We are currently seeking speakers who are passionate about global health topics, advocacy & health policy, community initiatives, healthcare disparities, and Native American studies. If you have expertise in these areas and are interested in sharing your knowledge, we invite you to join us as a speaker for our upcoming event. Contact us at ghcmidwest@gmail.com
Keynote Speakers
Carlos A. Faerron Guzmán, MD, MSc
Planetary Health- Health in the Anthropocene
Dr. Carlos A. Faerron Guzmán is a global health professional with a deep-rooted passion for education and a commitment to promoting health equity, addressing complexity, and emphasizing the importance of values in shaping a better world. As an experienced educator, Dr. Faerron fosters an environment of collaborative learning and knowledge exchange that empowers communities and individuals.
His publications reflect his dedication to health equity and the exploration of complex, interrelated factors that influence global health outcomes. Through his work, Dr. Faerron aims to highlight the critical role of values in guiding our collective efforts toward creating a more just, equitable, and sustainable world for all.
Currently, Dr. Faerron serves as an Associate Professor of Global Health at the University of Maryland Baltimore Graduate School, Associate Director of the Planetary Health Alliance at Johns Hopking University, and Director of the InterAmerican Center for Global Health in Costa Rica. In addition, he holds adjunct positions at the School of Professional Studies at Northwestern University, and the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya. By integrating these key principles into his academic pursuits and educational endeavors across multiple institutions, Dr. Faerron continues to make a significant impact in the global health community.
Christopher J. Elias, MD, MPH
A Planet Free from Polio
Dr. Chris Elias is the president of the Global Development Division, where he leads the foundation’s efforts in a diverse range of program areas aimed at finding creative new ways to ensure solutions and products get into the hands of people in poor countries who need them most. Focusing on areas with the potential for high-impact, sustainable solutions that can reach hundreds of millions of people, Chris oversees Global Development’s portfolio in Emergency Response; Polio Eradication; Immunization, Primary Healthcare and Global Funds and Agencies, and oversees the foundation’s work in Africa and Southeast Asia. A common theme of these programs is innovative and integrated delivery and strengthening primary health care systems.
Chris’s professional background is in public health and medicine. Prior to joining the Gates Foundation in February 2012, he worked in various positions and countries for international nonprofit organizations, most recently serving as the president and CEO of PATH, an international, nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the health of people around the world by advancing technologies, strengthening systems, and encouraging healthy behaviors.
Chris holds a medical degree from Creighton University, having completed postgraduate training in internal medicine at the University of California San Francisco, and a master’s in public health from the University of Washington, where he was a fellow in the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program. He also holds honorary degrees from Creighton University and the University of Pittsburgh. He is a member of the Institute of Medicine.
Nicole Redvers, ND, MPH
Indigenous Planetary Health: The Path We Walk
Dr. Nicole Redvers, ND, MPH, DPhilc, is a member of the Deninu K’ue First Nation (Northwest Territories, Canada) and has worked with Indigenous patients, scholars, and communities around the globe her entire career. She is an Associate Professor, Western Research Chair, and Director of Indigenous Planetary Health at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry at Western University. She has been actively involved at regional, national, and international levels promoting the inclusion of Indigenous perspectives in both human and planetary health research and practice. Dr. Redvers is the author of the trade paperback book titled, ‘The Science of the Sacred: Bridging Global Indigenous Medicine Systems and Modern Scientific Principles’.
Jason Beste MD, MPH
Hostile Environments: The complicated relationship between Planetary Health and Conflict
Dr. Jason Beste MD, MPH is an infectious disease and public health specialist who was named the inaugural Executive Director of the Arrupe Global Scholars and Partnerships Program at Creighton University. Dr. Beste is a two-time graduate from Creighton University receiving an undergraduate degree in the College of Arts and Sciences and his medical degree in the School of Medicine. Dr. Beste completed his residency training in Internal Medicine and Social Medicine at the Albert Einstein School of Medicine/Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, NY and an Infectious Disease fellowship and MPH in Global Health at the University of Washington. Prior to coming to Creighton, Dr. Beste held faculty appointments at Harvard Medical School, the Division of Global Health Equity at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and the Department of Global Health and Division of Allergy and Infectious Disease at the University of Washington. Dr. Beste's expertise is in health systems strengthening with a particular focus on post-conflict health systems. He has worked as the Medical Director and Chief Medical Officer for Partners In Health in Liberia and Malawi and as a global health instructor and researcher for the University of Washington. He has spent the past decade working in a number of global health systems working to promote health equity and improved access to healthcare systems.
