Join us at the virtual 2022 People’s Adolescent Health Symposium where healthcare providers, adolescents and young adults (AYA), and adolescent health experts, will present on topics such as: social media and youth, neuro-diversity, healthy relationships, and what AYA can do to take charge of their health as they transition into adulthood. Guests are welcome to attend some or all of the sessions – whatever your schedule allows.

Visit International Adolescent Health Week to learn more about the global campaign to promote adolescent health and wellness.

The AAFP has reviewed Adolescent Health Symposium and deemed it acceptable for up to 5.00 Live AAFP Prescribed credits. Term of Approval is from 03/23/2022 to 03/24/2022. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

For those seeking continuing education, please complete the survey and attendance verification for the 2022 Adolescent Health Symposium no later than April 14, 2022.

Please contact Ann Marie Wilke with questions: annmarie.wilke@austinpcc.org

Presenters

Dr. Neavel graduated from UT Austin with High Honors in Plan II Honors Liberal Arts and Baylor College of Medicine. She completed Family Medicine residency and fellowship training in Adolescent Medicine and Developmental Disorders at University of Cincinnati. After moving to Austin, Texas, Dr. Neavel founded, and currently serves as Director of the Center for Adolescent Health and GOALS (a youth behavioral/developmental health program) at People’s Community Clinic, an FQHC. She supervises an interdisciplinary team, as well a school-based health center in Manor ISD and the SAFE Children’s Shelter health care. Clinically, Dr. Neavel focuses on primary holistic care for often challenging, at risk youth. Areas of interest and experience include integrated behavioral health, reproductive health, youth engagement, and preventive and wellness care.

Craig Watkins is the Ernest A. Sharpe Centennial Professor at the University of Texas at Austin and the Founding Director of the Institute for Media Innovation​. His research focuses on the impacts of media and data-based systems on human behavior. Watkins is the author of six books and several articles and book chapters examining the intersections between race, technology, and society. This work has been supported by the MacArthur Foundation.

Currently, Watkins is leading a team that will address the issue of artificial intelligence and systemic racism in a new six-year program funded by the Office of Vice President for Research at the University of Texas at Austin. The team will focus on the broad and fundamental scientific challenge of achieving racially equitable AI, while being grounded in testing the applicability of specific methods, models, processes, and procedures in critical domains like health and transportation. A key component of the research is to examine how various stakeholders—developers of technologies, the private and public sectors, and citizens—can work to create a more equitable AI future.  Watkins is also engaging these issues as a Visiting Professor at MIT in the Institute for Data, Systems, and Society.

Rachel Muralitharan is a Youth Advisory Committee volunteer at People’s Community Clinic. Rachel is studying Biology at the University of Texas at Austin and serves as an assistant editor for the Texas Undergraduate Research Journal. Previously, Rachel worked at Resilience Inc. creating audio exercises educating K-12 students on social-emotional learning. Rachel is passionate about providing more mental health resources to students and hopes to be a physician in the future.

Christina Kelly is one of People’s Community Clinic’s (PCC) Youth Engagement Assistants and works closely with the Youth Advisory Council (YAC) to discuss and improve adolescent health. She is currently a senior at UT Austin where she studies Plan II Honors and Biology. She will be attending the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB) in July as a part of the School of Medicine Class of 2026.

Hi everyone! My name is Danial, and I am junior studying public health at UT Austin. I will be applying to medical school this summer! I love to read, ride my bike, and drink coffee with friends 🙂

Sasha Jaquez, PhD, is a licensed pediatric psychologist in UT Health Austin Pediatric Psychiatry at Dell Children’s, a clinical partnership between Dell Children’s Medical Center and UT Health Austin. She specializes in providing cognitive-behavioral therapy to children and adolescents with complex medical illnesses and sleep disorders. Additionally, Dr. Jaquez is an assistant professor for the Dell Medical School Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and a clinical assistant professor for The University of Texas at Austin Department of Educational Psychology.

Dr. Jaquez earned both her doctorate and master’s in psychology, with a specialty focus in pediatric clinical psychology, from Oklahoma State University. She earned her bachelor’s in psychology with a double minor in Spanish and counseling and education psychology from New Mexico State University. She completed a residency in clinical psychology at Children’s of Alabama and a fellowship in pediatric psychology at The University of Texas at Austin. Following fellowship, she moved to Akron, Ohio where she received specialized pediatric behavioral sleep medicine training and established a behavioral sleep medicine clinic at Akron Children’s Hospital.

Dr. Jaquez currently sees patients in three embedded medical clinics (allergy/immunology, dermatology, hematology/oncology) where she provides care to children and adolescents presenting with comorbid medical and behavioral health concerns, including acceptance of medical diagnoses. She is a founding member of the American Psychological Association Division 54 Professional Wellness Special Interest Group (SIG) and has national leadership as the Co-Chair of the SIG and Co-Chair of the Professional Wellness Task Force.

Dr. Jaquez is a pediatric psychologist with UT Health Austin.

