James E. Clyburn Health Disparities Lecture to be presented April 21

Dr. Adewale Troutman, director of the Louisville Metro Department of Public Health and Wellness, will be the featured speaker Tuesday, April 21, for the second annual James E. Clyburn Health Disparities Lecture at the University of South Carolina.

The program, which is free and open to the public, will be held at 3:30 p.m. in the auditorium of the Public Health Research Center of the Arnold School of Public Health, located at 921 Assembly St. A reception will follow.

“Dr. Troutman is one of the nation’s leaders in public health,” said Dr. Saundra Glover, director of the University of South Carolina’s Institute to Eliminate Health Dispartiies. “He is an advocate for bringing change to improve health, including changing social conditions that often affect a person’s ability to change behaviors.”

An associate professor at the University of Louisville School of Public Health, Troutman has a distinguished record of achievement in public health education, research, leadership and advocacy. In Louisville, Troutman has undertaken new initiatives to improve the health of citizens throughout the area, including the Center for Health Equity – the only such center at a city or county health department in America; the Mayor’s Health Hometown Movement, a community effort to encourage Louisville’s citizens to be physically active and adopt healthy lifestyles; the Office of Faith and Health to work with the faith community to improve health; and the Office of Emergency and Public Health Preparedness. Troutman also was instrumental in launching a mobile health unit to extend health services to underserved areas of the community.

Among his numerous accomplishments, Troutman received the first annual MediStar Physician of the Year Award, which recognizes outstanding leadership to improve accessibility and affordability of healthcare.

Troutman earned his medical degree from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and completed a residency and internship in family medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina. He earned his master’s in public health from the Columbia University School of Public Health and a master’s in black studies from the State University of New York.

The University of South Carolina’s Arnold School named the lecture series for Clyburn because his service to people in the Palmetto State and his leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives have been critical in improving public health.

“Representative Clyburn has a proven record of advocacy for public health issues vital to the health and well-being of children, adults and senior citizens throughout our state and nation,” Glover said.

Speakers for the program also will include Dr. Henry N. Tisdale, Claflin University president, University of South Carolina President. Harris Pastides and Dr. Tom Chandler, Arnold School dean.

Partners for the lecture include the Arnold School of Public Health and the S.C. Partnership to Fight Chronic Diseases. For more information about the James E. Clyburn Health Disparities Lecture, call 803-251-6300.