Breakout Speakers
Environmental Health Consequences in Rural Dominican Republic: A Student Perspective
For over 50 years, Creighton University has provided programming in the Dominican Republic through the Institute for Latin American Concern, or ILAC. This is made possible through a unique partnership with Centro de Educación para la Salud Integral (CESI) in Santiago, DR. Through this partnership, Creighton-ILAC offers dental, medical, nursing, pharmacy, law, physical therapy, occupational therapy, undergraduate and high school students the opportunity to learn through service. Healthcare professionals in the fields of medicine, nursing, pharmacy, and dentistry are invited to participate in the 2024 ILAC Summer Health Program in the month of July. Visit Creighton.edu/ilac for details!
Dhitinut (DT) Ratnapradipa, PhD
Leading future research & advocacy – health impacts of climate change on vulnerable populations.
Dr. Dhitinut Ratnapradipa (Dr. DT) is a Professor of Environmental Health, and Director of Master of Public Health Program Department of Clinical Research and Public Health, School of Medicine, Creighton University. Prior to his appointment at Creighton, he was a professor at Department of Population Health, at Sam Houston State University, TX and at Southern Illinois University, IL, where he served as the graduate director and MD/MPH Co-Director of the concurrent degree program with the SIU School of Medicine. Dr. Ratnapradipa was also clinical faculty at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. Prior to academia, he supervised the Health Promotion and Emerging Risks Program at the Rhode Island Department of Health.
Dr. Ratnapradipa has served on NIH and US EPA grant review panels, and has secured grants from the US EPA, CDC, HRSA and the states of Illinois. He holds several fellowships and his last fellowship was in the department of Occupational and Environmental Health and Safety at the University of Michigan Center for Occupational Health and Safety Engineering.
He is a technical editor for the Journal of Environmental Health and Associate Editor for Journal of International Journal of Applied Geospatial Research
Siobhan Wescott, MD, MPH
Infusing Native Perspectives into Health Research
Siobhan Wescott, MD, MPH is the inaugural Dr. Susan and Susette La Flesche Professor of American Indian Health at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. She is Alaska Native from the Athabascan Tribe. Dr. Wescott earned an undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College and an MD from Harvard Medical School. She focuses on improving the health of Native Americans through public health programming and research
Uche Amaonwu
Uche Amaonwu is the interim director of the Nigeria Country Office at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, leading the foundation’s engagement with government, civil society, and partners in country, as well as the design and delivery of the foundations strategies to save lives and provide economic opportunity for Nigerians. He previously served as deputy director of Strategy Planning & Management for the foundation’s Africa team, where he was responsible for leading the foundations strategy development, implementation planning, investment portfolio management, data, measurement, learning and evaluation (MLE), and operations functions in Africa.
Uche joined the foundation in 2014. In his time at the foundation, he has supported the creation and implementation of multiple foundation program strategies including community health workers, country primary health care systems, enteric and diarrheal diseases, agriculture development, and global education.
Prior to joining the foundation, Uche was a Senior Manager with Deloitte’s Strategy & Operations practice, where he had 13 years of management consulting experience developing and implementing business transformation strategies for clients across the public and private sectors. Before that, he worked in the banking and insurance sectors in Nigeria.
Uche holds a Masters in Public Policy and Management from Carnegie Mellon University, along with a Bachelors in Accountancy from University of Nigeria, Nigeria. He is based in Abuja.
Patrick Swanson, PhD
Bringing “Our World, Our Health, Our Responsibility” home: the North Omaha Trail and other initiatives to promote human and ecological health and wellbeing around Omaha
Dr. Patrick Swanson, PhD, is a Professor and the Graduate Program Director in the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, where he has spent the last 25 years pursuing his research interests in understanding regulatory mechanisms that guide the development and diversification of B cells that make antibodies. As his avocation (but much more than a hobby) for the past 15 years, Dr. Swanson has pursued the restoration and stewardship of a ~60 acre native prairie remnant in the Loess Hills of western Iowa. His vocation and avocation have merged in recent years through his creation of a short selective medical school course focused on the intersections of ecological, individual, and community health, with specific interest on the growing recognition of the positive health benefits (physical, mental, spiritual) of contact with nature, and the emergence of Nature Prescription as a form of medically-directed treatment to improve health outcomes. He recently published an article describing this course in Jesuit Higher Education: A Journal.
