Hollywood, Health & Society brought together leading TV writers and producers and medical experts for a panel discussion titled “Crazy Stupid Cancer: Scripting Compelling Cancer Storylines for the Screen” on March 14 at the Writers Guild of America, West.
You wouldn’t think that shows with names such as “Pound Puppies,” “Strawberry Shortcake’s Berry Bitty Adventures,” “The Twisted Whiskers Show” and “The WotWots” would be the ideal forum for health and safety messages.
Hollywood, Health & Society launched its Storybus Tours, a signature series of research trips for TV writers to various locations—this time to gather first-hand reports from those working to ease gang violence in the schools and on the streets of Los Angeles.
Medical leaders, global health workers and researchers convened in Seattle on Nov. 1-2 for a conference sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, titled “Achieving Lasting Impact at Scale: Social and Behavioral Change and the Spread of Family Health Innovations in Low-Income Countries.”
Following the presentations for the 2011 Sentinel for Health Awards, the winning writers participated in a panel discussion that offered behind-the-scenes looks about their respective shows and the genesis of some of their TV stories.
A couple struggling to tell their son that he has Asperger’s. A cystic fibrosis patient facing a wrenching choice. Cultural clashes erupting over birth rituals in South America.
President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama topped the guest list at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute's 34th Annual Awards Gala, which drew an array of the Washington elite, including House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, White House officials and members of Congress. Also among those in attendance was Hollywood, Health & Society Director Sandra de Castro Buffington, who shook the president's hand.
Experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention discussed the science behind the movie "Contagion" and the CDC's round-the-clock efforts to protect Americans from deadly outbreaks of disease. The event was hosted by the CDC Foundation, whose mission is to help the CDC "do more ... faster," and was held at Union Station in Washington, D.C. The panelists were CDC Director Dr. Thomas Frieden; Dr. Ali Khan, director of CDC's Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response; and Dr. Anne Schuchat, director of CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. Sandra de Castro Buffington, director of the Hollywood, Health & Society program, participated in a Q&A session following the panel talk. Georgia Sen. Johnny Isakson served as honorary host.
Sandra de Castro Buffington, the director of the Hollywood, Health & Society program of the Norman Lear Center,delivered an address on the power of popular TV health storylines to reach the Latino community at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Public Policy Conference on Tuesday, Sept. 13 in Washington, D.C.
