From the dean

Warmest wishes for the holiday season

Dear colleagues,

This is our last regularly scheduled Inside WashU Public Health for 2025, so I wanted to reach out, to take a moment to wish everyone an excellent holiday season.

We started on this journey together — to build an excellent School of Public Health that leads with interdisciplinary scholarship, distinction in education, and a commitment to local and global impact — a year ago, building on decades of work that had preceded us here at WashU.

It has been an extraordinary year. There have, of course, been challenges. No one anticipated that we would be building this school during a period of unprecedented difficulty for universities and for public health. Building a school in a university that has not done so in a century meant that there has been much learning to be done, by us, by the rest of the university community. We have found physical space from which to work, moved most of our community, and have slowly been building the infrastructure that allows us to come together as a community of staff, faculty, students, community members, and friends of the school. 

And we have had remarkable success. Central to our success is always the work of our students, staff, and faculty, the outstanding work that everyone does every day toward advancing our mission. I refer everyone to our weekly Moment newsletters that capture well the work of all members of our community. We have recruited excellent faculty and staff to the school, brought students to our community, developed an extensive network of interdisciplinary faculty and thriving research networks, and started to build our community of practice. We have been fortunate to have friends of the school commit resources that allow us to build innovative foundations that can vault us and what we do forward. And we have been building the administrative infrastructure that scaffolds all we do. 

This all positions us well to end the year, to take stock, and to take a break, ready to enter 2026 rested, and well-positioned to continue doing well by our mission, by the world.

I want to wish our community my best wishes for the holiday season, sending hope that everyone has the opportunity for a restful break, and that we all come back together ready for the opportunities ahead of us.

With warmest wishes,

Sandro

Also from the office of the dean

About the events of the past few days

Dear colleagues,

The world around us continues to pose enormous challenges, with all of us learning with horror of the events of the past few days at Brown University and during Chanukah celebrations at Bondi Beach in Australia. I will not comment on global events as a routine, leaning on our shared values and on our work together with its explicit intent to build a world where fewer such events happen, where all are safe from arbitrary violence and can live long, healthy lives. But we are always alert to events as they arise, those directly affected are in our thoughts, and we are also thinking about how such events affect many in our community.  

A reminder that the university has a number of resources available to help community members who may wish to connect around such troubling moments. Students can seek mental health support services by making an appointment with WashU’s  Let’s Talk for brief, 15-20-minute virtual sessions, or through here and here. 

Warmly,

Sandro

From the director of continuous improvement

Thank you to all who completed our inaugural schoolwide survey — 177 students, faculty, and staff shared their thoughts. Congratulations to the winners of our raffle, who are the proud new owners of SPH swag: Doug Luke, Jenn Ramirez, Tim Zielonko, Maria Afadapa, and Ingeborg Adomako.

As previously discussed at school assemblies, Dean Galea will present survey results at the annual state of the school during our January school assembly. The Continuous Improvement Unit will then work with the Faculty Senate, Staff Administrative Advisory Council, and Student Advisory Councils to closely review and co-interpret survey findings and to inform their work over the coming year. 

From the executive director of advancement, Caitlin Bristow

I am pleased to share my first Advancement update for the Inside newsletter since I began with the school nearly four months ago. I joined the School of Public Health from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, where I served as assistant dean for external and board relations. Prior to my time at Columbia, I spent eight years at Campbell & Company, a national fundraising consulting firm based in Chicago.

Since I joined the school, we have been working to build the philanthropic priorities for the school that align with our 4×4 plan. In line with our mission, our priorities are the creation of opportunities to fund faculty and staff, to support and sustain our educational mission, to catalyze interdisciplinary research and scholarship, and to bridge our work to local and global impact. The school is a significant priority and pillar of the university’s campaign – With You –which presents tremendous fundraising opportunities for the school over the next five years and beyond. I am working to partner with fundraisers within University Advancement to share the accomplishments and needs of the school in order to increase philanthropic revenue. 

To that end, I am pleased to share this story about Tony and Ann Ryan, who recently made a significant philanthropic gift to the school to establish a new institute – the Ryan Institute for Interdisciplinary Solutions. The institute will be a hub for advancing interdisciplinary knowledge and fostering sustainable solutions to impact the most pressing challenges in health globally. We are indeed grateful to the Ryans for their support of the school and much look forward to the work that the institute will move forward.  

