DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH SCIENCES
PUBLIC HEALTH SEMINAR
Presenters:
Karen Siegel, MPH, Deputy Director at Health Equity Solutions
Muna Abbas, Principal Commission Analyst at the Commission on Racial Equity in Public Health
TITLE: “Healthcare Coverage at a Crossroads”
DATE: Tuesday, October 13, 2026
TIME: 12:00-1:00 pm
To join via Teams:
https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/243689648811187?p=RJQ7LjCvp7qmpSEpLV
Karen Siegel, MPH, is the Deputy Director at Health Equity Solutions, where she supports the organization’s policy work and operations. Karen joined HES in 2020, with a break from late 2023 to early 2025 to work on 1332 waivers and agent/broker regulation for the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. She was thrilled and humbled to rejoin HES after leaving federal service.
Prior to joining Health Equity Solutions, Karen worked as a Medicaid advocate and researcher at Connecticut Voices for Children and as a public health researcher and teacher in Singapore. She is passionate about advancing health equity and anti-racist policy through state and local systems, with a focus on centering community voices, embedding equity in health systems transformation, and building more holistic approaches to health care and health insurance by fostering connections between the formal health system and communities.
Muna Abbas is a Principal Commission Analyst at the Commission on Racial Equity in Public Health. Growing up in the United Kingdom, Muna attended the University of Manchester where she obtained her law degree, followed by a subsequent LLM at UConn Law in Connecticut. Muna formerly worked as a Legislative and Political Adviser in the House of Lords, UK Parliament, and managed the bill process of landmark legislation such as the Modern Slavery Act 2015. Upon moving to the United States, Muna worked at the Tony Blair Institute, where she helped roll out their flagship education program, and also spent time as an Immigration Attorney mainly taking on asylum and deportation defense cases.
At the Commission, Muna works on reducing racial inequities in health and social drivers of health. She has led and overseen projects including the publication of the “Dismantling Structural Racism in Connecticut State Government” report which led to the publication of Executive Order 24-2 by Governor Ned Lamont and creation of Chief Equity and Opportunity Officer for Connecticut; the Commission’s Strategic Plan, and the passage of legislation and implementation of Racial and Ethnic Impact Statements within the Connecticut General Assembly.
For more information, contact: Lisa Cook at lcook@uchc.edu