Dr. Megan Sandel
Associate Professor of Pediatrics
Boston University Schools of Medicine and Public Health
Associate Director
GROW Clinic at Boston Medical Center
Principal Investigator
Children’s Health Watch
Sandel is a Boston pediatrician and an associate professor of pediatrics at the Boston University Schools of Medicine and Public Health. She is also associate director of the Grow Clinic at Boston Medical Center and a principal investigator with Children’s Health Watch. Sandel is a former pediatric medical director of the Boston Healthcare for the Homeless program and is a national expert on housing and child health. In 1998, she and other doctors at Boston Medical Center published the “DOC4Kids” report on how housing affects child health. Sandel has written numerous peer-reviewed scientific articles and papers on this subject. In 2001, she became the first medical director of Medical-Legal Partnership Boston, and from 2007 to 2016, she served as medical director of the National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership.
Sandel has served as a principal investigator for numerous grants, working with the Boston Public Health Commission and Massachusetts Department of Public Health to improve the health of vulnerable children, particularly those with asthma. She has served on many national boards advisory committees.
She received her medical degree from Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College. She also received a master’s in public health from Boston University and a Bachelor of Science from Yale University.
Welcome: Mayor Steve Adler, Austin, TX
General Session: Making the Connection: Housing + Health
Speaker: David J. Erickson, Director of Community Development, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco
The Federal Reserve Bank is committed to ensuring that our community-based systems (including housing, education, health, jobs, transportation) are aligned to ensure better health outcomes. A major challenge is that funding for health is completely distinct from funding for housing and other systems. How can we better align these systems? Who is “doing it right”?
Keynote Address: Housing as a Vaccine
Speaker: Megan Sandel, MD, MPH, Boston, MA
We have vaccines for a variety of illnesses, but did you know that quality, safe, affordable housing can be a vaccine for healthier children and families? Does housing produce a “return on investment”? Does health? What if we leverage both our housing and health investments?
General Session: Green and Healthy Homes Initiative Speakers:
• Ruth Ann Norton, President and CEO, Green and Healthy Homes Initiative, Baltimore, MD
• Rebecca Giello, Assistant Director, Neighborhood Housing and Community Development Office, City of Austin, TX
• Stephanie Hayden, Deputy Director, Austin/Travis County Health and Human Services Department
Austin has just been designated a “Green and Healthy Homes Initiative” city. How are we implementing this program locally? How can we all work together to ensure that Austin is a model Green and Healthy Homes city?
Sonya’s Story
This is the ASPIRATIONAL story of community systems working together to support families. The FICTIONAL Reyes family experiences some challenges, but with help obtains a medical home, a financial home and a safe, affordable place to call home.
Networking Break – SPONSORED BY AUSTIN BOARD OF REALTORS
Lunch – SPONSORED BY CITY OF AUSTIN, HOUSING AUTHORITY
General Session: Reimagining Cities Panel: Housing and Health Outcomes in Central Texas
Moderator: Sherri R. Greenberg, Clinical Professor and Fellow of the Max Sherman Chair in State and Local Government, LBJ School of Public Affairs
Panelists:
• Bill Tierney, MD, Inaugural Chair, Population Health, University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School
• John-Michael V. Cortez, Advisor, Office of the Mayor of the City of Austin
• Catherine Crago, Strategic Initiatives and Resource Development, Housing Authority of the City of Austin
Smart cities typically use technology and innovation to improve the quality of life of their residents. We know that affordability and mobility are our two biggest challenges to quality of life in Central Texas. If we make improvements in housing and transportation, will our health outcomes necessarily improve?
Breakout Sessions
Track #1: Investing in Housing + Health
Speaker: Elizabeth Sobel Blum, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas
• Noni Ramos, Vice President and Chief Lending Officer, Enterprise Community Loan Fund, Enterprise Community Partners, Inc.
• Annie Lord, Chief Program Officer, CitySquare
• Julian Huerta, Deputy Executive Director, Foundation Communities
What are investable opportunities in “healthy communities?” Panelists explore how banks can meet their Community Reinvestment Act obligations by investing in healthy communities and discuss how organizations can integrate health and housing financial tools to support their communities.
Track #2: The Affordable Care Act and Community Development: Best Practices in Upstream Investments – SPONSORED BY SETON HEALTHCARE FAMILY
Moderator: Sarah Norman, Director Healthy Homes & Communities, NeighborWorks
Panelists:
• Ruth Ann Norton, President and CEO, Green and Healthy Homes Initiative, Baltimore, MD
• Sister Susan Vickers RSM, Vice President of Corporate Responsibility, Dignity Health
Historically, health care has been focused on treating injury and illness. Research and innovation have caused health institutions to look more at prevention, which can offer enormous downstream cost savings. A panel of health and community development experts will explore what is being done to invest in healthy communities.
Track #3: Housing and Health: Practitioners’ Perspectives – SPONSORED BY BRANDYWINE REALTY TRUST
Moderator: Megan Sandel, MD, MPH, Boston, MA
Panelists:
• Tara Greendyk, MD, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School
• Walter Moreau, Executive Director, Foundation Communities
• Keegan Warren-Clem, JD, LLM, Director, Austin Medical-Legal Partnership
Families experiencing health and housing challenges interact with the social service system in a variety of ways. This panel discusses how to make community services work better together and offer examples of how some communities have succeeded.
Building with Intentionality: Current Research and Next Steps – SPONSORED BY CITY OF AUSTIN
Moderator: Mark Williams, Austin Community College, Trustee
Panelists:
• Roy C. Lopez, Community Development Officer, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas
• Bert Lumbreras, Assistant City Manager for Community Services, City of Austin
• S. Claiborne “Clay” Johnston, MD, PhD, Dean, University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School
Affordability is a top concern across the region. How can we rethink affordable housing to meet the needs of our growing and changing demographics?
The inaugural class of the Dell Medical School is underway. Learn how the school is rethinking medical training, patient care and research. How can our region leverage our collective investment in health care to ensure that Central Texas becomes a healthier community?
What action steps should we take to enhance the coordinated investment of resources to improve social equity and health?
Closing – Laura Morrison, Former Austin City Council Member
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