The University of Kentucky’s UNITE Research Priority Area will host its annual showcase on Thursday, April 18. The 2024 UNITE Research Showcase is centered on elevating and promoting the importance of impactful research at UK, across the Commonwealth and beyond.

The event will take place from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday, April 18, at the Gatton Student Center. While the event is free, registration is required for all attendees. The showcase is open to UK faculty, staff, students, affiliates and academic partners.

New York Times bestselling author Juan Williams will deliver the Irma Sarett Rosenstein Lecture sponsored by the UK College of Social Work.

Williams is the author of “Eyes on the Prize” and a columnist for The Hill and The New York Times. He is currently a senior political analyst for Fox News Channel after 23 years as a reporter, award-winning investigative journalist, White House correspondent, editorial writer and columnist. Williams was also with The Washington Post, where he interviewed multiple presidents as well as global and civil rights leaders. He has appeared on TV news programs from “Meet the Press” to “Oprah” and “Inside Washington.”

The UK College of Medicine is sponsoring the afternoon keynote address from Regina Benjamin, M.D., the founder and CEO of BayouClinic, a MacArthur Fellow and the 18th U.S. Surgeon General (2009-2013).

Benjamin specializes in prevention policies and health promotion among individuals as well as large populations, related to obesity, childhood obesity and children’s health. In 1995, she was the first physician under the age of 40 and the first African American woman to be elected to the American Medical Association Board of Trustees.

Throughout the showcase, UK researchers will feature their work on health equity, economics and law, social justice and education during breakout sessions designed to illustrate the relevance and impact of their ongoing scholarship.

The UK College of Communication and Information and the Center for Health Equity Transformation will also sponsor a poster session for UK faculty, trainees and students. Topics include arts and humanities, economics and law, education, health equity and social justice.

The student and trainee poster session will be a competition, with prizes awarded to the top three posters in the graduate/postdoctoral and undergraduate categories.

You can learn more about the event online here.

The 2024 UNITE Research Showcase is sponsored by the colleges of Social Work, Medicine, Education, Arts and Sciences, Public Health and Communication and Information; Gatton College of Business and Economics; J. David Rosenberg College of Law; UK Libraries; Commonwealth Institute for Black Studies; and Center for Health Equity Transformation.