Kevin Simon, M.D. will explore the evidence of unconscious bias, systemic racism, criminal (in) justice, and health inequity specific to Black Boys in America. We will discuss these intersections and their mental health implications. Using excerpts of classic Black narrative, film, and clinical cases, participants will examine Black Boys’ mental health through an antiracist lens.

The panel discussion features:

• Ericka V. Hayes, MD- Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics; Medical Director, Pediatric and Adolescent HIV Program; Associate Medical Director, Infection Prevention, Washington University School of Medicine in Saint Louis
• Sean Joe, Benjamin E. Youngdahl Professor of Social Development, Principal Director, Race and Opportunity Lab, George Warren Brown School of Social Work
• Husain Lateef, assistant professor, George Warren Brown School of Social Work
• Adam Layne, St. Louis Public School Board Member

This event is co-sponsored by The Office of the Dean of the School of Medicine, the WUSM Office of Diversity and Inclusion, WUSM Department of Psychiatry, the Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity & Equity; the Department of Anthropology and Department of African & African American Studies.

Speaker information:

Kevin M. Simon, M.D., is a board-certified psychiatrist completing dual fellowships in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital / Harvard Medical School. Simon completed a general psychiatry residency in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Morehouse School of Medicine after graduating from Southern Illinois University School of Medicine. Simon has received research support from the American Psychiatric Association, American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute of Drug Abuse, and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Simon’s research and writings on inequity, race, social determinants, and substance use have been published in NEJM, Health Equity, Health Affairs, Psychiatric Services, Psychiatric Times, Current Psychiatry, and Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics. He regularly presents at national conferences and has been featured on ABC News, Forbes and NPR.