From the dean

On accreditation

Colleagues,

This was an important week for the school. We were visited by accreditors from the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) to review our progress toward becoming a fully accredited school.

The accreditation visit could not have gone better. Out of 35 criteria that form the basis of the accreditation, we fully met 34 criteria, with 1 partially met criterion, which we can readily address. This is truly terrific, and is a credit to the work of so many, the culmination of a 20-year journey here at WashU that I know many of you have been on. 

In terms of next steps, the accreditors will take this now to CEPH council; we shall have a formally accredited school following a council meeting in June 2026. 

There are very many people to thank for this step. A thank you to all who met with the accreditors while they were here, and to every one of our community members — staff, students, faculty, community members, alumni, and friends — whose work made this step possible. A thank you to the faculty and staff whose public health scholarship when they moved to WashU started us on this journey, to those who were part of the Institute for Public Health, to those who nurtured the program in public health, and to those who did the formative work to get us ever closer to a school in the past few years. And, in these recent years, a particular thank you to Liz Vestal, Sydney Zarate Sada, and Angela Hobson, who have done so very much to keep us all together, moving forward. 

This is the scaffolding now on which we will build the future together, and that, I am much looking forward to.

One last note: As we head into the Thanksgiving break, I want to wish all a warm, restful break with loved ones. With much gratitude for the work we do together. 

Warmly,

Sandro

SPH annual survey reminder

To those who have completed the annual school survey, thank you. If you have not taken it yet, you can find the survey here. It will be open until Wednesday, November 26. Your feedback helps to develop a stronger school community. Plus, participants can enter a raffle to win exciting WashU SPH swag.

Faculty and staff holiday party

If you have not had a chance to respond to the invitation, to all SPH faculty and staff, to our first annual holiday party, please RSVP via this form. The party will begin at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, December 11, at Work and Leisure. Loved ones also are invited. There is much to celebrate together.

From the interim associate dean for research

Learning opportunities

The Trauma-Informed Data Science and Digital Health for IPV Prevention Among Mothers program at Emory University welcomes applications for its next cohort. Early-career researchers — doctoral students, postdocs, or junior faculty within 10 years of their terminal degrees — are eligible to participate. The aim is to foster the next generation of researchers who contribute to reducing maternal morbidity and mortality caused by intimate partner violence and intimate partner homicide, by harnessing data science and digital health technologies. The six-month program runs February 1 to July 31, 2026, and includes asynchronous and synchronous online modules plus a four-day, in-person summer intensive in June 2026 at Emory’s Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing. Tuition is free for accepted participants, and travel awards are available. All applications should be submitted by Friday, November 28. 

NYU’s Global Center for Implementation Science will host a training on policy-focused implementation science online January 20 and 21. The learning objectives of the training are to understand relevant theories and frameworks, study designs, measures, and concepts related to policy implementation science and apply this knowledge to grant and project development. The cost is $500. For more information and to register, go to the Policy Implementation Science Training page. For questions, contact Jonathan Purtle at NYU.

Funding opportunities

The Klingenstein Third Generation Foundation is accepting applications for its Transformation of Mental Health Care grants, supporting research that demonstrates the benefits of innovative, scalable approaches to delivering or expanding access to mental health care for children and adolescents. This opportunity is intended for projects that build on strong pilot data and adapt interventions for broad implementation using principles from community-engaged research and implementation science. Awards provide $200,000 total over two years. The application deadline is December 15.  

The Elevance Health Foundation supports community-based nonprofit organizations nationwide that are improving lives in vulnerable populations with a focus on four key areas: maternal/in­fant health; food as medicine; behavioral health; and community resiliency & disaster relief. Grants generally span one to three years, and funding levels are determined per project need. The application process varies by focus area, with current deadlines January 31 for Behavioral Health and July 31 for Maternal/Infant Health. 

A compilation of open funding opportunities can be found on the SPH Funding Opportunities page.

Call for papers

The Global Social Welfare Journal is accepting submissions for a special issue on “Climate Change and its Impact in Sub-Saharan Africa,” with a deadline of April 30. The special issue will be curated by three co-editors, including SPH’s Professor Rodrigo Reis. The issue seeks innovative, interdisciplinary research that offers clear implications for children, families, and communities. Topics of interest include climate-related health impacts, livelihoods and well-being, forced migration, gender dimensions, adaptation strategies, AI applications, evidence-based interventions, and community-engaged research. 

SPH events this week

There are no formal SPH events scheduled this week. Enjoy your holiday!

Other events

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 three new secondary faculty to SPH this week.

James Krings, MD, MSCI, is a pulmonologist and assistant professor at WashU Medicine. His work spans implementation science, health communication, and health policy, including collaborations with MO HealthNet. He partners with local federally qualified community health centers to strengthen asthma care, including through the CHEST Study, and is actively seeking new collaborations with public health and community partners. 

James Li, MD, MEd, is an assistant professor of emergency medicine at WashU Medicine. A medical director for multiple EMS agencies and fire departments in the St. Louis region, Li cares for patients in the emergency department and the prehospital environment. His academic interest is in developing EMS educational innovations to improve patient care outside of the hospital. 

Stephen Liang, MD, MPHS, is an associate professor of medicine at WashU Medicine. An infectious diseases specialist and emergency physician, Liang is particularly interested in infection prevention and infectious disease management in the emergency department, and in prehospital care, including in disaster settings.

SPH Notables

Xu speaks on health effects of psychedelic decriminalization

Kevin Xu, MD, MPH, an assistant professor of psychiatry at WashU Medicine and a member of the SPH secondary faculty, was invited to give a talk to the NIH Psychedelic Science and Medicine Group last week. With his collaborator, Danielle Adams of the University of Missouri, Xu spoke on, “Understanding the Impact of Psychedelic Decriminalization in the United States: Combining Administrative Data and Secret Shopper Methods.”

Nabbosa awarded grant to study depression

Imelda Nabbosa, a first-year doctoral student in Public Health Sciences, received a grant from WashU’s IMPACT Global Center to carry out a pilot study titled, “Addressing Peripartum Depression among HIV-Positive Adolescents in Uganda: A pilot feasibility study.” The pilot grants program provides seed funding for studies that address the intersection of HIV, poverty, and mental health in sub-Saharan African countries and have the potential for extramural funding upon study completion.

MPH students named Cora Faith Walker Scholars

MPH students Hailey Jones, Yasmine Kwaning, Aaron Nwafor and Jemima Quartey were named 2025 Cora Faith Walker Scholars by the Cora Faith Walker Foundation on November 15. The honor is given to students who “carry forward the spirit, strength and vision of Cora Faith Walker.” Walker, who earned her MPH in 2010 from the Brown School and later served in the Missouri House of Representatives, was a community leader who fought for social justice and health equity before her death in 2022. 

Looking ahead: Events in coming weeks

‘Navigating next steps following The MAHA Report’

WashU’s Children and Youth Collaborative Network is hosting a meeting at noon Friday, December 5, in Brown Hall’s Brown Lounge and over Zoom to discuss the MAHA Report. The meeting will include an overview of the report from a government relations expert, followed by a panel discussion with investigators whose research is directly relevant to the report’s stated priorities, including SPH Professor Lora Iannotti and WashU Medicine’s Patricia Cavazos-Rehg, a member of the SPH secondary faculty. See here for details and to register.

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.