8:00 a.m.

Welcome

8:15 – 9:00 a.m.

Setting the Stage: Misinformation: how did we get here and how can we escape?

Speaker:  Tom Huddle, MD, PhD, Professor of Medicine, UAB

9:05 – 9:45 a.m.

Philosophical Aspects: Aquinas on our Duties to our Community

Speaker: Emily McCarty, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Classics and Philosophy, Samford University.

9:45 – 9:55 a.m.

Break

10:00 – 10:45 a.m.

Health Care Aspects: Vaccine Skepticism & Hesitancy: Definitions, Experience, Management

Speaker: Adam Cifu, MD, Professor of Medicine, University of Chicago School of Medicine. Co-Editor, Sensible Medicine Substack.

10:50 – 11:50 a.m.

Pellegrino Award/KEYNOTE: Reflections on Trust in Medicine and the Clinician’s Response to Vaccine Hesitancy

Awardee: Douglas Diekema, MD, MPH, Professor, Division of Bioethics and Palliative Care, Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine. Co-Director of Education, Treuman Katz Center for Pediatric Bioethics and Palliative Care, Chair, Institutional Review Board Committee Seattle Children’s

12:00 a.m. – 12:45 p.m.

Lunch Break

12:45 – 1:30 p.m.

Historical/Legal Aspects: TBD

Speaker: David Smolin, JD, Harwell G. Davis Professor of Constitutional Law and Director, Center for Children, Law and Ethics, Cumberland School of Law, Samford University.

1:30 – 2:15 p.m.

Health Care Aspects: Childhood Immunizations: A Healthy Approach to Advocating for the Common Good

Speaker: Scott James, MD, Associate Professor, Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Director, Pediatric Infectious Diseases Fellowship Program, UAB Pediatrics.

2:15 – 2:30 p.m.

Break

2:30 – 3:15 p.m.

Community Health Aspects: Restoring Trust Through Community Health: The Role of Pharmacists in Vaccine Confidence and Access

Speakers: Jennifer Campbell, PharmD and Pauline Long, PharmD, Co-owners of MedsPLUS Consulting, LLC, Birmingham, AL.

3:15 –3:45 p.m.

Panel Discussion:  Where do we go from here?

All available speakers

3:45 – 4:00 p.m.

Wrap-up and evaluation

Adam Cifu, MD

Dr. Cifu is a professor of medicine and general internist at the University of Chicago. He received his medical degree from Cornell University Medical College in 1993 and completed his residency at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston before joining the University of Chicago faculty in 1997.

He practices in both inpatient and outpatient settings and works as an educator and researcher. He is the author of more than 140 peer-reviewed publications, the co-author of the textbook Symptom to Diagnosis: An Evidence-Based Guide and the author of the lay audience book Ending Medical Reversal. Since 2022, he has written for Sensible Medicine, a shared Substack website.

His honors include the Department of Medicine Award for Clinical Teaching, the Department of Medicine Award for Preclinical Teaching, the Distinguished Educator/Mentor Award from the Biological Sciences Division and the University’s Academic Communicators Network Excellence Award. He is a master in the Academy of Distinguished Medical Educators at the University of Chicago. He was selected as a favorite faculty member by the graduating class of the Pritzker School of Medicine 17 times.

Douglas Diekema, MD

Dr. Douglas S. Diekema is a professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington School of Medicine with adjunct appointments in the Department of Bioethics and Humanities in the School of Medicine and in the School of Public Health. He founded the Treuman Katz Center for Pediatric Bioethics at Seattle Children’s Research Institute in 2004 and currently serves as its director of education. The center received the Cornerstone Award from the American Society of Bioethics and Humanities in 2024.

He is a past chair of the Committee on Bioethics of the American Academy of Pediatrics, a past chair of the Secretary’s Advisory Committee for Human Subjects Protections (SACHRP) in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and a former board member of the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities. He is currently a member of the FDA’s Pediatric Advisory Committee.

