top of page

HRI in the News

Copy of Unnamed Design_edited.png

As part of a community coalition, this medical student-run asylum clinic collaborates with licensed healthcare professionals in to provide forensic evaluations for survivors of torture seeking asylum in the United States.

Copy of Unnamed Design_edited.png

Since its inception in 2014, the Human Rights Initiative at the University at Buffalo(HRI), a medical student group, has played an important role in helping to document and assess evidence of torture in people seeking refuge and asylum in Western New York.

Copy of Unnamed Design_edited.png

Kim Griswold MD, MPH, has been named the primary clinician and medical director of the Western New York Center for Survivors of Refugee Trauma and Torture, an interdisciplinary program addressing the complex needs of an estimated 15,000 survivors.

EVENTS

01.

Saturday March 9 2024

Location: Virtual (Zoom link to follow registration)

Who: Learn from Dr. Griswold (Family Medicine), Dr. Im (Social Work), Dr. Percec (Plastic Surgery).

Details: An interdisciplinary conference discussing what FGM/C is, why it is a human rights violation, and how physicians can utilize cultural competency and trauma-informed care to treat victims of FGM/C. 

Contact: Alyssa Reese with any questions.

02.

September 23, 2023, 8:00 am - 12:30 pm

Location: Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Active Learning Center

Details: REQUIRED FOR ALL MEDICAL STUDENTS WHO WISH TO SCRIBE WITH HRI. Register here.

Contact: Emily Hannah with any questions.

Last Updated: 08/01/2022

Human Rights Initiative Shares its Expertise

Since its inception in 2014, the Human Rights Initiative at the University at Buffalo (HRI), a medical student group, has played an important role in helping to document and assess evidence of torture in people seeking refuge and asylum in Western New York.

Students Assisting in Forensic Exams of Political Asylum Seekers

Through a unique interesction of medicine, the justice system and the human rights field, medical students are advancing their training by assisting survivors of torture and political violence seeking asylum in the United States.

Jacobs School Responds to Killing of George Floyd

Trainees, faculty and administrators of the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and the units in the Academic Health Center (AHC) are responding too the police killing of George Floyd and the international protests it haas engendered against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Refugee Health Expert to Lead Center for Trauma Survivors
 

Kim Griswold MD, MPH, has been named the primary clinician and medical director of the Western New York Center for Survivors of Refugee Trauma and Torture, an interdisciplinary program addressing the complex needs of an estimated 15,000 survivors.

Upcoming Trainings

All students and providers must attend a forensic evaluation training session in order to participate in this initiative. The Human Rights Initiative at the Jacobs School of Medicine & Biomedical Sciences offers an annual training each fall that is open to all medical students, healthcare providers, social workers and lawyers. 

The Physicians for Human Rights website contains an updated list of all forensic evaluation trainings that can be accessed here.

Please fill out this form if you would like to be added to our contact list. 

bottom of page