(BPRW) Morehouse School of Medicine to Host 27th Annual MSM HeLa Symposium April 2025

Annual women’s health symposium honors the late Henrietta Lacks, the Black woman whose “immortal” cells have been used for decades of medical research.

(Black PR Wire) ATLANTA, GA – Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) will host the first part of its 27th Annual HeLa Symposium, entitled, “Shedding Light, Saving Lives: MSM Symposium on Maternal Mortality,” April 2025. Due to weather impacting the event, locations and times have been changed, but registration is now open for the new date in April 2025. Attendees may click here to register.

The 2025 MSM HeLa Symposium aims to foster collaboration and knowledge-sharing to reduce maternal mortality rates in Georgia and beyond through research, collaboration, and innovation. Featuring keynote addresses, panel discussions, and networking opportunities, the event is open to the public, particularly healthcare professionals and students, public health officials, policymakers, researchers, advocates, and community stakeholders. Additionally, a maternal health pilot grant opportunity will be announced during the event, and attendees will be able to earn continuing medical education (CME) credits for participating. The symposium is supported by an unrestricted educational grant from Merck for Mothers.

The annual symposium honors the late Henrietta Lacks, an African American woman with cervical cancer who unknowingly donated her cancer cells in 1951 when a young resident doctor saved them before her treatment. Mrs. Lacks died a few months later, unaware that the first “immortal” human cell line was later developed from her saved cells. Named HeLa, the cell line has been used extensively in research studies and the development of vaccines for decades. For example, the polio virus was grown in HeLa cells soon after Mrs. Lacks died, which eventually led to the creation of a highly effective polio vaccine. Other uses of HeLa cells have led to important medical advances including in vitro fertilization, cloning, genomics, and stem cell research.

The event coincides with Black Maternal Health Week in April 2025.

What:             27th Annual Morehouse School of Medicine HeLa Symposium (Part 1) “Shedding Light, Saving Lives: MSM Symposium on Maternal Mortality”

When:             Postponed to April 2025. More details to come.

Speakers and Panelists:

• Valerie Montgomery Rice, MSM President and CEO
• Roland Matthews, MSM Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Chair
• Michael Lindsay, former director of the Emory University School of Medicine Maternal Fetal Medicine Division
• Kalahn Taylor-Clark, Merck Vice President and Head of Social Impact and Sustainability
• Yosha Dotson, MSW
• Armand Kadima, lived experience expert in maternal mortality
• Michelle Browder, artist, activist, and creator of the Mothers of Gynecology monument
• Walter Conwell, MD, MBA, MSM Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer
• Renee McLeod-Sordjan, DNP, PhD, RN, FNP-BC, medical ethicist and family, palliative and acute care nurse practitioner
• Anjli Hinman, CNM, FNP, MPH, nurse midwife and co-founder and midwife director of the Atlanta Birth Center

For more information about Morehouse School of Medicine, please visit MSM.edu.

About Morehouse School of Medicine

Founded in 1975, Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) is among the nation’s leading educators of primary care physicians, biomedical scientists, and public health professionals. An independent and private historically-Black medical school, MSM was recognized by the Annals of Internal Medicine as the nation’s number one medical school in fulfilling a social mission — the creation and advancement of health equity to achieve health justice. MSM faculty and alumni are noted for excellence in teaching, research, and public policy, as well as exceptional patient care. MSM is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award doctoral and master’s degrees. To learn more about programs and donate today, please visit MSM.edu or call 404-752-1500.

Source: Atlanta University Center Consortium