Events

Hurricane Preparedness: A Clinician and Community Approach

September 11, 2025

Virtual

As hurricane season intensifies across the Gulf South, clinicians play a vital role in helping patients, health institutions, and entire communities prepare. This webinar will explore why preparedness matters, the health impacts of hurricanes, and concrete steps clinicians can take to strengthen resilience.

Together with partners from Florida Clinicians for Climate Action, Mississippi Health Professionals for Climate and Health Equity, Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments, and Carolina Advocates for Climate, Health, and Equity, we’ll highlight the Gulf States Hurricane Preparedness Project and share resources to support readiness at multiple levels—from individual patients to community-wide initiatives.

REGISTER HERE

Speakers

Cheryl L. Holder, MD, FACP

Cheryl Holder, MD, FACP, is a physician, educator, and climate-health advocate dedicated to improving the health of underserved communities. A graduate of Princeton University and George Washington University School of Medicine, she is a National Health Service Corps Scholar, Internist, and HIV Specialist. She served as Medical Director of one of Miami’s largest community health centers and contributed to national health policy through advisory roles with the NIH and CDC.

In 2009, Dr. Holder joined Florida International University’s Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine as a founding associate professor, pioneering education on the social determinants of health, diversity, and the climate crisis’s impact on public health. From 2020 until her retirement in December 2023, she served as Associate Dean of Diversity, Equity, Inclusivity, and Community Initiatives. She has since returned as a Professor of Medical Education to further her mission-driven work.

Dr. Holder co-founded Florida Clinicians for Climate Action in 2018 and now serves as its executive director. She is also the co-chair of the Miami-Dade Heat Health Task Force and a member of the National Academy of Medicine’s Climate Collaborative. Her TED Talk, “The Link Between Climate Change, Health, and Poverty,” has reached over 300,000 viewers, amplifying the urgent call for action at the intersection of climate and public health.

Gerri Cannon-Smith, MD, MPH, FAAP

Gerri A. Cannon-Smith, MD, MPH, FAAP has years of experience as a Clinician/Public health practitioner, administrator, PH/Disparity scholar, and Public health faculty. Her Medical degree from the University of Mississippi Medical School followed the completion of undergraduate studies at Howard University. Pediatric training was completed at Howard University Hospital and Loma Linda University Children’s Medical Center. She received a Master of Public Health degree at the University of California, Berkeley, and is certified in Public Health.  Caring for underserved populations as a general pediatrician in rural, suburban, and urban communities in Mississippi, Tennessee, California, and Ohio has shaped her practice and research interests. Keenly aware of the impact of social determinants of health, access inequities, and environmental influences, her career has focused on health equity, specifically, as it relates to pediatric health disparities, chronic pediatric conditions (asthma and obesity), and precursors of chronic conditions.

As Pediatric Consultant/owner of Innovative Health Strategies, (previously with MS State Department of Health) she is engaged in community participatory research focused on health/health literacy/health equity promotion, is founding chair of MS Health Professionals for Climate and Health Equity(MSHPCHE), 2022 CHEF alumnus, MS-AAP Climate Advocate ,and is participating in Harvard-CHEEA CHOF fellowship. Professionals and civic involvement includes regional/national Advisory boards and service as local branch NAACP Health  & Environmental & Climate Justice Committee Chair. As a pediatrician, her mantra of “Every child should reach her/his optimal potential” has been demonstrated by a commitment to preventive strategies, promotion of health equity, and striving to live out a personal mandate to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly.

Ginger Clough, MPH, BSN

Ginger Clough, MPH, BSN, is a career public health nurse in NC. She has worked in health promotions, clinical services, and home visitation programs and currently is a nurse consultant with the NC Division of Public Health. Ginger received her BSN and MPH from UNC-Chapel Hill.Ginger is a founding member of the Western NC Climate and Health Workgroup and the public health non-profit, Resources for Resilience. She has led and served on numerous community, state and national committees and collaboratives. She has worked to integrate local climate and health vulnerabilities into nursing home visitation programming and in community health assessments. Ginger’s community-based work is rooted deep belief in the power of collaboratives to achieve collective impact and to address cross-sector issues to eliminate root causes of inequities.  Ginger has a deep love of nature, reading, potlucks, and gardening and lives with her family  along Bee Tree Creek in Swannanoa, North Carolin

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