This lecture will describe a novel intervention called "Hip Hop Stroke" that targets inner city children as mediators in the chain of stroke recovery. Even within economically disadvantaged under-resourced communities, there are simple steps that can be taken to improve personal health, but often too many lack the basic knowledge, skills, and motivation to take these steps. The intervention bridges the world of music and entertainment with NIH-funded research that spans two funding cycles: intervention development and effectiveness studies followed by implementation science in a state-wide dissemination and implementation trial.

Dr. Olajide Williams is Chief of Staff/Chief Medical Officer of the Department of Neurology at Columbia University, and Director of Acute Stroke Services at New York Presbyterian’s Comprehensive Stroke Center, Columbia University campus. His research is focused on community-based behavioral interventions with an emphasis on stroke disparities. He is an NIH-funded researcher and a international leading stroke expert and community health education innovator.

He has received numerous local, regional and national honors for his public health work, his scholarly activities, and his patient care, including a Congressional Citation and a New York State Proclamation, a Columbia University Distinguished Teacher Award, a National Humanism in Medicine recognition from the Association of American Medical Colleges, and New York Magazine's Best Doctors List in 2015 and 2016. Dr. Williams has been named on Fast Company Magazine’s 100 Most Creative People list and the Root 100’s most influential Blacks in America list. He is a member of the board of directors of the Partnership for a Healthier America, a bipartisan organization whose honorary chair is First Lady Michelle Obama.

This talk is part of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Brain Insight Lecture series, offered free to the public to enhance understanding of the biology of the mind and the complexity of human behavior. The lectures are hosted by Columbia’s Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute and supported by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation.