Black Resilience and Health Research

The All of Us Research Program is proud to support the Black Resilience and Health Research event as part of Madison’s Juneteenth celebration.

This FREE event will feature keynote speaker, Dr. Karriem Watson who will discuss the All of Us program and the critical need to address health disparities in health research.

Download an event flyer  (pdf)

About Dr. Karriem Watson

Dr. Karriem Watson, DHSc, MS, MPH, is a Senior Research Scientist with the University of Illinois Cancer Center and the Director of Community Engaged Research for the UI Cancer Center at UIC and  the Mile Square Health Center, a group of Federally Qualified Health Clinics (FQHCs) affiliated with the University of Illinois Hospital and Health Sciences System. Dr. Watson has a Doctorate in Health Science in Global Health and a Master of Science in Basic Medical Research and a Master’s in Public Health in Community Health Sciences. Dr. Watson’s work has resulted in the creation of community based cancer screening, prevention and navigation programs for breast, lung, colorectal, cervical and prostate cancer. His work to support community based breast cancer screening and navigation afforded him recognition by the Metropolitan Chicago Breast Cancer Task Force as a “Community Champion”. He is a faculty member at the UIC School of Public Health in the Division of Community Health Sciences and is an Adjunct Faculty at DePaul and Northwestern University. Dr. Watson is also the Core Co-Lead of the Community Engagement Core for a 5 year NCI funded multi-institutional grant with the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center at Northwestern University, the University of Illinois Cancer Center and Northeastern Illinois University to address cancer disparities in Chicago, he also serves as Co-Investigator for a 4 year NCI funded grant to develop a partnership with the UI Cancer Center and Governors State University to increase the number of faculty and students from underserved communities who engage in cancer disparities research. Dr. Watson is also a Co-Investigator of the Illinois Precision Medicine Consortium that was funded by the NIH Precision Medicine Initiative, now called the All of Us Initiative and a newly awarded NIMHD Center of Excellence in Health Disparities at UIC.

About Juneteenth

The 30th Annual Celebration of Juneteenth will be held on Saturday, June 15, 2019 in Penn Park. This year’s theme is: “Embracing Our Legacy of Resilience”. Juneteenth is a wonderful opportunity to experience the rich history of African Americans through various forms of entertainment, lectures, visual presentation, food and other activities. Juneteenth provides the opportunity for your group or agency to reach a significant portion of Madison’s African American community. Our many partnerships have increased the Celebration’s ability to draw a wider
audience from across Dane County.

​Juneteenth is the one event that is totally dedicated to the African American experience here in Madison and across the nation.  We are aware of the challenges that impact African Americans living in Madison and Dane County but adversity is not new to African American community. For it was in the midst of slavery that our American experience was formed; while plowing fields and picking cotton “soul music” was born as an outward expression of hope in the midst of despair.  It is the freedom from what physically binds us that is celebrated every Juneteenth Day. In 1865, it was slavery and today it is racial disparity.

​We are excited about this year’s Celebration. As we researched historical information to ensure that we plan a celebration that resonates with the essence of the Black experience in America, we found out these amazing facts; ‘Black America influences 90% – 100% of mainstream American culture. From music to movies, literature to language, fashion to finance, Black America has a predominant influence.’  As a community, we make up about 12 – 15 % of this country’s population and despite the startling rates of disparities; we determine the culture of this great nation. Take a moment to reflect and as you do, think about the many accomplishments of Black people in this country, consider the magnitude of our intellect, talents, skills and our community’s profound influences on contemporary society, you should simply be amazed. This influence is historical and dates back to the beginning of time; Black people have contributed greatly from the development of civilization to modern day advances.