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CVAMS Annual Conference
October 3 @ 8:00 am - October 4 @ 5:00 pm
Morabeza: Decolonizing Global Health and Celebrating 50 Years of Progress in Cabo Verde
Bringing Morabeza to Medicine
Celebrating 5th Year Anniversary
Providence, RI
October 3rd to 4th of 2025
Research Symposium
Friday, October 3rd, 2025, 6 pm–8 pm
Cape Verdean Museum, Pawtucket, RI
Conference
Saturday, October 4th, 2025, 8:30 am – 5 pm
Rhode Island Hospital, George Auditorium
Conference Objectives
1. Critically examine the legacy and ongoing impact of colonialism in global health systems and engage participants in dialogue about the historical and structural forces that shape health inequities in formerly colonized nations and diaspora communities.
2. Promote healing from colonization trauma and avoid re-traumatization in decolonization efforts and create intentional spaces for reflection and healing, and develop practices that foster cultural humility, psychological safety, and restorative dialogue in global health collaborations.
3. Highlight healthcare advancements in Cabo Verde since independence and showcase the evolution of health infrastructure, education, and research in Cabo Verde over the past 50 years
4. Amplify voices from the Global South in academic and policy discourse and provide a platform for scholars, clinicians, and community leaders from Cabo Verde and the diaspora to share their work and perspectives.
5. Foster research collaboration and knowledge exchange between the diaspora and Cabo Verde and facilitate networking and partnership-building opportunities between researchers, institutions, and practitioners.
6. Promote equitable practices in global health education, funding, and decision-making and explore strategies for centering equity and justice in international health initiatives and medical education curricula.
Schedule
Morning Session October 4th 2025
- 8:25 – 8:55 AM — Registration & Check-In
- 8:55 – 9:10 AM — Welcome & Introduction
- 9:10 – 9:25 AM — Research Presentation 1: Challenges of Conducting Clinical Science Research in CV — Dr. Pamela Borges
- 9:25 – 9:40 AM — Research Presentation 2: Doreen DeFaria Yeh, MD and team
- 9:40 – 9:55 AM — Research Presentation 3: Challenges of performing basic science research in CV – Jay Brito Querido, PhD
- 9:55 – 10:10 AM — Q&A Session for Research Presentations
- 10:10 – 10:40 AM — Keynote Address: Decolonization of Global Health Systems — Dr. Oyere Onuma
- 10:40 – 11:10 AM — Guest Speaker:Healing from Colonization Trauma — Dr. Adriano Cabral
- 11:10 – 11:25 AM — Panel: Dr. Oyere & Dr. Cabral (Moderator: Dr. Ana Sophia Lopes Johnson)
- 11:25 – 12:10 PM — Surgical Panel: Impact of CVAMS on Surgical Care/Education in Cabo Verde — Drs. Timothy Johnson, Roberto Pineda, Robert Teixeira, Rui P. Fernandes (Moderator: Dr. Gil Freitas)
- 12:10 – 12:40 PM — Lunch Break
- 12:40 – 1:10 PM — Evolution of Nursing Care in Cabo Verde — Elga Mirta Furtado Barreto de Carvalho & Vera Monteiro
- 1:10 – 1:40 PM — Medical School’s Role in Addressing Health Care Workforce — Dr. Antonieta Martins
- 1:40 – 1:55 PM — Questions for CV Panel (Moderator: Dr. Patrice Alves)
- 1:55 – 2:40 PM — Panel on Women’s Health — Drs. Leny Dias, Veronica Pimentel, Susan Weinberg, Doreen DeFaria Yeh (Moderator: Lyla Blake)
- 2:40 – 3:10 PM — Health Equity and Maternal Health: Fireside Chat with Manuel Lopes and Samantha DeAndrade, MD.
