First Annual New York Asylum Network Luncheon on March 9 at Weill Cornell Medical College Will Expand Collaboration Across New York Human Rights Community
NEW YORK (March 6, 2013) — Approximately 400,000 foreign-born survivors of persecution and torture live in the United States, struggling to receive asylum. Addressing the complex challenges faced by these asylum seekers requires collaboration and resource-sharing across the human rights community. With that goal in mind, the Weill Cornell Center for Human Rights (WCCHR) will host the first annual New York Asylum Network Luncheon from 12:00 to 3:00 p.m. Saturday, March 9 at Weill Cornell Medical College's Weill Greenberg Center, 1305 York Ave. This innovative forum will bring together activists, professionals and students to develop vital solutions to the common challenges faced by persons seeking asylum in the U.S.
Weill Cornell Center for Human Rights, the host of the inaugural networking event, is a medical student-run human rights clinic supported by a team of volunteer physicians. WCCHR is dedicated to providing forensic evaluations and medical affidavits to survivors of persecution or torture seeking asylum in the U.S., committed to serving asylum seekers and educating the medical community and the general public about the asylum process. Founded in 2010 in partnership with Physician for Human Rights, WCCHR is the first student-run asylum clinic at a U.S. medical school and heralded as the model for future asylum evaluation programs.
This forum will include a panel discussion featuring experts in the field of asylum, including representatives from Weill Cornell Center for Human Rights, Physicians for Human Rights, the NYU/Bellevue Program for Survivors of Torture, Brooklyn Law School's Safe Harbor Project, HealthRight International, The Libertas Center for Human Rights and the Bronx Human Rights Clinic.
Experts speaking at the New York Asylum Network Luncheon include:
Introductory Welcome: Ellie Emery, executive director of WCCHR and medical student in Weill Cornell's Class of 2014
Keynote Speaker: Judge Jack H. Weil, assistant chief immigration judge
Expert Panel:
- Jillian Tuck, Physicians for Human Rights
- Dr. Allen Keller, NYU/Bellevue Program for Survivors of Torture
- Lisa Matos, HealthRight International
- Dr. Eva Metalios, Bronx Human Rights Clinic
- Dan Smulian, Safe Harbor Project, Brooklyn Law School
- Dr. Dinali Fernando, Libertas Center for Human Rights
- Aaron Morris, Immigration Equality
- An asylee
For more information about the New York Asylum Network Luncheon or the Weill Cornell Center for Human Rights, please visit www.wcchr.com or e-mail wcchr@med.cornell.edu. To RSVP, please contact WCCHR's Emily Grodinsky at 708-825-6567 or erg2010@med.cornell.edu.
Weill Cornell Medical College
Weill Cornell Medical College, Cornell University's medical school located in New York City, is committed to excellence in research, teaching, patient care and the advancement of the art and science of medicine, locally, nationally and globally. Physicians and scientists of Weill Cornell Medical College are engaged in cutting-edge research from bench to bedside, aimed at unlocking mysteries of the human body in health and sickness and toward developing new treatments and prevention strategies. In its commitment to global health and education, Weill Cornell has a strong presence in places such as Qatar, Tanzania, Haiti, Brazil, Austria and Turkey. Through the historic Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar, Cornell University is the first in the U.S. to offer a M.D. degree overseas. Weill Cornell is the birthplace of many medical advances — including the development of the Pap test for cervical cancer, the synthesis of penicillin, the first successful embryo-biopsy pregnancy and birth in the U.S., the first clinical trial of gene therapy for Parkinson's disease, and most recently, the world's first successful use of deep brain stimulation to treat a minimally conscious brain-injured patient. Weill Cornell Medical College is affiliated with NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, where its faculty provides comprehensive patient care at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. The Medical College is also affiliated with the Methodist Hospital in Houston. For more information, visit weill.cornell.edu.