Dr. Uché Blackstock
Founder and CEO of Advancing Health Equity, emergency physician, and bestselling author of Legacy: A Black Physician Reckons with Racism in Medicine
Dr. Mona Hanna
Physician, scientist and activist who exposed the Flint water crisis
Photo Credit: Brittany Greeson
Dr. Mona Hanna is the crusading pediatrician who first researched and revealed the lead in the blood of Flint, Michigan's children. Named one of Time magazine’s “100 Most Influential People in the World" and USA Today's "Women of the Century," she continues to work to mitigate the impact of the water crisis on Flint’s children. She is reimaging how society can come together to eliminate infant poverty with a first-in-the-nation program, Rx Kids. In her powerful book, What the Eyes Don’t See, and her personal and inspiring speeches, she motivates audiences to speak out against injustice.
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About Mona Hanna
Dr. Mona Hanna (commonly known as Dr. Mona and formerly known as Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha) is the Associate Dean for Public Health and C. S. Mott Endowed Professor of Public Health at Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, and founding director of the Pediatric Public Health Initiative, an innovative public health program of MSU and Hurley Children’s Hospital in Flint, Michigan
A pediatrician, scientist, activist, and author, Dr. Hanna was named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World and recognized as one of USA Today’s Women of the Century for her role in uncovering the Flint water crisis and leading recovery efforts. She has testified multiple times before the United States Congress, lectures at dozens of colleges and universities, and frequently contributes to national media outlets championing the cause of children in Flint and beyond. She is reimaging how society can come together to eliminate infant poverty with a first-in-the-nation program, Rx Kids.
An accomplished academic and an inspiring change-maker, Dr. Hanna is a tenured professor and author of the widely acclaimed and New York Times 100 most notable book, What the Eyes Don’t See: A Story of Crisis, Resistance, and Hope in an American City
Dr. Hanna serves on several advisories/boards to advance the causes of health equity and social justice including the Flint Child Health and Development Fund (flintkids.org), Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS) and Abraham Lincoln Brigades Archives (ALBA). <
With concentrations in environmental health and health policy, Dr. Hanna received her bachelor’s degree and Master of Public Health degree from University of Michigan. She completed her medical degree from Michigan State University College of Human Medicine and her residency and chief residency at Children’s Hospital of Michigan in Detroit. She is the recipient of several honorary degrees, most recently from the American University of Beirut.
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Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha -
Speaking Topics
What the Eyes Don’t See: Stories from the Frontlines of the Flint Water Crisis
In this powerful talk, Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha delivers a personal account of her research and activism to expose and mitigate the effects of the Flint water crisis. Her dramatic story, from how she used science to prove that Flint children were affected by lead to the brutal backlash she faced after courageously going public with her findings, inspires audiences to safeguard their own communities by speaking truth to power.
RxKids: Reimagining How Society Supports Families
What if reducing the adversity created by childhood poverty was simpler than we think? Rx Kids seeks to do just that. Created by Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha and Luke Shaefer, this cash program taps into science-based, community-driven solutions that improve maternal and infant health, provide greater health equity, and boost both early cognitive development and later academic performance (among many other benefits). The effects of this early intervention are felt through childhood and beyond. In this riveting discussion, Dr. Mona sheds light on how to make the seemingly impossible task of fighting childhood poverty possible, allowing children lifelong opportunities for success.
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Praise for Mona Hanna
Dr. Mona inspired us. We were challenged to be better advocates for our patients and our communities, and our community and our doctors and medical students are stronger for having listened to the story Dr. Mona told. Ignorance, science denial, and subversion of democracy are real and persistent threats as malignant as corporations that profit from them and Dr. Mona is a brilliant voice in these otherwise troubling times, speaking truth to power, and inspiring us to be our better selves.”
— Indiana University School of MedicineOur readers absolutely loved Dr. Mona and were appreciative of her insights. She’s so energetic and engaging and committed and brilliant and everyone sort of catches ‘the fever’ to do something after hearing her. Dr. Mona’s time with us was magical.
— One Maryland One BookDr. Mona was truly magnificent. Faculty, staff, and students have been thanking the common reading committee profusely for selecting What the Eyes Don’t See as this year’s common reading, and for bringing Dr. Mona to our campus. If other universities are considering bringing Dr. Mona to their campus, I would encourage them to invite her, in a heartbeat.
— Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green State UniversityDr. Mona was brilliant this morning. I’ve done this event for 22 years and have heard 22 keynote addresses. Dr. Mona was one of the two best keynote speakers we have ever had. I was in tears more than once during her remarks, as were many people in the room. I talked to so many people as they were leaving and they want her to run for President! That was such an incredible, moving, smart and inspiring keynote address. It’s so easy to lose hope right now. I think she restored the hope and energy of a lot of people this morning. You can’t ask for more than that.
— Citizens’ Committee for Children of New York, Gregory Klemens, Associate Executive Director for Development, Marketing & New MediaPraise for What The Eyes Don’t See
Intimate and subjective…Hanna-Attisha’s quest is full of drama and suspense…She’s a breezy, charismatic raconteur prone to feisty character descriptions…a clarion call to live a life of purpose.
— The Washington PostAmid the crisis that unfolded after the water switch, heroes emerged. What the Eyes Don't See is a thoughtful, at times blistering meditation…weaving her own family story through the book…Hanna-Attisha sheds new light.
— Chicago TribuneIn her gripping memoir…She is disarmingly modest about her role…Hanna-Attisha is a chatty and entertaining narrator…Her book has power precisely because she takes the events she recounts so personally…A great virtue of her book is the moral outrage present on every page.
— The New York Times Book ReviewPersonal and emotional, she vividly describes the effects of lead-poisoning on her young patients…She is at her best when recounting the detective work she undertook after a tip-off about lead levels from a friend…‛Flint will not be defined by crisis,’ vows Ms. Hanna-Attisha.
— The EconomistThe Iraqi American pediatrician who helped expose the Flint water crisis lays bare the bureaucratic bunk and flat-out injustice at the heart of the environmental disgrace—revealing, with the gripping intrigue of a Grisham thriller, ‘the story of a government poisoning its own citizens, and then lying about it.’
— O: The Oprah MagazineFlint is a public health disaster. But it was Dr. Mona, this caring, tough pediatrician turned detective, who cracked the case.
— Rachel MaddowA stirring and personal account . . . For all her doggedness, Hanna-Attisha is a goofy, appealing, very human narrator. . . . Hers is the book I’d recommend to those coming to the issue for the first time; the crisis becomes personalized through the stories of her patients and their parents.
— Parul Sehgal, The New York TimesMona Hanna-Attisha’s account of that urban man-made disaster reads both as a detective story and as an exposé of government corruption. . . . Her book’s message is that we each have the power to fix things, to make the world safer by opening one another’s eyes to problems. Her book reinforced my belief that the first step to becoming a citizen activist is seeing the world as it should be, not as it is given to you.
— The Seattle TimesEssential for all readers who care about children, health, and the environment. This should be required reading for public servants as an incisive cautionary tale, and for pediatricians and youth advocates as a story of heroism in the ranks of people who have the capacity to make a difference.
— Library Journal (starred review)She is an unlikely hero—a pediatrician who went up against the forces responsible for poisoning an American city, my hometown of Flint, Michigan. Yet because of her gentle but unrelenting perseverance, she brought the world’s attention to this crime. A story of race, greed, and a crumbling democracy, What the Eyes Don’t See is a brilliantly written book—may it help save every Flint in this country.
— Michael Moore[A] powerful firsthand account . . . Hanna-Attisha’s empathy for her patients and the people of Flint comes through, as do her pride in her Iraqi roots and her persistent optimism. . . . An inspiring work.
— Publisher's WeeklyTold with passion and intelligence, What the Eyes Don’t See is an essential text for understanding the full scope of injustice in Flint and the importance of fighting for what’s right.
— Booklist (Starred Review)Beautifully written, What the Eyes Don’t See captures all that is wrong and right in America at this moment. This child of Iraqi immigrants is a true American hero, who told truth to power and galvanized a nation. Everyone who cares about the past and the future of the United States has to read her amazing, heartwarming, and inspiring story.
— Gerard Markowitz, co-author of Lead Wars -
Books by Mona Hanna
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Media About Mona Hanna
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Featured Title
What the Eyes Don't See
“It’s one thing to point out a problem. It is another thing altogether to step up and work to fix it. Mona Hanna-Attisha is a true American hero.”—Erin Brockovich
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