- 3:10 – 3:25 PM — Break
- 3:25 – 3:55 PM — Special Address: Future of Health Care in Cabo Verde — George Figueiredo, MD
- 3:55 – 4:10 PM — Audience Q&A with the Minister
- 4:10 – 4:40 PM — Celebrating 5 Years of CVAMS — Drs. Madelaine Tully & Patricia Andrade
- 4:40 – 5:00 PM — Closing Remarks & Departure
Faculties
Pamela Borges, PhD — Biomedical scientist and cancer researcher at Hospital Universitário Agostinho Neto (Praia); focuses on breast cancer genetics and diagnostics.
Doreen DeFaria Yeh, MD — Cardiologist; Co-Director, Cardiovascular Disease & Pregnancy Program; Director, Cardiology Fellowship, Massachusetts General Hospital; Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.
Jay Brito Querido, PhD — Assistant Professor (UMich Medical School) and Research Assistant Professor, Life Sciences Institute; structural biologist using cryo-EM to study translation initiation.
Oyere Onuma, MD, MSc — Cardiologist; Founding Director, Global Cardiovascular Health Program, MGH; Yale MD, Harvard Chan MSc;
Adriano Cabral, MEd, CAGS — Executive Director, Inclusion Family Counseling Center (Brockton/New Bedford); leads culturally responsive mental-health services for immigrant communities.
Ana Sofia Lopes Johnson, MD — Family physician; past President, Association of Black Women Physicians; member, Tufts School of Medicine Board of Advisors; advocate for health equity.
Timothy S. Johnson, MD — Orthopaedic surgeon (sports medicine, shoulder/elbow); Assistant Professor, Johns Hopkins; longtime MLB team physician (Baltimore Orioles).
Roberto Pineda II, MD — Ophthalmologist, Mass Eye and Ear/Harvard; cornea, cataract & refractive surgery;
Robert M. Teixeira, MD — Plastic & reconstructive surgeon (hand/upper extremity), Assistant Professor, University of Utah Health; microsurgery and peripheral nerve surgery.
Rui P. Fernandes, DMD, MD, FACS — Oral & maxillofacial surgeon; Professor of Surgery, University of Florida–Jacksonville; head & neck oncology and microvascular reconstruction.
Gil S. Freitas, MD — General/bariatric surgeon, UMass Memorial Medical Center; Tufts University School of Medicine graduate.
Elga Mirta Furtado Barreto de Carvalho, PhD — Nurse and educator; doctoral research (2022) at Uni-CV’s FCT; faculty/graduate studies contributor.
Vera Monteiro — Nurse executive; Superintendent Nurse (Board member) at Hospital Dr. Baptista de Sousa, São Vicente.
Antonieta Martins, MD — Physician and medical educator; helped establish/coordinate Uni-CV’s Faculty of Medicine and support specialty training in Cabo Verde.
Patrice J. Alves, MD — Family physician and health-system leader; extensive global and mission experience.
Leny Dias, MD — Physician-scientist (Internal Medicine); clinical fellow and educator with Harvard-affiliated institutions.
Veronica Maria Pimentel, MD, MS, FACOG — Maternal-Fetal Medicine specialist, Trinity Health of New England; UConn/Quinnipiac faculty; advocate and ACOG podcast host.
Susan Weinberg, MD, FACR — Board-certified diagnostic radiologist; Fellow of the American College of Radiology;
Lyla Blake, MD, MPH — Physician at Community Health Center of Cape Cod; primary care and community health.
Manuel Lopes – President and Chief Executive Officer of Fallon Health.
Jorge Figueiredo, MD — Minister of Health, Cabo Verde (since Feb 7, 2025); physician with MSc in Health Systems Development; former national health director.
Madelaine Tully, MD — Family physician, Progressive Community Health Centers, Milwaukee; 2019 “Health Care Hero”
honoree.
Patricia Andrade, MD, FACS — General & breast surgeon; Chief of Surgery, Morton Hospital (MA); Dartmouth/Brown Medical graduate;
Julio Teixeira
Paulo R Pina
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