Public Health Ideas convenings

Policy, Biodiversity, and the Future of Food: Tuesday, September 23, 4–5:15 p.m. CT, at WashU and online. See here for details and to register.
The Story of COVID in the Heart of America: Tuesday, October 7, 4 p.m. CT, at WashU and online. Check back here for details and to register.
Food Futures: Thursday, October 9, 9 a.m. CT, at WashU and online. Check back here for details and to register.
AI for Health: Wednesday, October 22, 10 a.m. CT, at WashU and online. Check back here for details and to register.
SPH annual convening: Science for Health Systems: Wednesday, October 29, through Friday, October 31, 9 a.m. CT. See here for details and to register.
Katelyn Jetelina: Bringing Science to Society: Wednesday, November 12, 4 p.m., at WashU and online. Check back here for details and to register.

Events here and near

  • Dissemination & Implementation (D&I) Day, Sept. 5, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Clark-Fox Forum at Hillman Hall, Danforth Campus. To register, email Ashley Sturm at sturm@wustl.edu.
  • Center for Water Innovation Symposium, McKelvey School of Engineering, Sept. 8, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. This symposium focuses on water-related social and economic challenges and includes a graduate student flash-talk competition. RSVP by Aug. 22.
  • SPH Faculty Development Seminar: Enhancing Your Mentorship Practice, noon Sept. 16, with Alison Antes, PhD, of WashU Medicine, location TBD. Antes directs a national program aimed at supporting early-career researchers and enhancing their leadership and management skills, and co-directs a coaching program for researchers facing issues related to research integrity or compliance. Register here to attend in person or over Zoom.
  • Validating Your Idea: Pre-Seed Metrics that Matter, led by the Skandalaris Center, Thursday, Sept. 18, 4-5 p.m. in Room 128, Mallinckrodt Center. A hands-on workshop with startup adviser Jake Truemper on how to test assumptions, gather user insights, and validate early-stage ideas. Ideal for entrepreneurs and innovators. Register here.
  • 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. For details and registration.
  • Making St. Louis the Nature City of the 21st Century, Sept. 26, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Living Earth Collaborative is hosting the second annual urban biodiversity symposium, focused on collaboration and action. The event will be at the Missouri Botanical Garden’s Bayer Event Center. Learn more.
  • SPH Faculty Development Seminar: Enhancing Effectiveness Through Communication Skills, noon Oct. 14, with John Horn of Olin Business School, location TBD. Register here to attend in person or over Zoom.
  • AI at the Crossroads: Power, Politics, and the Future We’re Building, Thursday, Oct. 16, 3-4 p.m. Clark-Fox Forum, Hillman Hall. Journalist and author of “Empire of AI” Karen Hao offers a look at the global power dynamics shaping AI. RSVP here.

Talking Public Health seminar series

This seminar series features presentations by leading thinkers in public health at WashU and elsewhere. Speakers present their work and engage with the audience to advance the ideas that shape public health. Those who cannot attend may participate over Zoom.

Scheduled seminars: Check back here for talk locations, Zoom links and other details not yet listed. And please feel free to view recordings of our previous talks, available at the bottom of this list.