Dr. Diekema is the author of numerous scholarly publications in medical ethics and pediatric emergency medicine and an editor of Clinical Ethics in Pediatrics: A Case-based Textbook. He is an elected fellow of the Hastings Center and was honored by the American Academy of Pediatrics as the 2014 recipient of the William G. Bartholome Award for Ethical Excellence.

Thomas S. Huddle, MD

Thomas S. Huddle is a professor of medicine emeritus in the Division of General Internal Medicine and Population Science at the Heersink School of Medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Dr. Huddle earned his medical degree and a doctorate in the history of medicine from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, then completed internal medicine training at the University of Wisconsin Hospitals and postdoctoral historical work as a Robert Wood Johnson fellow at the University of Pennsylvania.

He taught medical students and residents during his career as a clinician educator at UAB and directed the medical school’s first-year Patient, Doctor and Society course. In his writing, he seeks to connect the world of professional work with issues related to medical professionalism, clinical ethics, medical education and the relationship between medicine and society.

Scott H. James, MD

Scott H. James, MD, is an associate professor of pediatrics in the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He serves as the UAB Pediatric Infectious Diseases Fellowship Program director and is the principal investigator of an NIH-funded research laboratory focused on antiviral screening and drug development. He is also active in multicenter clinical research trials related to congenital and perinatal infections.

Nationally, Dr. James serves on the Council of Pediatric Subspecialties, is a member of the steering committee of the Subspecialty Pediatrics Investigators Network and chairs the Workforce Development Committee of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society. He has been elected to membership in the Society for Pediatric Research, Alpha Omega Alpha and the Arnold P. Gold Humanism Honor Society.

He and his wife, Jaime, have four children and live in Birmingham, Alabama.

Pauline Long, PharmD, and Jennifer Campbell, PharmD

Pauline Long, PharmD, and Jennifer Campbell, PharmD, are community health pharmacists and co-founders of MedsPLUS Consulting Pharmacy & Wellness Center in Birmingham, Alabama. Both are graduates of Samford University’s McWhorter School of Pharmacy. Together, they lead a practice dedicated to advancing preventive care, strengthening vaccine confidence and improving chronic disease outcomes through innovative pharmacist-led services and community partnerships.

Their mission is to engage, educate and empower patients so they can make confident, informed decisions about their health. Through their work at MedsPLUS, they integrate clinical expertise, ethical responsibility and deep community partnership to reduce disparities and strengthen trust in vaccines and preventive care.

Emily McCarty, PhD

Emily McCarty, PhD, is an assistant professor of philosophy at Samford University. Her interests lie at the intersection of metaphysics, ethics and philosophy of religion. Her research focuses on the Problem of Evil and questions about the nature of God. She is also interested in applying the philosophy of medieval thinker Thomas Aquinas to modern concerns.

Accreditation Statement

This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of Brookwood Baptist Health and the Samford University College of Health Sciences Office for Faith and Health. Brookwood Baptist Health is accredited by the Medical Association of the State of Alabama to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

Designation Statement

Brookwood Baptist Health designates this live activity for a maximum of 6.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Pharmacy

Samford University’s McWhorter School of Pharmacy is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education as a provider of continuing pharmacy education.

This is an ACPE knowledge-based program appropriate for pharmacists.
UAN: 0002-9999-25-060-L99-P

This program provides 6 contact hours if all sessions are attended. No partial credit can be given. Credit will be awarded based on attendance and participation and will be uploaded to ACPE through CPE Monitor within 60 days of attendance; NABP e-Profile ID and date of birth (MMDD) are required.

Social Work

Samford University’s Master of Social Work program is accredited
by the Council on Social Work Education and approved by the
Alabama Board of Social Work Examiners as a provider of CEUs for
those holding an Alabama LMSW or LICSW. Social Work faculty
are among the presenters and all content is relevant for the social
work profession. This program provides 6.0 CEU hours. We are not
able to provide partial credit