Alcohol and Development

Join Dutch journalist and author Olivier van Beemen in a conversation with David Jernigan, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Health Law, Policy and Management at the Boston University School of Public Health. Van Beemen, whose book, “Heineken in Africa,” was recently translated into English, and Jernigan, whose expertise includes alcohol and youth, discussed the health and social impact of the alcohol industry as well as its marketing practices across the world. The event was moderated by Diana R. Silver, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Global Public Health and Public Health Policy at the College of Global Public Health at New York University.

About the Speakers

Olivier van Beemen
Olivier van Beemen is an investigative journalist from Amsterdam and the author of the book Heineken in Africa: A Multinational Unleashed (2019). He won the Tegel for this investigation, the most prestigious award in Dutch journalism, and got nominated for several other prizes. His work has been translated in English, French and Italian. Earlier in his career, Van Beemen was a correspondent in France for several leading Dutch and Belgian news media. He currently publishes in newspapers such as Le Monde and NRC Handelsblad.

David Jernigan
David Jernigan, Ph.D., is a professor in the Department of Health Law, Policy and Management at the Boston University School of Public Health, and senior policy advisor to CityHealth, an initiative of the de Beaumont Foundation and Kaiser Permanente. He previously directed the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY) and was an associate professor in the Department of Health, Behavior and Society at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He continues as an advisor to the Maryland Collaborative to Reduce College Drinking and Related Problems, a statewide effort involving 15 institutions of higher education committed to reducing alcohol-related problems on campus and in the surrounding communities. Dr. Jernigan is also the scientific chair and serves on the board of the Global Alcohol Policy Alliance. He has written more than 130 peer-reviewed journal articles and contributed chapters to seven books on alcohol issues. He has served as an advisor to the World Bank and the World Health Organization, and was the principal author of WHO’s first Global Status Report on Alcohol and Global Status Report on Alcohol and Youth, and co-author of Alcohol in the Developing World: A Public Health Perspective and Media Advocacy and Public Health: Power for Prevention.

Moderator – Diana R. Silver
Diana R. Silver, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Global Public Health and Public Health Policy at the College of Global Public Health at New York University. Currently, Dr. Silver’s research explores the impact of variation in the implementation, adoption and repeal of state and local public health policies on health outcomes, particularly alcohol consumption, motor vehicle crashes, tobacco use, firearms and food safety. Some of her other work has examined variation in access to publicly funded services such as clinics, after-school programs, parks and playgrounds. Dr. Silver’s work has been published in a variety of prominent journals, including the American Journal of Public Health, the American Journal of Health Promotion, Public Health, Tobacco Control, Journal of Safety Research, Social Science and Medicine, the American Journal of Evaluation, PLoS One, Journal of Community Health, Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, International Journal of Equity in Health, Globalization and Health, Youth and Society, Public Administration Review and Policy Studies Journal. She is an associate editor for the American Journal of Health Promotion, and serves on the New York City Department of Health’s Health Advisory Committee. Dr. Silver has a PhD in public administration from NYU’s Wagner School, a Master’s in Public Health (MPH) from Hunter College/CUNY, and a bachelor’s degree from Bates College. She teaches undergraduate and master’s level courses at the College of Global Health, and trains doctoral students. In 2015, Dr. Silver received NYU’s Distinguished Teaching Award, the university’s highest honor for teaching excellence.