On behalf of the Board of Directors of The Global Health Leaders Conference at Johns Hopkins University, we would like to congratulate your students Hana Choi and Sophia Hassen for presenting in our 2021 GHLC at JHU program which was held virtually this past summer and concluded last month. Our international conference is a premier global health education program led by Johns Hopkins University students and faculty; at our conference, emerging global health leaders in grades 9-12 from around the world learn from one another and some of the world’s leaders in global health, public health, and medicine. In addition to Hana and Sophia, some of the speakers at our conference included the U.S. CDC’s Director of the Center for Global Health, a Nobel Laureate, and world-renowned professors, researchers, and physicians.

Hana and Sophia were some of the few students from Virginia admitted into our highly selective conference program this year. We sincerely thank James W. Robinson Jr. Secondary School and your community for nurturing future leaders in global health and medicine - Hana and Sophia wonderfully represented James W. Robinson Jr. Secondary School and the state of Virginia in our program. Our conference board members in addition to the student attendees were very inspired by their knowledge, curiosity, passion, and achievements; we very much appreciate Hana and Sophia’s investment in the future of global health.

Recordings of their talks are linked below:

Hana discusses the ways in which ableism is perpetuated in our society and how to recognize ableism. She explains the effects that ableism has on the mental and physical health of disabled peoples to promote disabled rights and health.

Sophia discusses the wealth gap in different countries and its effect on treatments and quality of care for the disabled. She also highlights disparities disabled people face and advocates for equality