(calm, happy music) - You're invited to join an event that honors a community champion whose life was cut short.

Black Physicians of Utah will host the 2026 Nikki Walker Asthma Awareness Memorial Lecture.

Here with more on how they plan to honor Nikki's legacy are Dr.

Richard Ferguson and Dr.

Atim Enyenihi, welcome.

- Thank you for having us.

- Thank you.

- Tell me about this event, Dr.

Ferguson, and why it means so much to do this in the community here.

- It means a lot.

If people have known Nikki, not only was she a, she was often a uniter, business leader in Utah County, coming from New Jersey, but she, the way her asthma was impacted was like many transplants to Utah.

Our air quality is a significant factor in anyone that's living with asthma here.

But part of the event is to increase awareness around it, understanding symptoms, triggers, because it varies between when you're a child versus an adult.

And so I'm bringing in a specialist, actually my mentor, a pulmonary critical care doc, Dr.

Jackie Hayes, to actually teach us more about how to manage asthma, understand it, and how it can kind of sneak up on you, but also new ways on how we can actually manage it when you're outdoors, but also indoors.

And that's also what Dr.

Atim here is gonna be assisting with.

- Dr.

Atim, tell me what people can expect to learn and a few of the takeaways that people will have by coming to this event.

- Yes, so the activities we do indoors, in our homes, impact the air, and so I will discuss what can be done to help mitigate the impact and manage effectively the air indoors.

- And Dr.

Ferguson, what are you hoping will be the main takeaway for people from this event?

- I want people to feel more empowered and that they can advocate for themselves, if there's a new medication that hasn't been trialed, if they can actually take more control by just being able to manage a peak flow meter at home, to know if they're red, green, or yellow, when they need to seek urgent care, or if they need to go to a regular outpatient visit.

- All right, well, thank you so much for being here with this important information.

If you would like to attend the event, the information is on your screen right now.

You can check it out.

That is the Doctor Nikki Walker Awareness, Asthma Awareness Memorial Lecture, that's on May 16th from 10:30 AM until 12:00 PM at the Marmalade Library.

You can get more information at bpou.org.

I'm Liz Adeola, and thank you for watching "Contact."

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Hi, I'm Liz Adeola, the host of Contact, a show that connects you with local events and organizations that serve your community.

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