Buey Ray Tut
Bringing “Our World, Our Health, Our Responsibility” home: the North Omaha Trail and other initiatives to promote human and ecological health and wellbeing around Omaha
Buey Ray Tut immigrated to the United States when he was 11 years old. Growing up, Buey’s family called Wintergreen Apartments in North Omaha home. Buey graduated from Burke High School before becoming the first person in his family to attend college. Buey graduated from the University of Nebraska Omaha with a degree in Political Science and Government. He served as the student body vice president and captain of his speech and debate team. Buey continues to call the city of Omaha home, where he now resides with his wife and son.
For the past decade, Buey worked in international development as the Founder, Executive Director and ultimately, Chief Executive Officer of Aqua-Africa. Under his leadership, the organization has grown from a $15,000 budget in 2011 to over $700,000 as of 2023. Under Buey’s leadership the organization grew from a donor base of a handful of personal philanthropists to a portfolio which included international foundations and the federal U.S. government. Most importantly, under his guidance, the organization has impacted the lives of over 22,000 people with an additional 10,000 to be reached at the end of August.
In the Omaha community, Buey has served on the Omaha Library Board of Trustees and currently serves on the Nebraskaland Foundation board. Buey has been awarded Midlands Business Journal 40 under 40 Recipient, Ten Outstanding Omahans (TOYO) and was selected as a TEDx Omaha Speaker on Community Development.
Buey brings an extensive background in community development and organizational capacity building. This, coupled with his personal experience growing up in a low-income immigrant household and his deep involvement in the Omaha community, will greatly support Spark’s mission to help profoundly transform disinvested neighborhoods into prosperous and thriving communities.
Sarah Scales, PhD, MPH
Climate, Conflict, and Health: An Epidemiologic Perspective
Sarah Elizabeth Scales, PhD, MPH, is a post-doctoral research associate in the Water, Climate, and Health Program at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Dr. Scales trained as an infectious disease epidemiologist at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and further specialized in disaster epidemiology at the University of Delaware. She has collaborated on a number of projects with the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (ASED) based in Brussels, Belgium. Her research interests are at the crux of hazards, conflict, and health. Her current research focuses on the use of epidemiologic methods to assess the human-health impacts of climate-related hazards, such as extreme heat events. She is particularly interested in the effects of disasters and conflict on the health of displaced populations. Dr. Scales hopes that her work provides tangible applications for field practitioners and contributes to evidence-informed policy and practice.
Nicholas Comninellis, MD, MPH
Fighting the Diseases of Poverty
Nicholas Comninellis is President and Professor of INMED, the Institute for International Medicine. He is also a faculty at Research Medical Center Family Medicine Residency. Over a two-year period Dr. Comninellis served inner-city citizens at Shanghai Charity Hospital. Over another two years, he led a healthcare ministry in the war-besieged nation of Angola in southern Africa. Dr. Comninellis next served for six years in the Kansas City public hospital before launching INMED in 2003. He graduated from the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) School of Medicine and Saint Louis University School of Public Health and was a family medicine resident at John Peter Smith Hospital. Dr. Comninellis also earned a professional diploma in tropical medicine from the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research and became board-certified in both public health and family medicine. Among his authored books are Shanghai Doctor, Where Do I Go From Here, and INMED International Medicine & Public Health. Dr. Comninellis is a classical guitarist and faculty co-advisor for UMKC Cru. He was recognized as the 2009 United Nations Association of the United States World Citizen and the 2015 University of Missouri-Kansas City Alumni of the Year.
Britt A. Thedinger, MD
Susan La Flesche Picotte, MD: A Warrior of the People
Born and raised in Kansas City, he received a BS in Molecular Biology from Vanderbilt University and his medical degree from the University of Kansas. He completed his Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery residency training at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary – Harvard University in Boston 1989. He completed a one-year fellowship in Otology – Neurotology at the Ear Foundation – Vanderbilt University in Nashville. He subsequently moved to Omaha and founded Ear Specialists of Omaha – a private practice specializing in the medical and surgical treatment of ear, hearing, balance, and facial nerve disorders in children and adults.
Over the past 30 years, he has served on numerous boards in the community and is currently on the board of the Picotte Center in Walthill – on the Omaha Reservation.
He and his wife Kelly have three children and four fabulous grandchildren!