  • Sept. 3, noon, Mary Politi, PhD, professor of public health at the School of Public Health, “Multilevel Interventions Supporting Health Decisions Across Settings.” The talk will be in the Havana Room, on the second floor of 4240 Duncan Avenue, and also will be available via Zoom.
  • Sept. 10, noon, Maura Kepper, MPH, PhD, assistant professor of public health at the School of Public Health, “From Insight to Impact: Designing Sustainable, Context-Aware, and Personalized Care for Chronic Conditions.”
  • Sept. 17, noon, Ginger McKay, MA, PhD, assistant professor of public health at the School of Public Health, “Reducing Excessive Antibiotic Use in Pediatric Surgeries, and the Future of Implementation Science in Antibiotic Stewardship.”
  • Sept. 24, noon, Matthew Kreuter, MPH, PhD, the Kahn Family Professor of Public Health and co-director of the Health Communications Collaborative Innovation Research Network at the School of Public Health, “How Healthy is Today’s Health Information Ecosystem?”
  • Oct. 1, noon, Lora Iannotti, MA, PhD, the Lauren and Lee Fixel Distinguished Professor and co-director of the Food and Agriculture Mission (FARM) Innovation Research Network at the School of Public Health, “Why the 3 E’s of the E3 Nutrition Lab matter for public health.”
  • Oct. 8, noon, Abby Barker, MA, PhD, research associate professor of public health at the School of Public Health, “Missouri Medicaid Policies to Build a Systematic and Evidence-Informed Approach to Maternal and Infant Health.”
  • Oct. 15, noon, Rodrigo Reis, MS, PhD, professor of public health at the School of Public Health, “Advancing People, Health and Place Research and Impact.”
  • Oct. 22, noon, Ross Hammond, PhD, the Distinguished Professor in Public Health System Science at the School of Public Health. Talk details TBD.
  • Oct. 29, noon, Susy Stark, PhD, professor of public health at the School of Public Health, “No Place Like Home.”
  • Nov. 5, noon, Patrick Fowler, MA, PhD, professor of public health, director of the doctoral program in public health sciences at the School of Public Health. Talk details TBD.
  • Nov. 6, noon, Christina Stallings, PhD, professor of molecular microbiology at WashU Medicine, “Combating the tuberculosis global health crisis.”
  • Nov. 12, noon, Sara Malone, MSW, PhD, assistant professor of public health at the School of Public Health, “Advancing Systems for the Delivery of Pediatric Care.”
  • Dec. 3, noon, William Effah, MD, MPH, MBA, lecturer at the School of Public Health. Talk details TBD.
  • Dec. 10, noon, Tim McBride, MS, PhD, the Bernard Becker Professor and co-director of the School of Public Health’s Policy and Structural Solutions Innovation Research Network, “Translating Research to Policy: The Example of Medicaid.”
  • Jan. 14, noon, Ross Brownson, PhD, the Steven H. and Susan U. Lipstein Distinguished Professor at the School of Public Health. Talk details TBD.
  • Jan. 21, noon, Kate Barbier, MPH, MSW, lecturer at WashU Public Health. Talk details TBD.
  • Jan. 28, noon, Emmanuel Tetteh, MD, research assistant professor of public health at the School of Public Health. Talk details TBD.
  • Feb. 4, noon, Derek Brown, MA, PhD, professor of public health at the School of Public Health. Talk details TBD.
  • Feb. 11, noon, Rachel Garg, MPH, PhD, assistant professor of public health at the School of Public Health. Talk details TBD.
  • Feb. 12 TBD
  • Feb. 18, noon, Lindsay Stark, MPH, DrPH, director of undergraduate public health education, professor of public health at the School of Public Health. Talk details TBD.
  • Feb. 25, noon, Amy McQueen, PhD, professor of public health at the School of Public Health. Talk details TBD.
  • March 4, noon, Ragini Maddipati, MSW, MPH, senior lecturer at WashU Public Health. Talk details TBD.
  • March 18, noon, Ilana Seff, MPH, DrPH, research associate professor of public health at the School of Public Health. Talk details TBD.
  • March 25, noon, Doug Luke, MA, PhD, the Distinguished Professor in Public Health Systems Science at the School of Public Health. Talk details TBD.
  • April 1, noon, Angela Hobson, MPH, PhD, associate dean for education, professor of teaching at WashU Public Health. Talk details TBD.
  • April 8, noon, Rachel Tabak, PhD, RD, associate professor of public health at the School of Public Health. Talk details TBD.
  • April 15, noon, Morgan Shields, MS, PhD, assistant professor of public health at the School of Public Health. Talk details TBD.
  • April 22, noon, Jean-Francois Trani, MS, MPhil, PhD, professor of public health at the School of Public Health. Talk details TBD.
  • April 29, noon, Debra Haire-Joshu, PhD, RN, MS, MA, associate dean of faculty affairs at the School of Public Health, and the Joyce and Chauncy Buchheit Professor in Public Health. Talk details TBD.
  • Joe Steensma, MPH, MA, EdD, public health professor of practice at the School of Public Health (SPH), spoke Aug. 27, 2025, on “From Toyota to Tilapia: Sustainable Aquaculture Through the Deployment of Lean Production Systems in Rural Nigeria.” Video of the presentation is available here.
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.
  • 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.

School of Public Health Assemblies

These monthly gatherings serve as an opportunity for the WashU Public Health community to hear progress updates and to discuss steps we are taking to build the school. We hope that all SPH faculty and staff will attend these assemblies. There will be a Zoom link for those unable to attend. Locations will be posted here when finalized.

Scheduled Assemblies:

Tuesday, Sept. 2, 10-11 a.m., the School Assembly will be in the Havana Room, on the second floor of 4240 Duncan Avenue, and also available over Zoom (link available in this week’s Inside WashU Public Health internal newsletter.) Here is the agenda.

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 here when finalized.

  • Thursday, Sept. 25, 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:

Faculty breakfast with the dean

Scheduled breakfast meetings: Locations will be posted here when finalized.

  • 9 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 3, Conference Room 3203, third floor of 4300 Duncan Avenue.
  • 10 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 8
  • 9 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 6
  • 9 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 3
  • 9 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 7
  • 9 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 4
  • 9 a.m. Wednesday, March 4
  • 9 a.m. Wednesday, April 1

Staff breakfast or coffee with the dean

Scheduled breakfasts, coffees: Locations will be posted here when finalized.

  • 12 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 11
  • 9 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 8
  • 1 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 13
  • 9 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 10
  • 9 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 14
  • 9 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 11
  • 9 a.m. Wednesday, March 11
  • 9 a.m. Wednesday, April 8

Student coffee chats with the dean

Scheduled coffee chats: Locations will be posted here when finalized.

  • 5 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 25
  • 5 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 15
  • 5 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 12
  • 5 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 27
  • 5 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 18
  • 5 p.m. Tuesday, March 24
  • 5 p.m. Wednesday, April 22

Doctoral student meetings with the dean

Scheduled meetings: Locations will be posted here when finalized.

  • 5 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 24
  • 5 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 16
  • 5 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 18
  • 5 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 16
  • 5 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 20
  • 5 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 17
  • 5 p.m. Tuesday, March 17
  • 5 p.m. Tuesday, April 21

Early-stage investigator meetings with the dean

Scheduled meetings: Locations will be posted here when finalized.

  • 1 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 2, Conference Room 3203, third floor of 4300 Duncan Avenue.
  • 1 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 7
  • 1 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 11
  • 11 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 2
  • 11 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 6
  • 11 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 3
  • 11 a.m. Tuesday, March 3
  • 11 a.m. Tuesday, April 7