
BRIDGING HEALTH DIVIDES

Saturday, October 2, 2004

Symposium 12-4:30 PM ET at NYU School of Medicine
Followed by Jazz For Peace Festival at 5:30 PM
New York City

Register at http://www.uniteforsight.org/2004_symposium.shtml
Contact [log in to unmask] with any questions.

Unite For Sight is pleased to invite you to attend an exciting
international conference for health professional students, volunteers, and
leaders in ophthalmology, pubic health, academia, corporations, and policy.

Confirmed Plenary Speakers:
    * Dr. Allan Rosenfield, MD, Dean and Director of the Center for Global
Health and Economic Development, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia
University
    * Dr. Michael J. Young, PhD, Director, Minda de Gunzburg Research
Center for Retinal Transplantation, Schepens Eye Research Institute and
Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School
    * Ms. Rosemary Janiszewski, Deputy Director, Office of Communication,
Health Education and Public Liaison; Director, National Eye Institute
Health Education Program, NIH.
    * Mr. Mart Bailey, President, Callaway Private Equity Partners
    * Dr. Muhsin Sheriff, Medical Director, Medewell Charitable Dispensary,
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; MPH Candidate at Harvard School of Public Health
    * Unite For Sight Summer 2004 Interns in Tanzania and Ghana: Sachin
Jain, Sally Ong, and Alison Polk-Williams
Biographies of Speakers

Dr. Allan Rosenfield, MD,
Dean and Director of the Center for Global Health and Economic Development,
Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University

Dr. Rosenfield is a renowned expert in the field of reproductive health and
a recent recipient of a $50 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation for his work on international family planning and maternal and
child health.  He is co-chair for the UN task force on Child and Maternal
Health, which focuses on infant mortality, contraceptives, and
HIV/AIDS.  He has written on domestic and international issues, including
population, women's reproductive health, obstetrics and gynecology, human
rights and health policy.

Dr. Rosenfield is a member of many scientific and professional
organizations and serves on the Boards and/or Committees of a broad array
of population, health and science organizations, including the
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (The World Bank), the
United States Agency for International Development, several United Nations
organizations, the World Health organization, the National Academy of
Sciences/Institute of Medicine, the National Council on International
Health, the New York State and City Departments of Health, and several
local New York City and State non-profit organizations. He has served as
Chair of the Board of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, is a
past president of the New York Obstetrical Society and is currently Chair
of the Alan Guttmacher Institute and Chair of the Executive Board of the
American Public Health Association.  He is the chairman of the NY State
Department of Health AIDS Advisory Council, chair of AmfAR's Public Policy
Committee and on the boards of the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Packard
Foundation.  He also leads the Mailman School's MTCT-Plus Initiative to
treat HIV-infected women and children in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Dr. Michael J. Young, PhD
Director, Minda de Gunzburg Research Center for Retinal Transplantation,
Schepens Eye Research Institute and Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology at
Harvard Medical School

Dr. Young is one of the world's leading researchers in stem cells in the
eye and the use of stem cells for the reversal of blindness.  His lab
focuses on the use of neural stem cells for retinal transplantation.  His
research projects include "integration of transplanted neural progenitor
cells into the retina of immature and mature dystrophic rats,"
"bioengineering and stem cells to treat optic neuropathy," and
"differentiation of retinal progenitor cells into specific cell types."

Ms. Rosemary Janiszewski
Deputy Director, Office of Communication, Health Education and Public
Liason; Director, National Eye Institute Health Education Program, NIH.

Ms. Janiszewski has worked in the health education field for more than 20
years at both the state and federal level. Since 1989, she has directed NEI
health education activities, including the National Eye Health Education
Program, a program to prevent vision loss through public and professional
education programs.  She implemented the Healthy Vision 2010 program, a
vision-related component of Healthy People 2010Before joining the NEI , Ms.
Janiszewski was the coordinator for the Cancer Information Service in
Illinois. She also served as a program coordinator at the American Heart
Association of Wisconsin. She received her MS in community health education
at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. She is a Certified Health
Education Specialist (CHES).

Mr. Mart Bailey
President, Callaway Private Equities Partners

Mr. Bailey's company is a placement agent for venture capital and private
equity financing in the medical device industry.

