UNMC’s Jasmine Marcelin, MD, associate professor of infectious diseases, and Lauren Sauer, associate professor in the UNMC College of Public Health, were recognized for their opening plenary at a national conference held this spring. The conference was hosted by the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America.
Dr. Marcelin and Sauer delivered talks as part of the opening plenary, which was awarded Best Session by SHEA at the April event.
“It was an honor for us to present together, both being from UNMC,” Dr. Marcelin said. “We were thrilled to share this honor as colleagues from the same institution.”
Dr. Marcelin addressed disrupting and mitigating inequities in emerging infections. She tied her presentation to the conference’s theme of learning from our past and committing to a better future.
She spoke about previous emerging infections, the COVID-19 pandemic, the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance and how to ensure people have access to drugs when they need them and in an equitable fashion.
Sauer discussed building an environment where essential research can be conducted with and for the communities it’s intended to serve.
Research programs should be representative — and respectful — of the communities being asked to participate, she said.
“It’s about building diversity into our research and in our communities of practice through training and education programs, through recruitment, through mentorship programs and improving the relationship between the community and the researchers,” Sauer said.
Dr. Marcelin said hundreds attended the session — in-person and virtually — and many attendees engaged both speakers for discussions and questions after.
“The session highlighted where we’ve come and what progress is left to be made to mitigate inequities in health care,” Dr. Marcelin said.
“To have people vote our session as the best highlights that this is what people want to hear about,” Dr. Marcelin said. “That really excites me, to know that there are folks who are committed to and interested in this work to improve the health care experience for all patients.”
Sauer echoed those sentiments: “It gives you the reinforcement that the message was right, the work you’re intending to do in this space is right.”
This is Dr. Marcelin’s second consecutive year receiving the award. She earned the inaugural Best Session award for speaking at the SHEA spring conference in 2022, for a session focused on diversity, equity, inclusion and access in the antimicrobial stewardship, hospital epidemiology and public health workforce.
Information from both talks in the opening plenary is applicable across all fields, Sauer said.
“As the people who are leading this research and building trust with our community members, as we ask them to participate and be engaged, we should be thinking about diversity, equity and inclusion much more broadly,” she said.
Congratulations to both of you!
Congratulations!!
Wow! What a great achievement! Many congrats!
Congratulations to both of you on the well-deserved recognition