A message from Executive Director Sarah Jalbert |
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Dear ICH Community,
It has been nearly one year since ICH lost Dr. Leah Zallman, our beloved Director of Research. The time since her death has been a year of grief mixed with possibility, as we took steps to secure Leah’s research legacy while still grieving her loss in large and small ways. In this special newsletter, we hear from Leah’s mother Marcy Bernbaum on Leah’s personal and professional impact, and the journey to preserving that impact at ICH. We also introduce Dr. Jessica Santos, who will carry Leah’s legacy forward at ICH as Director of the Leah Zallman Center for Immigrant Health Research. Finally, we highlight ICH’s ongoing immigrant health work and announce the first of many new projects that will anchor immigrant health research at ICH.
As ICH’s Executive Director, I am so grateful to the Zallman family, including Marcy and Leah’s husband Nadav Tanners, her dear friend Dr. Amy Smith, former CHA Foundation director Mary Cassesso, and ICH founder Dr. David Bor for their guidance and support as we have navigated this emotional path forward from Leah’s loss. The grace, thoughtfulness, and generosity of spirit that Leah’s loved ones have shown during the worst moments of their lives will never leave me.
Sarah Jalbert, Executive Director
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Note from Marcy Bernbaum, Leah Zallman's mother |
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When I gave birth to Leah Anne Zallman, on December 10, 1979, International Human Rights Day, I wasted no time in calling her our “Human Rights Baby”, a title that, as it turns out, was well merited. Our Human Rights Baby grew to become an intelligent, empathetic, generous, and loving woman who married a wonderful husband, produced two incredible children, and became a physician and researcher committed to human rights and social justice, through her work both as an Internist and as a researcher focused on immigrant health.
On November 3, 2020 Leah was hit and killed by a pick-up truck on her way back from voting, a month before the Institute for Community Health was to announce the establishment of its Center for Immigrant Health Research to be headed by Leah. Her death was a tragedy not only for our family but for her patients and the many colleagues who worked with her.
From tragedy, however, comes hope.
Sarah Jalbert, Executive Director of the Institute for Community Health, and Dr. David Bor, Leah's mentor and Chief Academic Officer at the Cambridge Health Alliance, wasted no time in taking steps to make Leah's dream a reality. Within a few months, and in close collaboration with Leah's family every step of the way, the Leah Zallman Center for Immigrant Health Research was born. A job description for the person to lead the Center was developed and a search to find a person qualified to serve as its inaugural director began.
We are thrilled that as of October 1, Dr. Jessica Santos has assumed this position. When we interviewed Dr. Santos she gave her presentation and answered questions with warmth, enthusiasm and a deep sense of commitment for the mission of the Center - it was almost as though my daughter Leah was speaking. I wasted no time, when the interview was over, sending Sarah a four-word email stating “She is the one!” I KNOW that Leah, wherever she might be, is thrilled!
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ICH welcomes inaugural Director of the Leah Zallman Center, Jessica Santos |
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Employee spotlight interview with Jessica Santos
How would you describe your role at ICH?
My role at ICH is the inaugural Director of the Leah Zallman Center for Immigrant Health Research. I envision this role as multi-faceted, with endless possibility. There is the responsibility to honor and build on Dr. Zallman’s legacy, which I hope to do by linking my own research and network of partners with hers, and charting new territory that unites us intellectually. I’ll be leading and developing research studies, publishing, and working to establish a public presence for the Center. Perhaps most importantly, I plan to dedicate a good amount of time up front in this role to building strong networks and teams, and engaging local and national immigrant scholars and advocates. I’m thinking about it as a 6-month listening opportunity. I expect that this participatory process will result in a collective, emergent strategy for a vibrant Center.
Read the rest of Jessica's interview here.
Read more about Jessica's career at Brandeis here.
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Spotlight on ICH's immigrant health projects |
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New Zallman Center project -
New American Cities Evaluation
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Evaluation of the English for Parents (EFP) Program |
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We are excited to announce our first new project through the Leah Zallman Center for Immigrant Health Research. ICH is partnering with Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS) to evaluate the New American Cities program, designed to provide refugees and immigrants with career planning and economic security supports.
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ICH is the evaluator for the English for Parents (EFP) program. EFP aims to support parents whose children are in the Somerville public school system by providing classes that equip parents with knowledge on navigating the school system along with English language skills.
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ICH will be working with the MA Department of Public Health to gather community input to inform improvements to infectious disease surveillance data collection processes for immigrant populations.
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Qualitative study to explore perceptions of contributing factors to severe COVID-19 |
ICH is working with CHA providers and Harvard Medical School students to conduct interviews with Hispanic and Spanish-speaking patients to better understand contributing factors to disproportionate rates of COVID-19 hospitalizations.
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Reflecting on Hispanic Heritage Month 2021
by Sofia Ladner, Research and Evaluation Project Manager, and Julia Curbera, Research Associate
During Hispanic Heritage Month we celebrate the culture of over 62 million people living in the United States. That is almost 19% of the US population! According to a recent article from NPR that goes into the origins of the month-long celebration, Hispanic Heritage Month began as a week-long event in 1968 under President Johnson, and then in 1988 Reagan extended it to a month from September 15th-October 15th, coinciding with the independence days of many Latin American countries: Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Costa Rica on September 15th, Mexico on September 16th, Chile on September 18th, and Belize on September 21st. According to the same article, after a lot of debate between many terms, ‘Hispanic’ was eventually added to the 1980 Census, with a goal to unify and quantify the members of this American minority group.
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Support the Leah Zallman Center for Immigrant Health Research |
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By supporting the Leah Zallman Center for Immigrant Health Research, you help bring us closer to Leah's vision of using research to advance social justice and health equity for immigrant communities. Please select the Zallman Center in the dropdown menu when making your donation. Thank you very much for supporting our work! |
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A message from ICH Board Chair Paul Geltman |
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As Chair of ICH’s Board, I have shared the sadness, determination, and ultimate triumph of the preservation of Leah’s legacy over these past twelve months. The work that Leah’s family, friends, and colleagues have done on behalf of her memory demonstrate the incredible impact she made on everyone she encountered. I am confident that ICH, together with Dr. Santos, will keep her memory and commitment to health justice alive. |
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About the Institute for Community Health
ICH is a nonprofit consulting organization that provides participatory evaluation, applied research, assessment, planning, and technical assistance. ICH helps community-based organizations, government agencies, foundations, and healthcare institutions improve their services and maximize program impact.
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