On Friday, March 8, the One Health Center celebrated the global International Women’s Day (IWD) with a lively lunch event. Celebrated since 1911, IWD calls attention to the achievements of women and encourages action towards gender equality. It is a time to reflect on the progress made and to call for change. It is a time to commemorate acts of courage and determination by ordinary women who have played an extraordinary role in the history of their countries and communities.

Sara Agnelli from the One Health Center joined members of the Graduate Student Organization (GSO) in the College of Medicine to organize the event. Nora Awadallah, the GSO Community Service Co-Chair, along with Seth Currlin and Kelly DeMars initiated the collaboration. Held on the University of Florida campus, the event was centered on a TED talk by Soraya Chemaly, an award-winning writer and activist. Her talk, “The Power of Women’s Anger”, examines how anger is demonstrated, perceived, and answered across genders. Following the talk, two professors led an open discussion on the topic. Dr. Habibeh Khoshbouei is an Associate Professor in the Department of Neuroscience, and Dr. Ilaria Capua is director of the One Health Center.

The One Health Center plans to continue this tradition yearly, and our objective for International Women’s Day 2020 is to have 220 people in attendance. We also plan to incorporate a similar debate structure throughout the year as a part of our S.H.E. Talks lecture series.

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