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Dr. Jay Avasarala, director of UK HealthCare’s Multiple Sclerosis Center within the Kentucky Neuroscience Institute, says enrollment of people of color in pivotal trials for multiple sclerosis (MS) and neuromyelitis spectrum disorder (NMOSD) continues to be dismal.

“Asian Hate and COVID-19: A Year of Two Pandemics,” will take place from noon-1 p.m. Tuesday, April 6, on Zoom. This event will feature a panel of UK faculty, staff and students who will discuss how to support the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities in the midst of the current crisis.

Noted Princeton University scholar and creative nonfiction author Imani Perry will lead the online conversation. She is the author of “May We Forever Stand: A History of the Black National Anthem,” winner of the 2019 American Studies Association John Hope Franklin Book Award, the Hurston Wright Award for Nonfiction, and finalist for an NAACP Image Award in Nonfiction.

The crowd of nearly 400 gathered in front of Memorial Hall March 24, many carrying signs, and all supporting a call for change

The book series gives voice to Black, Native, Latinx, Asian, queer, and other nonwhite or ignored identities within the Appalachian region. It will be edited by University of Kentucky faculty member and recently named Poet Laureate Crystal Wilkinson, alongside Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle and Davis Shoulders.

Established to honor an eminent Kentuckian and an outstanding UK alumnus whose interest in higher education and the humanities was exceptional, this lectureship is awarded to an undergraduate whose qualities of mind and spirit have been expressed eloquently the basic concerns of the humanities.

The award-winning author and professor in the College of Arts and Sciences was appointed by Governor Andy Beshear, and is the first Black woman to be appointed as the state’s poet laureate. Wilkinson will be inducted as part of the Kentucky Writers’ Day celebration, hosted virtually this year on the Kentucky Arts Council’s Facebook and YouTube channels.

The program has supported the training of underrepresented pre-docs, post-docs and assistant professors at the University of Kentucky committed to health equity research.

The University of Kentucky will host the 5th annual Sister Circle Forum, which will feature two special presentations by Louisville Urban League President and CEO Sadiqa Reynolds and social justice advocate Tamika D. Mallory.

The conversation with the noted civil rights activist, minister, attorney and author Dr. Bernice King will deliver a presentation and talk to the public and then participate in a private question and answer session exclusively for University of Kentucky students.