Dr. Muhsin Sheriff, MD
Medical Director, Medewell Charitable Dispensary, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania;
MPH Candidate at Harvard School of Public Health

Dr. Sheriff is Medical Director of Medewell Charitable Dispensary in Dar es
Salaam, Tanzania. He supervises the MUCHS-Harvard Program and oversees
research done in Muhumbili University College of Health Sciences. He will
share inspiring stories about his work to improve community health in rural
areas of Tanzania. He and a group of medical professionals go to rural
villages once per month to conduct eye camps, provide vision screenings and
refractions, distribute eyeglasses, and give health checkups and advice. In
September 2004, Dr. Sheriff begins a 1-year MPH degree at Harvard School of
Public Health.

Unite For Sight Student International Intern Speakers

Alison Polk-Williams,
Unite For Sight's Cataract Surgery Program in Ghana
Alison Polk-Williams was a year-long volunteer with the Ghana Health and
Education Initiative (GHEI) in Humjibre, Ghana. She was the GHEI/Unite For
Sight coordinator and supervisor of Unite For Sight's cataract surgery
program during June 2004. Prior to her year in Ghana, she graduated from
University of Pennsylvania with a degree in Health and Societies with a
concentration in Health in Africa. She did development work in Tanzania
working in a secondary school for one month, and she also studied at the
University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania during Summer 2002.

"We announced the eye clinic at church and beat the gong gong to spread the
word. As the clinic went on for the second week, word spread to other
communities, and patients came to the clinic from as far away as two hours.
Even after the clinic ended, people brought blind relatives from long
distances."

Sachin Jain,
Unite For Sight's Program in Nyamuswa and Mwanza, Tanzania
Sachin Jain is a second-year medical student at Rush Medical College in
Chicago, IL. Some of his interests include advocacy for underserved
populations, universal health coverage, and international public health. He
traveled to rural Tanzania as a Unite For Sight intern in the summer of
2004 to implement several eye care initiatives, such as establishing a
cataract surgery program, an eye clinic, and eye health education in local
schools. He has also been honored with an Albert Schweitzer Fellowship for
the 2004-05 academic year. His fellowship focuses on delivering eye care
services, and diabetes and asthma education to a homeless community in
Chicago. Sachin is also the Unite For Sight Regional Director for the
Midwest and national co-coordinator for the American Medical Student
Association's Direct Action Interest Group.

"My experience in Tanzania this summer was life-changing.  By screening
people for cataracts, distributing eyeglasses, relieving the cost of
medications, and teaching eye health in schools, I gave hope to the village
of Nyamuswa.  Where advanced, high-tech care was but a dream, I showed that
ophthalmic care, and health care in general, can be a reality for them,
despite the poverty and lack of access to services.  I can't imagine doing
anything more worthwile with my summer."

Sally Ong,
Unite For Sight's Program in Tanzania
Sally is a sophomore undergraduate student at Duke University. She is from
Johor, Malaysia and is considering a double major in Biology and Political
Science. Sally is involved with service-learning initiatives, including
participating in a course entitled "Humanitarian Challenges at Home and
Abroad FOCUS program" and teaching a course entitled "Service Learning:
Expanding Your Duke Education beyond the Classroom."

Sally is the co-Vice President of Duke's chapter of Unite For Sight. As a
Unite For Sight Student Intern in Tanzania during Summer 2004, she
prescribed eyeglasses, participated in cataract eye surgery camps, and
implemented eye health education programs in schools throughout the country.

"It was a wonderful experience working in Tanzania. The need for eyeglasses
and other eye services is real and urgent. You sense it from the questions
people ask, the requests they make and the stories they tell. Average wage
is Tsh 48,000 (USD 43) while a pair of eyeglasses costs Tsh 30,000 (USD
27). People cannot afford eyeglasses. Every Tanzanian I met has been very
receptive to our programs. From the policy makers to the villagers,
everyone supports our work, appreciates our efforts and invites us back to
Tanzania. Sensing a need in the community is one thing, being supported and
respected by the people made the internship very much more fulfilling."

Register at http://www.uniteforsight.org/2004_symposium.shtml
Contact [log in to unmask] with any questions.

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