Penn’s ELISS Fellows to Host Two Discussions on Public Health

WHO: Ben Chrisinger, city and regional planning, School of Design
Johannes Eichstaedt, psychology, School of Arts & Sciences
Ruth Masterson Creber, nursing science, School of Nursing
Madeleine Stone, earth and environmental science, School of Arts & Sciences

WHAT: Penn graduate students, all Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s Emerging Leaders in Science and Society program, will host two free discussions on public health: “Designing Public Spaces for Public Health” and “Labeling in Philly’s Healthy Corner Stores: Where Do We Go From Here?”

WHEN/
WHERE: “Designing Public Spaces for Public Health”
               Tuesday, Nov. 4, noon to 1 p.m. 
               The Griski Room 311
               Houston Hall
               3417 Spruce St.
               University of Pennsylvania

               “Labeling in Healthy Corner Stores”
               Wednesday, Nov. 5, 5:30 -7 p.m.
               Meyerson Hall B4
               210 South 34th St.
               University of Pennsylvania

INFO: Both events are free and open to the public. Registration is requested.

"Designing Public Spaces for Public Health"
RSVP for by Nov. 1 at http://goo.gl/forms/UzflKhtwPe.

"Labeling in Healthy Corner Stores"
RSVP at http://goo.gl/forms/Lq2LvchGcc

During the last year, four University of Pennsylvania graduate students have participated in Emerging Leaders in Science and Society, or ELISS, a national, AAAS-supported leadership program supported by the American Association for the Advancement of Science that prepares graduate students to collaborate across boundaries on societal challenges. In two upcoming interactive and discussion-oriented events, both free and open to the public, the students will demonstrate and share design-centric and interdisciplinary approaches to complex societal problems.
 
In “Designing Public Spaces for Public Health,” participants will examine the intersection between mental health concerns and the physical environment and think about integrative solutions. Three scenarios will be considered: how public spaces can help improve the health of the elderly, how they can help foreground the stigma often associated with mental health for students and how people report public spaces to serve as green spaces. Lunch will be provided.
 
More information is available from Madeleine Stone at madstone@sas.upenn.edu
In “Labeling in Philly's Healthy Corner Stores: Where Do We Go From Here?” the ELISS Food Group will convene a public conversation about product labeling efforts as part of Philadelphia's Healthy Corner Store Initiative. 

The Initiative has involved more than 600 small retailers to provide healthier food options and marketing in stores throughout the city and has been a model for localities around the nation that want to increase healthy food access and encourage healthier eating. 

Experienced stakeholders from The Food Trust and the Philadelphia Department of Public Health will guide a discussion on how the Initiative has used in-store labels and marketing and how the city can continue to innovate and lead with new ideas for healthy choices in corner stores. Penn’s Center for Public Health Initiatives is a co-sponsor.

More information is available from Ben Chrisinger at benjc@design.upenn.edu.

More information on ELISS, hosted at the University of Pennsylvania by the Office of the Vice Provost for Education, is available at http://www.aaas.org/eliss.

ELISS is hosted at The University of Pennsylvania by the Office of the Provost and GAPSA.