Puentes Consortium at Rice to discuss public health in the US-Mexico border region

MEDIA ADVISORY

David Ruth
druth@rice.edu
713-348-6327

Jeff Falk
jfalk@rice.edu
713-348-6775

Puentes Consortium at Rice to discuss public health in the US-Mexico border region

HOUSTON – (Nov. 13, 2013) – A panel of scholars and officials will examine the challenges and successes of public health efforts in the U.S.-Mexico border region as part of the fourth annual Puentes Consortium Symposium being held at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy Nov. 21.

Who:               Peter Hotez, fellow in disease and poverty at the Baker Institute and dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine; Iman Hakim, dean of the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health at the University of Arizona; and Jesus Zacarias Villarreal, secretary of health for the state of Nuevo Leon, Mexico.

What:             Panel on “Responding to Shared Problems: Public Health in the U.S.-Mexico Border Region.”

When:             Thursday, Nov. 21, 5-6:30 p.m.

Where:           Rice University, Baker Hall, Kelly International Conference Facility, 6100 Main St.

The Puentes Consortium comprises five universities from Mexico and the United States and provides a distinctive voice for the binational community of scholars who carry out multidisciplinary research on issues of importance to relations between Mexico and the U.S. and to the well-being of their citizens.

The consortium focuses its resources on a different topic annually and carries out research with an orientation toward public policy. Each year the research culminates in the Puentes Consortium Symposium, where the findings are discussed and deliberated upon by the member institutions and their leadership teams.

Participating universities include Monterrey Tec, the University of Monterrey and the University of the Americas in Puebla, all in Mexico, and the University of Arizona and Rice University in the U.S.

The event is free and open to the public, but registration is required at http://bakerinstitute.org/events/register/1549/?submit=Register.

Members of the news media who want to attend should RSVP to Jeff Falk, associate director of national media relations at Rice, at jfalk@rice.edu or 713-348-6775.

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Founded in 1993, the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University in Houston ranks among the top 20 university-affiliated think tanks globally and top 30 think tanks in the United States. As a premier nonpartisan think tank, the institute conducts research on domestic and foreign policy issues with the goal of bridging the gap between the theory and practice of public policy. The institute’s strong track record of achievement reflects the work of its endowed fellows and Rice University scholars. Learn more about the institute at www.bakerinstitute.org or on the institute’s blog, http://blogs.chron.com/bakerblog.