Jeffrey Paul Baker

Primary Theme: Global Health

North Carolina’s “City of Medicine” is also a city of great racial and class health disparities. While these inequities have deep historical roots, we know remarkably little about the specific ways by which structural forces, policy decisions and specific group actions have shaped the landscape of health in contemporary Durham. A better understanding of these phenomena requires an historical research and engagement strategy that moves beyond the academy to engage with public health departments, community leaders, multidisciplinary researchers and health professionals. A documentary history of health in Durham, and Duke’s relationship to it, has the potential to expand, and even transform, the vision of healthcare of our community.