Events - Public Health

Events at and near WashU

Healthy Eating, Active Living (HEAL) dialogue, June 9, 9 a.m.– 1 p.m., Saint Louis Art Museum. Kickoff to BJC HealthCare’s Community Health Improvement Week. Register here to attend in person or online.
Systems Science for Social Impact (SSSI) Summer Training Institute, July 28-Aug. 1. At this five-day institute, participants are introduced to systems science methods that enhance the social impact of health and social science research. The in-depth training features five major systems science tracks: Intro to Systems, Agent-based Modeling, Group Model Building, Social Network Analysis, and System Dynamics. See here to apply.
Visual Informed Consent Workshop, Sept. 25, 8 a.m.-1 p.m. EPNEC on Medical Campus. Informed-consent forms for research can be confusing for participants and challenging for study recruiters. Learn about a novel approach that uses visual elements & health literacy best practices to present such information in a simple, engaging way. See details and registration.
The School of Public Health’s annual public health convening, Science for Health Systems, in partnership with the QuEST network, will take place on the Danforth Campus, Oct. 29-31. The meeting will focus on new research on the measurement and improvement of health system performance. There are limited spots available for registration, and discounts for early-career professionals. Program details and registration are here.

School of Public Health Assemblies

These monthly gatherings serve as an opportunity for the internal WashU public health community to hear progress updates and to discuss steps we are taking to build the school. We hope that all primarily appointed faculty and staff will attend these assemblies. As we build the school, we invite all interested WashU faculty and staff to join us. There will be a Zoom link for those unable to attend.

Scheduled Assemblies:

Dates for 2025-26 School Assemblies are posted here; locations will be posted when finalized.

Tuesday, Sept. 2, 10-11 a.m.
Tuesday, Oct. 7, 10-11 a.m.
Tuesday, Nov. 11, 10-11 a.m.
Thursday, Dec. 11, 10-11 a.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 13, 10-11 a.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 10, 10-11 a.m.
Tuesday, March 10, 10-11 a.m.
Tuesday, April 14, 10-11 a.m.

Agendas and notes from previous assemblies:

Thinking Public Health conversations

The monthly Thinking Public Health gatherings are an opportunity for in-depth conversation within the WashU community about topics of current concern in public health. These are moderated, structured, in-person discussions observing the Chatham House Rule to encourage open conversation. If anyone has specific topics they would like to be considered for one of these conversations, please email Dean Sandro Galea.

Scheduled Thinking Public Health gatherings

Dates for 2025-26 Thinking Public Health gatherings are posted here; locations will be posted when finalized.

Tuesday, Sept. 30, 1-2 p.m.
Thursday, Oct. 16, 10-11 a.m.
Thursday, Nov. 20, 10-11 a.m.
Thursday, Dec. 18, 10-11 a.m.
Thursday, Jan. 15, 10-11 a.m.
Thursday, Feb. 19, 10-11 a.m.
Tuesday, March 17, 1-2 p.m.
Thursday, April 16, 10-11 a.m.

Notes and readings from previous conversations:

April 18, 2025. Truth.
March 27, 2025. The problem of bad behavior.
Feb. 21, 2025, Navigating political divides to promote the health of the public.
Jan. 28, 2025, Changing the conversation: On the utility of symbols and statements.

Talking Public Health seminar series

This seminar series features presentations by leading thinkers in public health locally and from around the world. Invited speakers present their work and engage with the audience to advance the ideas that shape public health. These talks are held up to three times a week on the Danforth Campus. Those who cannot attend may participate over Zoom. Details are posted here as speakers are scheduled.

Scheduled seminars: We are taking a seasonal pause. Please feel free to view recordings of our previous talks — and check back soon.

