Long Island Health Leaders Push Prevention, Screening To Fight Disease

LONG ISLAND, NY — Two Long Island health advocates are taking different but deeply connected approaches to tackling some of the nation’s most serious health issues — focusing not only on treatment, but on prevention, awareness and community action.

West Babylon resident John Jabari Michel, a nutritionist, speaker and founder of Quest Nutrition Network, also serves as health chairman for the 100 Black Men of Eastern New York and the Long Island African American Chamber of Commerce. He has spent nearly two decades helping individuals improve their health through lifestyle changes. His mission was shaped early, growing up surrounded by family members dealing with diabetes, high blood pressure and other chronic conditions.

This led him to make major dietary changes as a young adult, eventually adopting a mostly plant-based lifestyle. Michel, 48, said food choices play a direct role in long-term health outcomes, noting that diets centered on fruits, vegetables and whole foods are linked to lower risks of heart disease, diabetes and cancer. But knowledge alone, he said, isn’t enough.

“Everybody’s trying to be healthier,” he said. “But it’s not enough to say you eat chicken — you have to look at how that chicken is raised.”

Michel pointed to the differences between conventionally raised and organic foods, saying that quality matters just as much as the decision to eat healthier. While some people view organic options as too expensive, Michel said access has improved in recent years, with stores offering more affordable choices.

“People say healthy food is expensive,” he said. “But hospital bills are expensive too.”

For Kevin Byrd, the path into health advocacy also began with loss, which would ultumately shape his life’s work.

As a college student, Byrd lost his grandfather to prostate cancer, an experience that pushed him from a background in performing arts into a decades-long mission focused on awareness and early detection.

“My grandpa died of prostate cancer, and that’s how I got my start,” Byrd said.

Since then, Byrd, 45, has spent more than 25 years raising awareness of the disease, leading initiatives through organizations such as the 100 Black Men of America and the Long Island African American Chamber of Commerce. His efforts have reached audiences on a global scale, including awareness campaigns that have appeared in Times Square and outreach initiatives extending internationally. Byrd previously held the health leadership role within those organizations before passing the responsibility to Michel.

Partnerships with the New York State Department of Health and local organizations like the 100 Black Men of Eastern New York have helped expand outreach. Despite the progress, Byrd said the fight is far from over.

“We are doing a really good job with screening,” he said. “But we still need more.”

Byrd said the focus remains on getting more men to take advantage of screening opportunities and educational resources already available. His work has centered on encouraging men to get screened early — a step he said can make the difference between life and death.

“It’s about catching it early before it gets out of hand,” Byrd said.

Now working in tandem, Michel and Byrd are continuing that mission locally, helping lead health initiatives through the Long Island African American Chamber of Commerce and the 100 Black Men of Eastern New York, where Michel currently serves as health chairman.

Their latest efforts are focused on expanding access to information and screening through a series of upcoming webinars and community events. The effort includes a prostate health webinar in April focused on awareness and early detection, followed by a mental health webinar in May. A larger in-person event is scheduled for June 13 in Brooklyn, where approximately 40 men will be able to receive prostate cancer screenings. The series will continue on June 27 with a workshop focused on health, mental health, and financial wellness, aimed at providing community members with practical tools to improve overall well-being.

The events are designed to provide education, resources and access to screenings for community members.

“It’s about listening to what the community needs,” Michel said. “If the community needs awareness around a disease, that’s what we focus on.”

Large-scale impact, Byrd said, doesn’t come from individual efforts alone.

“It takes a team to reach millions of people,” he said. “It’s not about accolades — it’s about saving lives.”

Michel’s focus is on prevention through lifestyle, while Byrd looks to build awareness and early detection — but both say the ultimate goal is helping people take control of their health before it’s too late.

“We just have to continue to keep fighting and bringing awareness,” Byrd said.

At the core of that mission, both men said, is something deeper than health alone.

Michel described faith as the foundation of his work, shaping not only how he approaches wellness but how he leads his family and community.

“It’s not just going to church — it’s how you live every day,” he said.

Byrd also spoke about the role of faith in his life, saying it continues to guide everything he does.

“If you save one life,” he said, “you did your last mission on earth.”

Event details, registration information, and updates are available through the Long Island African American Chamber of Commerce and the 100 Black Men of Eastern New York, as well as through Michel’s “Jabari Quest” social media platforms and the Brown Byrd Foundation’s website.