Thursday, March 26th
Across the world, mothers and children are bearing the brunt of humanitarian catastrophe — from Gaza and Sudan to other conflict zones where medical systems are collapsing. And here in the U.S., maternal health inequities remain staggering, with Black women three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women. This session brings together frontline medical workers responding to these crises both globally and locally. Hosted by Sandra Adler Killen, Emergency Room and Pediatric RN who has worked in underserved communities in the U.S. and internationally, including most recently in Gaza. With: Brandi Gates-Burgess, founder and Executive Director of Breast Friends Lactation and Support Services; and Dr. Cindy Nelly, global health consultant with 25+ years’ experience delivering care and building health systems in conflict and disaster zones. Moderated by Tiffany McElroy, Emmy Award-winning television journalist.
March 26th | 3:00 pm to 4:15 pm | Golden Bear Room, Hotel Shattuck Plaza
Panelists
Cindy Nelly
Faculty Member and Clinician | University of Florida
Dr. Cindy Nelly, DNP, APRN, CNM, is a faculty member and clinician at the University of Florida and a global health consultant with 25+ years’ experience delivering care and building health systems in austere environments affected by conflict, natural disasters, and large-scale displacement. Her work spans over 15 countries and focuses on emergency clinical care, workforce training, and operational leadership. Most recently, she has supported frontline health services in Gaza, strengthening emergency, maternal, and women’s health capacity while partnering with local and international teams to sustain care under extreme constraints.
Brandi Gates-Burgess
Founder and Executive Director | Breast Friends Lactation and Support Services
Brandi Gates-Burgess, IBCLC, the founder and Executive Director of Breast Friends Lactation Support Services, a nonprofit that provides clinical lactation care, peer counseling, support groups, and community-based education to Black families across the Bay Area, also works as a hospital-based lactation consultant at Highland Hospital in Oakland. In addition to her clinical work, Brandi serves as the Community Engagement Specialist for the UCSF MILK Research Lab, where she co-developed the NICU Toolkit for Black Families, Hospitals, and Birth Centers. She is also deeply involved in community research and advocacy, serving on the Community Advisory Boards for the UCSF Preterm Birth Initiative and the Perinatal Equity Initiative and also co-chairs the Breastfeeding Cultural Outreach Taskforce (BCOT), whose mission is to revive the art and tradition of breastfeeding in the Black community.
Tiffany McElroy
Communications Strategist
Tiffany McElroy, a two-time Emmy Award-winning television journalist and news anchor with experience covering major political and cultural stories at the local and national levels, received an Emmy Award in 2009 for an hour-long news special, The Legacy of Martin Luther King: Forty Years After Memphis. A UCLA graduate, McElroy began her broadcasting career in California before anchoring and reporting in Philadelphia and New York City. She now serves as a part-time instructor of Communications and Media Technology and works as a communications strategist in the Bay Area.
Sandra Adler Killen
Emergency Room and Pediatric RN
Sandra Adler Killen, an Emergency Room and Pediatric RN and Internationally Board-Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC), has, since 2009, dedicated her career to supporting underserved communities in the U.S. and internationally, with projects spanning Mexico, Syria, and Lebanon. In 2024, she deployed to Gaza as a trauma RN, providing frontline care for mass casualties with the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) and recently completed her third deployment with GINA—the Gaza Infant Nutritional Alliance—where she focused on pediatric care, lactation support, and capacity-building initiatives. Sandra is also part of an international telehealth lactation consultant team offering remote care and guidance to thousands of mothers and babies in Gaza.
Friday, March 27th
4:45 pm: Restoring the Ecology of Health in the Anthropocene’s “Polycrisis”
Co-hosted by the Science and Environmental Health Network (SEHN)
The microbiologist and humanist René Dubos said that “each civilization creates its own diseases,” but it’s also true that every civilization can create the conditions for its own health. Today we are confronting a slew of public health threats including: the climate crisis, chemical and plastic manufacturing, food and economic insecurity, oil and gas extraction, and water shortages arising from fracking and data centers. This panel featuring three of the most renowned public health visionaries of our era will explore how we can empower communities with scientific knowledge, legal tools and organizing strategies, (including the precautionary principle) to stop the further toxification of our environment and restore our ecosystems to foster conditions conducive to health. Hosted by Carolyn Raffensperger, MA, JD Executive Director of SEHN. With: Ted Schettler, MD, MPH, a physician and SEHN’s Science Director; and Sandra Steingraber, Ph.D., a biologist and SEHN’s Senior Scientist and bestselling author.
March 27th | 4:45 pm to 6:00 pm | Magnes Museum
Panelists
Carolyn Raffensperger
Executive Director | Science and Environmental Health Network
Carolyn Raffensperger, Executive Director of the Science and Environmental Health Network, which, since 1998 has been the leading proponent in the U.S. of the Precautionary Principle as a basis for environmental and public health policy, was formerly an archeologist but, horrified at the destruction of the lands in which she was working, went to law school and became an activist to protect ecosystems and future generations. A co-convener of the historic 1998 Wingspread Conference on the Precautionary Principle and the Women’s Congresses for Future Generations held in 2012, 2014, and 2026, Carolyn co-edited Precautionary Tools for Reshaping Environmental Policy (2006) and Protecting Public Health and the Environment: Implementing the Precautionary Principle (1999).
Ted Schettler
Science and Environmental Health Network | Science Director
Ted Schettler MD, MPH, the Science Director of the Science and Environmental Health Network, who has a medical degree from Case Western Reserve University and a master’s degree in public health from Harvard, is the author of: The Ecology of Breast Cancer and the co-author of several books, including: Generations at Risk: Reproductive Health and the Environment; In Harm's Way: Toxic Threats to Child Development, and: Environmental Threats to Health Aging. He has also published many articles in peer-reviewed journals and has served on advisory committees of the U.S. EPA and the National Academy of Sciences.
Sandra Steingraber
Senior Scientist | Science and Environmental Health Network
Sandra Steingraber, Ph.D., a biologist who researches climate change, ecology, and the links between human health and the environment, serves as a senior scientist and writer-in-residence at the Science and Environmental Health Network and is the author of three acclaimed books on public health, including Living Downstream, which became an award-winning documentary film. She has also been a renowned activist for several decades.
