Linda Villarosa, Noted Journalist and Author, to Deliver 2022 Kreuter Katz Lecture at Georgia State

ATLANTA—Linda Villarosa, an award-winning journalist, author, editor, novelist and educator, will deliver the 2022 Kreuter Katz Lecture on Health Equity at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, November 15. The event, co-sponsored by the School of Public Health and the Georgia Health Policy Center, will be held in the auditorium of Centennial Hall and streamed online for those unable to attend in-person. It is free and open to the public.

“The annual Kreuter Katz Lecture is a School of Public Health tradition that signals our dedication to advancing health equity,” said Dean Rodney Lyn. “We look forward to having Linda Villarosa on campus for an engaging discussion on the intersection of race and health in America.”

As a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine, Villarosa covers race, inequality and health. Her 2018 cover story, “Why America’s Black Mothers and Babies Are in a Life-or-Death Crisis,” was a finalist for a National Magazine Award. Her 2017 article, “America’s Hidden HIV Epidemic,” won a National Lesbian and Gay Journalists’ award for Excellence in Journalism. Her essay on medical myths was included in The New York Times’ 1619 Project and is published in the book “The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story.”

Villarosa is the author or co-author of three books, including “Body & Soul: The Black Women’s Guide to Physical Health and Emotional Well-Being.” Her novel, “Passing for Black,” was released in 2008 and was nominated for a Lambda Literary Award. Her latest book, “Under the Skin: The Hidden Toll of Racism on American Lives and on the Health of Our Nation,” was published in June 2022 by Doubleday.

Villarosa is a graduate of the University of Colorado and spent a year at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health as a journalism fellow. She also earned a master’s degree in urban journalism/digital storytelling in 2013 from CUNY’s Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, where she is currently a professor and journalist-in-residence.

Held annually since 2014, the Kreuter Katz Lecture is supported by Healthcare Georgia Foundation in honor of Dr. Marshall Kreuter and Martha Katz. Kreuter has extensive experience in engagement of communities in the planning, implementation and evaluation of public health programs. As a professor at Georgia State, he focused on health disparities in inner-city Atlanta, and the extent to which the presence or absence of social capital may be associated with the effectiveness of community-based initiatives. As deputy director for policy and legislation at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Katz advised the CDC director on complex policy issues and provided leadership for the agency’s legislative initiatives, health communications programs and relationships with external partners. She was instrumental in the establishment of the CDC Foundation and currently serves on the boards of the Georgia Health Foundation and the James F. and Sarah T. Fries Foundation.

To learn more about the Kreuter Katz Lecture and to register, click here.