UH Surgeon Edward M. Barksdale, Jr., MD, Invited by U.S. President Joe Biden to White House Event

CLEVELAND, Ohio – United States President Joseph R. Biden has extended an invitation to Edward Barksdale, MD, Surgeon-in-Chief at UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital, to join him in celebrating the passage of The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, legislation intended to curb gun violence that includes several provisions related to mental health services.

Dr. Barksdale, who is the Robert J. Izant, Jr., MD, Chair in Pediatric Surgery, has been an inspirational leader and champion for racial equity and health care. Throughout an illustrious career, he has advocated against structural violence, which he characterizes as being at the root of health care problems in Northeast Ohio. He points to far-reaching consequences of structural violence including, for example, the way that dangerous neighborhoods contribute to obesity in women because it is not safe for them to walk.

With UH Rainbow, Dr. Barksdale has been instrumental in the advancement of programs that address violence and health disparities. He is actively engaged in the Antifragility Initiative, a holistic, person-centered, pediatric hospital-based Violence Intervention Program serving youths and families in greater Cleveland. The program equips and empowers children, adolescents and families with healing, restoration and growth following an incident of violent injury. The Antifragility Initiative is centered on the premise that children and families who have experienced major trauma due to violence benefit greatly from coordinated support as they begin to heal and reorder their lives.