If you have donor relationships (individual, corporate or foundation) that you would like to strategize about, please reach out anytime — my email is bristow@wustl.edu. Also, if you are applying for corporate or foundation grants, please let me know — I can help provide writing and strategy resources to support submissions. I look forward to meeting and working with everyone in the school in due course. 

Sincerely,

Caitlin

From the associate dean of education

Public health as a professional degree

As you may be aware, the U.S. Department of Education’s Reimagining and Improving Student Education Committee recently advanced a proposed definition of professional degree programs that excludes public health and other health professions. This changed definition would significantly limit federal loan access for students in these excluded professions. The new federal loan limits will fall short of the cost of training for public health professionals, at a time when the profession is already facing serious shortages. 

The Association of Schools and Programs in Public Health (ASPPH) is leading a coordinated strategy to ensure public health degrees are recognized appropriately. ASPPH is inviting us to help strengthen the collective academic public health voice. Please consider contacting Congress to urge them to act to include public health degrees in the definition of professional degrees. To learn more about ASPPH’s response to the department’s latest proposal and for additional advocacy efforts you can make, please see the association’s webpage on this topic.

Fall 2025 teaching wrap-up, course evaluations and grades

Congratulations and thank you to the faculty, TAs, and students who are wrapping up the inaugural semester of courses in the School of Public Health!

Unfortunately, there was a universitywide system issue that prevented course evaluations from being fully populated. However, the issue has since been fixed, and students are able to complete course evaluations through 10 p.m. Wednesday, December 17. This has been inconvenient, and I appreciate any effort that can still be made to encourage students to complete the evaluations.

Please also remember that grades are due by noon December 22. This is also the inaugural semester of entering grades in Workday Student rather than WashU’s legacy system, WebFac. Please see this resource for learning more about how to enter grades in Workday.

Spring 2026 teaching

The first day of spring courses is Monday, January 12. To prepare for each course, please use the SPH syllabus template. You also may find the syllabus updating guide and competency documents helpful. Once you have finalized your syllabus, please upload it to your Canvas course, and submit it here. If you have any questions about updating your syllabus or about competencies, assessments, or course content, please consult with the concentration chair or the relevant academic program director, Patrick Fowler or Charlene Caburnay. 

See here for the slides and recording from last week’s SPH teaching orientation session.

For exact dates, times, and the location of your course, along with course rosters, visit the Instructor Teaching Dashboard under the main menu, once logged into Workday. This tutorial and step-by-step instruction guideis a good resource for learning how to navigate the Instructor Teaching Dashboard.

An email from the Office of the Provost will be sent later this week to all Spring 2026 instructors with additional notes and details for spring teaching. Thank you in advance for paying attention to the information shared in that email.  

Our first graduates!

The Moment newsletter on Sunday included a very nice story about Nicole Strombom, the first PhD graduate of WashU Public Health. We are also proud and excited to share that there will be seven MPH graduates this month. They are:

Samad Alvi, mental and behavioral health concentration.

Mayah Clayton, mental and behavioral health concentration.

Bria Armani Couliboly, generalist concentration.

Delaney Foster, generalist concentration.

Sarah Rodriguez, health policy analysis concentration.

Dani Sarraf, generalist concentration.

Tsega Tilahun, epidemiology and biostatistics concentration.

Congratulations to each of you!

From the associate dean for faculty affairs

Annual Faculty Review Process

The Office of Faculty Affairs would like to remind all primary SPH faculty of the Annual Faculty Review Process. Please submit all materials to the Office of Faculty Affairs by December 31 via email, at SPHFacultyAffairs@wustl.edu

If you would like guidance and suggestions for how to summarize your course evaluations, please review this document.

All primary faculty members have received or will be receiving an email regarding scheduling your meeting with Dean Galea. Please respond promptly to this email.

Also, on Thursday, December 12, the Office of Faculty Affairs held an informational session regarding the Annual Faculty Review process. If you were not able to attend and would like access to the recording, please reach out to the Office of Faculty Affairs at SPHFacultyAffairs@wustl.edu.

