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Please join the CUNY SPH Office of Accessibility Services in celebrating its fourth annual CUNY Disability Awareness Month at SPH. Disabled people are the largest marginalized and underrepresented community. This student-only session serves to not only be a place to talk about grievances and past experiences, but also as a way to create a braver space to talk about disability (including invisible disabilities) and inclusion, and to further the conversation through the next steps. Co-facilitated by CUNY SPH students, Adriana Padilla and Zaire Ali, PhD students and MPH student Nimra Rahman.
Co-facilitators:
Adriana Padilla (she/her) is originally from Puerto Rico and has been living in Queens for the past 8 years. Adriana graduated from CUNY SPH with an MPH in Epidemiology and Biostatistics with a Maternal, Child, Reproductive, and Sexual Health (MCRSH) Specialization. She was the president of the Sexual and Reproductive Health, Rights, and Justice (“Repro”) Club for 2 years. She is currently pursuing a PhD from the CUNY School of Public Health in Environmental and Planetary Health Sciences. Her research focuses on perinatal exposures to air pollution and neurodevelopmental disorders. She currently works at CUNY ISPH in the STEPS2 (Socialization to Enrich Participation & Support Sexuality) Project and the CUNY Center for Immigrant, Refugee, and Global Health. Adriana has lived with Multiple Sclerosis since 2002 and Fibromyalgia since 2008. After a lifetime of symptoms, she was diagnosed with ADHD in 2010. She is a fierce supporter of patient self-advocacy and denouncing medical gaslighting.
Zaire Ali (he/him) is a third-year Ph.D. student in Public Health at CUNY SPH and uses his education to help create widespread equity through research and implementation. Born and raised in Plainfield, N.J., Zaire considers himself fortunate enough to see how life was on both sides of health policy (negative/positive) and has vowed to improve health outcomes in urban communities. Living with mood and anxiety disorders, Zaire decided to not be a statistic and wanted to help others not be one. Zaire strives to help educate the Black community on mental health and alleviate some of the burden created by decades of systemic racism and its negative impacts on historically marginalized populations living in urban Communities. Zaire holds undergraduate degrees in Health & Physical Education and Criminal Justice and two master’s degrees from Rutgers University in Counseling Psychology and Urban Public Health.
Nimra Rahman (she/her) is a Queens native. She has a Bachelors in Human Biology from CUNY Hunter College and is pursuing her Masters in Public Health at CUNY SPH. Nimra is a researcher, having contributed to the fields of mental health and cancer research throughout her career. She is passionate about mental health, well-being, and health equity for individuals and societies, especially within underserved communities. Nimra joins this panel to discuss her experiences dealing with ADHD and anxiety and wishes to create a supportive community for others who have disabilities.