Stigma, COVID-19 and the Impact on Marginalized Communities — Part 1
This 2 -hour virtual panel discussion is the FIRST of a TWO PART series examining the impact of stigma and COVID-19 on marginalized communities. The first part of the series will feature leaders of the largest harm reduction policy organizations in New York and the nation as well as representatives from New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) and New York State Department of Health. The second part of this two-part series will be on November 24th, 2020 from 3 pm – 5 pm EST
Objectives:
- Examine how stigma has changed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Explain the responses by NYC/NYS health departments and large advocacy organizations.
- Discuss various ways of that stigma of marginalized communities, particularly stigma facing people who use drugs (PWUD), has impacted the city and state’s COVID-19 response
Moderators: Hiawatha Collins, Harm Reduction Community Mobilization Coordinator, and Jose Martinez, Hepatitis C and Harm Reduction Associate
Panelists:
Mark Kinzly has worked in the field of Harm Reduction and Public Health for the past 30 years bringing innovative prevention/interventions to the drug using and recovery and academic community. Mr. Kinzly has worked as a Research Associate at Yale University’s School of Medicine/Public Health and has been the Coordinator and Project Manager of a number of the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) funded studies. Mr. Kinzly was the 2017 recipient of the Dr. Andrew Weil for the achievement in the field of Drug Education, the award is given to the person in drug education that promotes honest, science base drug education in place of Ineffective scare tactics based on myths and deceit. He is currently on the Board of Directors for the National Harm Reduction Coalition. Mr. Kinzly is co-founder of the Texas Overdose Naloxone Initiative (TONI) that brings overdose awareness technical assistance and trainings to providers, family members, and drug users in the state of Texas. He has trained in all areas of overdose prevention and education including law enforcement, active drug users, family/friends of persons on opioids, Medicated Assisted Recovery clinics, and educational institutions looking at best ways and technologies to help curb our nation’s greatest drug epidemic. He has the honor of being a member of the curriculum development team for Overdose Prevention/Education for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). He has also served on the Community Advisory Committee and Executive Committee at Yale’s Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS. Most importantly he is the proud father of Chase Michael Robert Kinzly and Jada Clay.
Monique Tula is the Executive Director of Harm Reduction Coalition, a national advocacy and capacity-building organization that promotes the health and dignity of people affected by drug use. Previously, she was the Vice President of Programs with AIDS United where she oversaw the grantmaking and technical assistance portfolios. With more than 20 years of experience in the non-profit sector, Ms. Tula has devoted her career to harm reduction advocacy and infrastructure development of community-based organizations.
Ms. Tula is a skilled trainer, having taught program evaluation courses at the University of Massachusetts in Boston and facilitated numerous organizational development trainings for community based organizations throughout the U.S. An alum of the Centers for Disease Control’s Institute for HIV Prevention Leadership, Ms. Tula holds a degree in Community Planning with a concentration in Non-Profit Management from the University of Massachusetts and a Masters Certificate in Non-Profit Leadership and Management from Boston University’s School of Management. Ms. Tula has been nominated by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health for the prestigious Robert Wood Johnson Community Health Leadership award and presently serves as Board Chair for BEAM, a collective of mental and emotional health advocates dedicated to dismantling systems that cause egregious harms to Black people in America
Allan Clear is the Director of the New York State Department of Health, AIDS Institute’s Office of Drug User Health where he is responsible for program planning, design and implementation related to drug user health, including overdose, HIV and HCV prevention, low threshold buprenorphine and access to care including medical care and mental health services. Mr. Clear has worked in the field of drug user health since 1990. He was the Executive Director of the Lower East Side Harm Reduction Center, one of the first syringe exchange programs in New York State, and of the Harm Reduction Coalition, which is the prominent community-based organization promoting harm reduction as a mode of working with drug users in the US. Mr. Clear has served on both local and international advisory bodies, including Governor Cuomo’s End the Epidemic Task Force in 2015 and the United Nations Civil Society Taskforce on Drugs.
Dr. Hillary Kunins is the Executive Deputy Commissioner of Mental Hygiene at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH). In this role, she oversees the DOHMH’s major strategic initiatives to improve the mental health and behavioral health of all New Yorkers. Previously, Dr. Kunins served as Assistant Commissioner for the Bureau of Alcohol and Drug Use at DOHMH where, since 2012, she has led the DOHMH’s efforts to promote public health approaches to reducing the health and social consequences of drug and alcohol use in NYC, including preventing opioid overdose and prescription opioid misuse, and binge and excessive alcohol use; integrating best practices in substance use care into health care systems; and strengthening the continuum of services to address the needs of New Yorkers with substance use disorders. Dr. Kunins serves as the DOHMH lead for Mayor Bill de Blasio’s 60 million dollar citywide opioid initiative, HealingNYC.
As a general internist and addiction medicine physician, before joining DOHMH, Dr. Kunins worked in the Bronx for 16 years providing primary and addiction-related care to patients in both community health centers and in substance use disorder treatment programs. Dr. Kunins served as Medical Director of the Hub 2 Methadone Maintenance Program, in the Division of Substance Abuse at Einstein (2000-2003); Founder and Director of Project GROW – HIV prevention for women with substance use disorders (2003- 2012) and Director of the Primary Care/Social Internal Medicine Residency Program at Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine (2007-2012). She has been a Principal or Co Investigator of foundation and federal grants related to buprenorphine treatment in primary care, disparities in substance use service utilization, and medical education/training to promote quality care for vulnerable populations. Dr. Kunins received her MD and MPH from Columbia University and her MS in Clinical Research from Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Dr. Kunins is a Clinical Professor of Medicine, Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences and Family & Social Medicine at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Fellow of American College of Physicians, and Fellow of American Society of Addiction Medicine.
Prerequisite: None
Audience: All health and human service providers, including Peers Workers