Office of Faculty Affairs office hours

The Office of Faculty Affairs will hold weekly office hours Wednesdays from 11 to 11:45 a.m., beginning January 7. Members of the Faculty Affairs team will be available in person or over Zoom on these dates. Please reach out to SPHFacultyAffairs@wustl.edu if you would like more information.  

From the interim associate dean for research

Funding opportunities

Women’s sexual health: The SHE+ Foundation seeks to fund cutting-edge research aimed at understanding and addressing women’s sexual health issues. Grants will fund research, educational programs, community outreach, and innovative treatments that align with the foundation’s mission to advance women’s sexual health. Letters of Intent are due January 21.

Children’s mental health: The Society for Research in Child Development’s Victoria S. Levin Award for Early Career Success in Young Children’s Mental Health Research aims to foster early-career success in addressing the early foundations of children’s mental health. This nonrenewable award provides up to $25,000 for promising pre-tenured, early, to mid-career investigators whose research is informed by developmental science and addresses young children’s mental health. Applications are due January 9.

Learning opportunity

Siteman Cancer Center is hosting a K/R Club to support investigators submitting NIH grants in June and July. This bi-weekly, peer-learning program provides researchers with knowledge and skills to submit competitive cancer-focused NIH grant applications. The Siteman K/R Club is open to postdocs and clinical fellows preparing a K application, early-career faculty pursuing career development funding, and current K awardees planning for an R-series transition. To join, complete the interest form by December 19.

Other opportunities

Help advance the implementation agenda in cancer research: The Consortium for Cancer Implementation Science (CCIS) is recruiting vice chairs for its Action Groups, which advance the implementation agenda in cancer research. Vice chairs work with other Action Group leaders to determine the group’s focus, facilitate meetings, and convene group members to move goals forward. Terms are ideally three years, with individuals serving as vice chair, chair, and past chair. Junior investigators are encouraged to apply. Complete the CCIS Action Group Vice Chair application by January 5.

Apply for health policy research award: The NIHCM Foundation Policy Research Award at the National Institute for Health Care Management is accepting applications until January 30. This award recognizes excellence in published research that helps the health-care system improve the affordability, accessibility and quality of care in the U.S. Articles must have been published in a peer-reviewed journal in 2025, and entrants may submit up to three entries. A $20,000 prize will be presented to the winner.

From the associate dean for administration

Year-end holiday schedule reminder

Please note that early dismissal ahead of major holidays — pending supervisor approval — remains standard SPH practice for this academic year. All faculty and staff may conclude their workday at noon on the day prior to official holidays. We encourage supervisors to share this information with their teams.

While WashU’s official holiday schedule remains unchanged, some departments may experience lighter activity at year’s end. Supervisors may offer additional flexibility on December 26 and January 2, based on operational needs and grant-related requirements. Staff should confirm expectations with their supervisor, and grant-funded employees should continue to follow established procedures for requesting time off.

Biweekly employees must request the holiday off in Workday in advance of the holiday or compensatory time off and can reference the Request Time Off tutorial for step-by-step instructions.

Facilities project during winter break

Facilities work will take place at both Duncan and Hillman during the winter break, to support ongoing improvements. These projects are scheduled to minimize disruption and ensure spaces are ready for use in the new year. Please note that some areas may have limited access while work is underway. Our team will communicate any specific impacts to relevant teams. Thank you for your patience as we complete these important upgrades.

December SPH Compass session

At the most recent SPH monthly Compass session, we shared key updates for our community, including details about holidays, building access and operational hours, upcoming conference-room upgrades at 4300 Duncan, and improvements to Mail Support. IT provided reminders on DUO best practices; HR offered resources to prepare for 2025 taxes; and Communications explained a new feature that makes it easy to add events from our website directly to Outlook calendars. For those who could not attend, see the slide deck here and a recording of the meeting here.

From the director of communications

SPH newsletters’ long winter nap

A scheduling note: Sunday’s WashU Public Health Moment and this edition of Inside WashU Public Health are slated to be the last newsletters you will receive from the Communications team until the presses are back up and running for the first newsletters of 2026, on January 11 and 12. (FYI, we don’t really have presses.)