Rohan is a 3rd year Biomedical Engineering major at UT Austin. Upon graduation, he plans to attend medical school. Rohan is interested in holistic and preventative medicine, combatting lifestyle disease, mental health, exercise science, and plant-based nutrition. Rohan volunteers at PCC with the outreach committee within the Youth Advisory Council, and also works as a media and video editing volunteer lead with People’s Kids from Home.

Bethany Luis, MPH, CHES is the Director of School District Health Initiatives at Healthy Futures of Texas, a non-profit agency in San Antonio, TX. Bethany oversees the dissemination and marketing of the Big Decisions curriculum, an abstinence-plus sexual health education program, to school districts across the state. In addition, she is also overseeing the launch of a 3-year project working with community-partners and faith-based organizations within Bexar County on providing “bri.a – Brillante Amor”, a program aimed at 14-19 year olds to aid them in strengthening healthy relationships, conflict management and communication techniques, strengthening their trusted adult connections, and providing clinical linkages. In addition to her work at Healthy Futures, Bethany has experience working within the Child Welfare System in Bexar County with Community Engagement efforts amongst agencies supporting youth impacted by the foster care system. She believes strongly in youth voice, strengthening trusting adult connections and that all youth should have access to quality healthcare and education.

Arlen is a 2021 graduate of The University of Texas at Austin, where she majored in Psychology. During her time at UT, Arlen became involved with UT’s chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), an organization that aims to eliminate the stigma against mental illness, spread awareness about mental health, and serve both the campus and greater Austin community. Arlen is grateful that NAMI led her to find People’s Community Clinic, where she is now a member of the Youth Advisory Council. Arlen participated in the 2021 International Adolescent Health Week in the presentation about reproductive health and is excited to participate again this year, supporting the presentation about neurodiversity among adolescents. After graduation, Arlen began working with Caritas of Austin, where she is a case manager for Austin’s refugee population. In the future, Arlen wants to apply to a Counseling Psychology doctoral program and plans on focusing on immigrant youth and their sense of belonging. Arlen loves music, dancing, video games, and her dog Lizzy!

Dr. Brumback is a pediatric neurologist and Assistant Professor at Dell Medical School at The University of Texas at Austin. Her professional interests are focused on helping people with autism and related neurodevelopmental conditions thrive. Clinically, Dr. Brumback diagnoses and cares for people of all ages with developmental brain conditions with a special focus on autism. Her research program is aimed at understanding how genetic and epigenetic changes associated with autism change the physiology of brain circuits.

Liz Kufour is the Southern Program Coordinator for Young Invincibles. Liz assumes this role after starting with Texas’ inaugural cohort of the Young Advocates program, serving on the Youth Advisory Board, and working as a “super advocate” for a year.

As the Southern Program Coordinator, Liz plays a critical role in engaging young adults to have a voice in our four policy areas. Programmatically, this includes coordinating health insurance literacy trainings around the state and supporting our young adult engagement programs. She will also be supporting our youth-led local actions – from town hall events to conferences – designed to build a stronger young adult base for our campaigns.

As Liz expands her understanding of the intricacies of healthcare and higher education, she continues to engage young voices and youth power in order to effect lasting and sustainable change for young adults within Texas.

Omayma Chahbouni is a Moroccan Muslim Female studying as a 2nd year in the University of Texas at Austin as a B.S. Biology major. She was born in Manhattan, New York but was raised the majority of her life in the heart of Dallas, Texas. After her own experiences through volunteering, joining various programs, and researching, she grew interested in wanting to grow her leadership development skills and to be actively involved with her community.

Currently, some of her biggest research interests are nutrition and how artificial ingredients affect the human body through time, generating better healthcare opportunities for people of lower income and minorities, and general research of various biology and ecological fields to study the effects of nature and how it can be connected to the developments of viruses and many other diseases. Omayma was selected to be a Young Advocates through the YI’s YAP program in August 2021.

As a Young Advocate, she hopes to learn and develop new knowledge of the different topics for advocacy in the general healthcare field which to her was vital to understand because it is a part of the medical path she looks to be involved in as she follows her Pre-Med track. In all, she continues to search for more opportunities of involvement and ways to grow as a leader and strong advocate.

Anjana Ganesh is a sophomore neuroscience major at UT Austin. She is also a part of the Youth Advisory Council at People’s Community Clinic where she works to improve adolescent health. Anjana is an aspiring physician with an interest in the medical humanities and art-based healing.

Darriana Donegan is a Black mother, cultural worker, and healer. She studied Psychology at Drake University. She has worked in Youth Development for almost a decade, with youth ranging from 5 years to 25 years old. Darriana is a fellow of The Juilliard School’s Artist Striving to End Poverty, African American Leadership Institute of Austin and was a finalist of Grinnell College’s Innovator for Social Justice Prize in 2021. Darriana is passionate about intersecting her education with her love for social justice, art, and young people to help create a future that is equitable.

Aoife Hopkins is a student and Healing Justice Youth Organizer at Youth Rise Texas. Aoife joined YRTX as a youth participant in 2020, and later joined staff in 2021 to dedicate her time to supporting and empowering youth who have endured trauma from criminalization and parental removal.

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