Recordings of previous talks

Catherine K. Ettman, PhD, an assistant professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, spoke May 7 on “Population mental health, assets, and policy: leveraging longitudinal survey and electronic health data to understand drivers of population health.” See here for a recording of the talk.
Anusha M. Vable, ScD, MPH, an associate professor and associate director of the Center for Health Equity in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of California San Francisco, spoke May 1 on “The Education System as a Potential Solution to Health Inequities.” See here for a recording of the talk.
Kirsten Beyer, PhD, MPH, MS, a professor in the Division of Epidemiology & Social Sciences in the Institute for Health & Humanity at the Medical College of Wisconsin, spoke April 29 on “Structural Racism in Housing and Health Outcomes in the United States.” See here for a recording of the talk.
Kim Thuy Seelinger, JD, a research associate professor at the Brown School, spoke April 24 on “Substance, Systems, Survivors: The essential synergy of public health and international justice.” See here for a recording of the talk.
Jenny S. Guadamuz, PhD, MSPH, an assistant professor of health policy & management and director of the Health Equity Research Program, Center for Health Management and Policy Research, at the School of Public Health at University of California, Berkeley. She spoke April 23 on “Case Studies on Structural Determinants of Health: The Impact of Exclusionary Immigration Policies & Pharmacy Systems on Healthcare Access.” See here for a recording of the talk.
Deshira Wallace, PhD, an assistant professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Department of Health Behavior and a faculty fellow at the Carolina Population Center, spoke April 22 on “Examining the intersections of mental health and physical health in U.S. and global research.” See here for a recording of the talk.
Susan M. Kiene, PhD, MPH, is a professor of global health in the Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, and the director of Building Research Initiatives Advancing Global Health Equity (BRIDGE) at San Diego State University School of Public Health. She spoke April 17 on “Developing and Scaling Evidence-Based Interventions: Partnerships for Evolving Community Priorities.” See here for a recording of the talk.
Julia Fleckman, PhD, MPH, is an assistant professor in the Department of Social, Behavioral, and Population Sciences at the Celia Scott Weatherhead School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine at Tulane University, and also serves as the director of research and evaluation for the Tulane University Violence Prevention Institute. She spoke April 14 on “Getting at the Roots: The Role of Public Health and Community-Partnered Research in Preventing Violence.” See here for a recording of the talk.
Marcus Howard, PhD, founder and CEO of GreaterHealth Pharmacy & Wellness in St. Louis’ Delmar DivINe, spoke April 9 on “Public Health in Action: The Story of GreaterHealth Pharmacy & Wellness.” See here for a recording of the talk.
Andrew Subica, PhD, an associate professor of social medicine, population & public health at the University of California, Riverside School of Medicine, and founding co-director for the U.S. Veterans Affairs Center for Pacific Islander Veterans Health, spoke April 8 on “Community Engaged Research to Address Health Disparities.” See here for a recording of the talk.
Stephen E. Lankenau, PhD, professor and director of the Medical Cannabis Research Center at Drexel University Dornsife School of Public Health, spoke April 3 on “New Directions in Cannabis and Overdose Prevention Research.” See here for a recording of the talk.
Gregory Phillips II, PhD, associate professor in the Departments of Medical Social Sciences and Preventive Medicine at Northwestern, spoke April 2 on “Engaging, Educating, and Empowering: A New Paradigm for Health Research and Evaluation with and for LGBTQ+ Communities.” See here for a recording of the talk.
Opeyemi Babajide, PhD MSc, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Urban Health Collaborative at Drexel University’s Dornsife School of Public Health, spoke March 27 on “The Intersection of Perinatal Health, Migration and Social Determinants of Health.” See here for a recording of the talk.
Lindsey Filiatreau, PhD, MPH, an assistant professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases at WashU Medicine, spoke March 19 on, “’What I know is that people don’t die from HIV, they die from stress:’ Closing the mental health treatment gap for people living with HIV in the Global South.” See here for a recording of the talk.
Dana March Palmer, PhD, MPH, senior associate provost for academic programs, associate dean for doctoral education in public health, director of undergraduate studies in public health and an assistant professor of epidemiology at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University, spoke March 19 on “Public Health Education for the Next Generation; Here and Now, Why and How.” See here for a recording of the talk.
Sarah Moreland-Russell, PhD, MPH, an associate professor in the School of Public Health, spoke March 18 on “Power and possibility of policy: Implementation Science for promoting equitable and sustainable public health policy.” See here for a recording of the talk.
Jaime Miranda, MD, MSc, PhD, professor and head of the School of Public Health at the University of Sydney, and International Distinguished Visiting Scholar, spoke March 11 on “Rethinking Chronic Disease: From Healthcare Services to Sustainable Well-Being.” See here for a recording of the talk.
Elisabeth Stelson, PhD, MPH, MSW, spoke March 5 on “Advancing occupational vicarious trauma research to protect healthcare and social service workforces.” See here for a recording of the talk.
Zachary Butzin-Dozier, PhD, MPH, an epidemiologist in the Division of Biostatistics at UC Berkeley School of Public Health, spoke Feb. 27 on “Evaluating Long COVID through Targeted Machine Learning.” See here for a recording of the talk.
Stephanie L. Mazzucca-Ragan, PhD, assistant professor at the Brown School, spoke Feb. 19 on “Moving evidence to impact: working with organizations to promote evidence-based practice.” See here for a recording of the talk.
Pasquale Rummo, PhD, MPH, associate professor, Department of Population Health, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, spoke Feb. 13, 2025, on “Social Determinants of Diet and Strategies to Improve Healthy Eating Behaviors: Food and Nutrition Policy.” See here for a recording of the talk.
Alvin Thomas, PhD, postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Psychiatry at WashU Medicine, spoke Feb. 12, 2025, on “Research Frameworks to Promote Healthy Aging: Insights from Frailty & Resilience.” See here for a recording of the talk.
Theresa (Tracy) Bastain, PhD, MPH, associate professor, Department of Population and Public Health Sciences, University of Southern California, spoke Feb. 11, 2025, on “Maternal Origins of Health and Disease: Investigating Pregnancy as a Susceptible Window of Exposure for Women’s Health.” See here for a recording of the talk.
Katherine Dowdell, PhD, MS, a National Science Foundation postdoctoral research fellow in biology at the University of Texas at Austin, spoke Feb. 6, 2025, on “Opportunistic pathogens in municipal drinking water: Combating a threat to public health.” See here for a recording of the talk.
Carrie Breton, ScD, MPH, a professor of population and public health sciences and director of the Maternal And Developmental Risks from Environmental and Social Stressors (MADRES) Center for Environmental Health Disparities at the University of Southern California, spoke Feb. 5, 2025, on the “Impact of the prenatal environment and stress on child health and biology.” See here for a recording of the talk.
Mengmeng Ji, PhD, an instructor in the Division of Public Health Sciences at WashU Medicine, spoke Feb. 4, 2025, on “Harnessing Artificial Intelligence for Public Health: Applications in Obesity Research.” See here for a recording of the talk.
Massy Mutumba, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Health Behavior and Biological Sciences at the University of Michigan School of Nursing, spoke Jan. 30, 2025, on “Promoting Mental Health and Resilience Among Adolescents: School-Based Strategies and Innovations.” See here for a recording of the talk.
Daniel Zhao, PhD, associate dean for research and Presidential Professor of Biostatistics, Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Hudson College of Public Health, The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences, spoke Jan. 23, 2025, on “Statistical Analysis of Family Studies with Kinship Matrices: Applications to the Strong Heart Family Study.” See here for a recording of the talk.