We hope you all have a peaceful holiday season.

From the executive director of networks & innovation

Get to know the Office of Networks & Innovation

Attend a mixer for SPH faculty to connect with the Innovation Research Network managers and co-directors and the data team from WashU Public Health’s Office of Networks & Innovation (ONI). The event will be from 4 to 5:30 p.m. January 12 in Kuehner Court, on the second floor of Weil Hall. Enjoy drinks, snacks, and door prizes while learning more about ONI. Closest parking is in the East End Garage, with validation available. The event is co-hosted by the Office of Faculty Affairs, and they will be present to share information about OFA services and upcoming events. Register here to attend.

SPH and other events this week

Doctoral student chat with the Dean

Dean Galea invites doctoral students to visit with him over coffee Tuesday, December 16, 5 to 6 p.m. in Hillman Hall, Room 300.

Thinking Public Health

This month’s Thinking Public Health will be 10 to 11 a.m. Thursday, December 18, in the Havana Room at 4240 Duncan. The topic is agency and vulnerability. Public health often centers the notion of vulnerability as a fixed state: Populations are “at risk,” “marginalized,” or “exposed.” Yet human experience also includes agency — the capacity to act, adapt, and shape one’s circumstances even under constraint. The tension between these two ideas is central to public health. See here to read more about the topic and for a list of articles to read ahead of the discussion. 

CAHSPER research seminar on health systems

From noon to 1 p.m. December 18, at WashU and online, the Center for Advancing Health Services, Policy & Economics Research (CAHSPER) will host a research seminar with Todd P. Lewis, PhD, assistant professor in the Division of General Medicine and Geriatrics at WashU Medicine. Lewis will present on health system performance and global survey research, drawing from his work with the QuEST Network and the People’s Voice Survey. Register here.

Universitywide food drive

WashU’s universitywide food drive will continue through December 20, with collected items delivered weekly to Operation Food Search and the St. Louis Area Foodbank. Collection bins have been placed all over campus, including in Goldfarb Hall and 4300 Duncan. For a complete list of requested items and drop-off points, see the WashU food drive page.

New to the school

We welcome five new secondary faculty to the school this week.

Infectious diseases physician Megan Curtis, MD, an assistant professor of medicine at WashU Medicine, joins the SPH secondary faculty. Curtis uses simulation modeling to study the clinical impacts and cost-effectiveness of policies and interventions in maternal and pediatric care, with a particular focus on infectious diseases impacting pregnant people living with substance use disorders. 

Andrew Knight, MA, MS, PhD, the Bank of America Professor at Olin Business School, joins the SPH secondary faculty. Knight studies teamwork and leadership. Before joining WashU, he co-founded the health-care risk analytics company Pascal Metrics.

Aaloke Mody, MD, an associate professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases at WashU Medicine, joins the SPH secondary faculty. Mody’s focus is on using implementation science and epidemiologic methods to better understand how to deliver high-quality and person-centered HIV care in low- and middle income-country settings.

Rachel Sachs, MPH, JD, a professor of law at WashU Law, joins the SPH secondary faculty. Sachs is a scholar of innovation policy, exploring the intersection of health law, food and drug regulation, and patent law. Her work analyzes problems of innovation and access to new health-care technologies.

Bridgette Svancarek, MD, an associate professor of emergency medicine at WashU Medicine, joins the SPH secondary faculty. The division chief for emergency medical services, Svancarek is involved in medical direction of area EMS agencies as well as EMS education at the local, state and national levels and works to improve the quality of prehospital care. 

Call for public comment on mental health plan

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is developing and testing a post-discharge safety and follow-up plan for patients with suicidal ideation. As part of the process of developing appropriate measures, CMS has opened up a call for public comment through December 19. The proposed measures are available here and comments can be submitted to IPFSafetyPlan@mathematica-mpr.com. SPH Assistant Professor Morgan Shields is serving on an expert advisory group that will also provide feedback on the measures.  

SPH Toolbox

Let us know 

If you have SPH news, events or research to share, please send details to sphcomms@wustl.edu or  Elizabethe Holland Durando, SPH director of communications and change management.