Cutting through the Noise: Vaccines, Childhood Health and Navigating the School Year

Dr. Vin Gupta, MD, MPA, is a public health physician, professor, and health policy expert. As a Harvard-trained lung specialist, Vin has spent the past 15 years working worldwide to improve public health for organizations including the US Centers for Disease Control, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, the Harvard Global Health Institute, the World Health Organization, and the Pentagon’s Center for Global Health Engagement. Given his diversity of experiences, he is now a trusted advisor and contributor to national and international media outlets on several of the most important health issues today, including serving as a regular health policy analyst for NBC News and contributor to the New York Times and CNN New Day. As you will see below, Vin is committed to voicing evidence-informed perspectives across a range of critical issues like domestic US healthcare reform, the vaping epidemic, the effects of climate change on human health, and gun control. In doing so, he speaks honestly and is driven by evidence, not opinion or dogma.

On Sept. 1, 2020, Fedrick C. Ingram was elected secretary-treasurer of the AFT, serving 1.7 million members, including pre-K through 12th-grade teachers; paraprofessionals and other school-related personnel; higher education faculty and professional staff; federal, state and local government employees; and nurses and other healthcare professionals.

Ingram is the immediate past president of the 140,000-member Florida Education Association (FEA). He was also an elected vice president of the AFT’s executive council.

Since becoming the AFT’s secretary-treasurer, Ingram has joined the executive committee of the AFL-CIO’s Transportation Trades Department and the board of Union Plus, a member benefits organization founded by the AFL-CIO.

Ingram grew up in inner-city Miami, where he attended public schools. Pursuing his love of music, he attended Bethune-Cookman University on scholarship and became the first member of his family to earn a postsecondary degree, in music education.

He would go on to be a music teacher and band director in Miami-Dade public schools for 10 years. Fed is also an accomplished musician in his own right and has performed throughout the state and nationally as a saxophone soloist and conductor.

In 2006, he was named the Francisco R. Walker Miami-Dade County Teacher of the Year. He was also a finalist for the state of Florida Teacher of the Year Award in 2006.

In May 2013, he was elected president of the United Teachers of Dade, which represents employees of the fourth-largest school district in the nation. He held that post until 2015, when he was elected vice president of the FEA, where he became a bridge-builder and fearless advocate for public education, the joy of learning and the importance of the arts in education. In 2018, he won election as FEA president. Since then, he has been in frequent demand as a speaker, lecturer and presenter, and is recognized nationally for his workshops and presentations on community organizing and coalition building.

In May 2013, the Miami Herald’s Legacy magazine named Ingram as one of South Florida’s 50 most powerful black business leaders. He is also a recipient of the prestigious JM Family African-American Achievers Award, given to leaders who have exemplified excellence in their respective fields.

In addition to his bachelor’s degree from Bethune-Cookman, Ingram earned a master’s degree in educational leadership from Barry University. He also holds an honorary doctorate of humane letters awarded by Florida Memorial University.

He is married to Yvetta Ingram, and they have three children, all of whom have attended public schools.