![[A flyer with the full schedule for the UNISON Lunch & Learn with Leaders in Public Health webinar series]](https://deptmedicine.arizona.edu/sites/default/files/unison_programa_final_lunch_learn_2025_340x425px.jpg "A flyer with the full schedule for the UNISON Lunch & Learn with Leaders in Public Health webinar series")
The Arizona-Sonora Binational Network for Healthy Communities – a cross border collaborative partnership that includes the Arizona Prevention Research Center at the University of Arizona Mel & Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health – will be hosting a Lunch & Learn with Leaders in Public Health online seminar or webinar series that runs from Feb. 13 to April 4.
The seven webinars are about public health in the U.S.-Mexico border region and strengthening health and wellbeing in the region, according to network organizing committee members Jill Guernsey de Zapien, with the Zuckerman College of Public Health, and Violeta Dominguez, a research scientist with the Norton School of Human Ecology at the University of Arizona, and Brenda Sanchez, MPH, executive director, Southeast Arizona Health Education Center, a unit of the U of A Center for Rural Health.
The webinar series (click images to enlarge flyers) is organized by one of the network partners, the Universidad de Sonora – or UNISON – under the leadership of Gerardo Alvarez, PhD, a faculty member with its Department of Medicine & Health Sciences there.
The series includes discussion of the public health workforce, the importance of research, and several sessions on vector borne diseases in our region. The sessions will be offered in English and Spanish
![[The flyer for the Feb. 13, 9 a.m., UNISON Lunch & Learn with Leaders in Public Health webinar with U of A's Dr. Gabriela Valdez]](https://deptmedicine.arizona.edu/sites/default/files/unison_lunch-n-learn_w_drgabriela_valdez_2.13.25_flyer_720x900px.jpg "The flyer for the Feb. 13, 9 a.m., UNISON Lunch & Learn with Leaders in Public Health webinar with U of A's Dr. Gabriela Valdez")
To register for any or all of the sessions click on the links below or the QR Code in the attached flyer. Individuals who participate in 6 or 7 sessions will receive a certificate of participation from the Departamento de Medicina y Ciencias de la Salud de la Universidad de Sonora
The first session, Feb. 13, features Gabriela Valdez, PhD, from the Zuckerman College of Public Health. Her topic is “The Importance of Public Health Training and Knowledge for Future Physicians.” Dr. Valdez, who has overseen international programs in more than 20 countries, is director of the college’s Global Health Institute as well as its Global Education Program.
Dr. Alvarez will provide the final webinar presentation, April 2 and 3, which will be a summary of lessons from the lecture series. All lectures begin at 9 a.m.
Here is the list of presenters and their topics along with links to register for them in advance.
Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025 – 9 a.m. | “The Importance of Public Health Training Knowledge in Future Physicians”
Gabriela Valdez, PhD
University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
REGISTER HERE
Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025 – 9 a.m. | “The Social and Ecological Dimensions of Vector-Borne Diseases: Implications for Public Health”
Pilar Fernandez, PhD
Washington State University, Pullman, WA
REGISTER HERE
Thursday, March 6, 2025 – 9 a.m. | “De R. rickettsii a Multiomics: la conexión entre Salud Pública, Patología y Medicina de Precisión”
Jesús Delgado, MD
Englander Institute for Precision Medicine, Weill-Cornell Medicine, New York City
REGISTER HERE
Wednesday, March 12, 2025 – 9 a.m. | “Public Health Issues Surrounding Tick-Borne Disease in the U.S. and a Comparison to Mexico”
Marten Edwards, PhD
Muhlenberg College, Allentown, PA
REGISTER HERE
Wednesday, March 26, 2025 – 9 a.m. | “Y yo, ¿para qué quiero hacer investigación?”
Rafael Laniado, MD
Universidad Autonoma de Baja California, Tijuana, Mexico
REGISTER HERE
Thursday, March 27, 2025 – 9 a.m. | “Cats, rats, dogs and bats: 30 years of disease detection at CDC”
Christopher Paddock, MD
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA
REGISTER HERE
Wednesday & Thursday, April 2 & 3, 2025 – 9 a.m. | “Mesa de conclusiones”
Gerardo Alvarez, PhD
Universidad de Sonora, Hermosillo, Mexico
REGISTER HERE
The Arizona-Sonora Binational Network for Healthy Communities – or Red Binacional Arizona-Sonora para Comunidades Saludables – is a collaborative initiative of the University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health; the U of A Center for Rural Health’s Southeast Arizona Health Education Center; the Arizona State University School of Transborder Studies; el Colegio de la Frontera Norte, Unidad Nogales; el Centro de Investigaciones en Alimentación y Desarrollo, C.A; el Universidad de Sonora, Departamento de Medicina y Ciencias de la Salud; and el Colegio de Sonora – with the support of the Consul of Mexico, Nogales, Sonora; Consul of the U.S., Nogales, Sonora. It was created in a signing ceremony that took place Nov. 15, 2024.