Ohio State’s College of Medicine has canceled its 2025 Global Health Symposium, which included a planned keynote speech about healthcare in Gaza. Credit: Mackenzie Shanklin | Lantern File Photo
Ohio State’s College of Medicine has canceled its 2025 Global Health Symposium, which was scheduled to bring faculty, students and global health professionals together Wednesday and feature a keynote address surrounding health care in Gaza.
The decision was announced in a March 24 email statement from College of Medicine Dean Dr. Carol Bradford, who cited the “scale of activity currently occurring at the university” and the “dynamic nature of the environment” as core reasons for the cancellation.
The cancellation resulted in the disinvitation of keynote speaker Dr. Nick Maynard, a consultant upper gastrointestinal surgeon at Oxford University Hospitals. Notably, Maynard was scheduled to lead a discussion titled “Beyond the Ivory Tower: A Dialogue on Humanitarian Medicine — Gaza: A War on Healthcare.”
Maynard is known for his humanitarian medical work, having traveled to Gaza multiple times between 2010 and 2024, according to The Times. He has also spoken to the media about the destruction of the public health system in Gaza, calling for a ceasefire to end the conflict, according to the BBC.
The Lantern was unable to contact Maynard for comment by the time of publication.
Dr. Nick Maynard and a medical student take a picture in Gaza in May 2023. Credit: Courtesy of Maju Brunette
Maju Brunette, an Ohio State associate professor of global health equity within the College of Medicine, said she feels strong disappointment over the decision.
“It’s appalling, it’s shameful and it’s a slap in the face to students,” Brunette said. “It is shutting down an agenda that is not even political, but is addressing what is happening with health care workers. That’s just appalling.”
Brunette, who delivered the keynote address at the 2024 symposium — titled “On My Journey to Decolonizing and Democratizing Global Health Research and Practice: Making a Case for Ending TB” — said she had planned to participate in this year’s event by introducing Maynard and delivering a brief presentation on humanism in medicine alongside six students and faculty members.
Brunette said the symposium serves as a platform to address pressing global health issues, challenge outdated narratives and push for a more equitable and decolonized approach to global health research and practice.
“Global health isn’t about a deficit model where we view the Global South as ‘poor’ and in need of charity,” Brunette said. “It’s about recognizing interconnectedness and building equitable partnerships.”
Brunette also said the event’s cancellation raises concern about the increased scrutiny of politically sensitive topics in academia.
“I’m a tenured faculty, so I’m not afraid to speak up,” Brunette said, “I won’t let the rigid structures of academia and the powers at play shut us down.”
In addition, Brunette said without events like the symposium, academics and medical practitioners will not be able to take proactive steps toward addressing important global issues.
“Academia should stand for human rights and the basics of humanity, but we are failing,” Brunette said. “We are becoming a group of scholars afraid to challenge power structures.”
In the March 24 email statement, Bradford said the College of Medicine knows the cancellation is “disappointing to the faculty members, staff, and students involved in planning and preparing for the symposium.”
“We will look for opportunities in the future to continue the work of the symposium in other, meaningful ways,” Bradford said.
