Weekly news from the School of Public Health at Washington University in St. Louis
Dear colleagues,
Good morning. I hope everyone has had a fine weekend, even as the world swirls around us.
There has been much that has transpired in the past week that may weigh on those of us engaged in the academic world with a commitment to the health of the public. The new administration has announced changes to indirect cost structures for federal grants, effectively cuts to the research enterprise of this country. At heart this is a reconsideration of the national commitment to health research. More parochially this poses challenges to our way of doing this work over many decades. As with much else that has emerged since Jan. 20, there remain here many unknowns, and I refer everyone to Chancellor Martin’s note about this over the weekend noting the university’s engagement with the issue and the planning and thinking through outcomes and approaches that will evolve as more becomes clear. We shall have occasion to discuss and iterate on this further I am sure in weeks to come.
In a world that is much larger than ourselves, the shuttering of USAID — an agency that has done much to save lives worldwide — has to trouble any of us who are concerned with the health of populations worldwide. It also remains unclear whether, or how, the U.S. will follow through on commitments it has long made to other countries, particularly through the PEPFAR program, and whether any of our national efforts will fill the void in service delivery that is now occasioned by these changes. Having worked in many of these countries, and closely with so many colleagues who have dedicated their lives to this work, it is impossible to engage with these developments without sadness. One hopes that wisdom and compassion will, at the end of the day, prevail and that we do continue to inhabit the obligation to care of others that comes with the immense privilege we enjoy as a country.
And finally, there are actions being ushered in that signal exclusion. This portends — and maybe reflects — shifting social commitments to issues that have long been at the heart of public health. I have noted before that the moment calls on us to maintain a generosity of spirit about the possibility of new ways of doing things, but in so doing it is also important to ensure we are clear about our values. We are as a school committed, and always will be, to ensuring that everyone has a space in our community. I have written before that I do not see this commitment as being at odds with aspirations for excellence in any way. I also have written that I do not think othering of any group should ever be acceptable. It is on us to build the kind of community that leverages a range of backgrounds and a plurality of perspectives to catalyze excellence in our science and scholarship, and in so doing to show that it is exactly such a community that can play a central role in creating a healthier world for all.
And that is what we have been doing the past week and will do the coming week. Thank you for being a part of that journey.
The past week
We had several events in the past week. I had the pleasure of talking to New York Times journalist and filmmaker Adam Ellick in a fireside chat about global storytelling. We also hosted three Talking Public Health seminars, featuring Dr. Menmeng Ji, Dr. Carrie Breton, and Dr. Katherine Dowdell. All Talking Public Health seminars are archived here.
Joining the School of Public Health
Angeline Gacad, MPH, joined the school Feb. 1. She works with Maura Kepper, PhD, MPH, and the Prevention Research Center and is managing a PREVENT digital health intervention clinical trial and the evaluation of the D4DS planner.
The coming week
Please join us for our School Assembly on Feb. 12, 10:30-11:30 a.m., in Umrath Lounge, Umrath Hall.
Also, there are three Talking Public Health seminars this week. They will feature:
Theresa (Tracy) Bastain, PhD, MPH, an associate professor in the Department of Population and Public Health Sciences at University of Southern California, at noon Tuesday, Feb. 11. She will speak on “Maternal Origins of Health and Disease: Investigating Pregnancy as a Susceptible Window of Exposure for Women’s Health.” The talk will be in Brown Lounge, in Brown Hall. Register here to attend in person or via Zoom.
Alvin Thomas, PhD, a postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Psychiatry at WashU Medicine, at noon Wednesday, Feb. 12. He will speak on “Research Frameworks to Promote Healthy Aging: Insights from Frailty & Resilience.” The talk will be in 333A Goldfarb Hall on the Danforth Campus. Register here to attend in person or on Zoom.
Pasquale Rummo, PhD, MPH, an associate professor in the Department of Population Health, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, at noon Thursday, Feb. 13. He will speak on “Social Determinants of Diet and Strategies to Improve Healthy Eating Behaviors: Food and Nutrition Policy.” The talk will be in 333A Goldfarb Hall on the Danforth Campus. Register here to attend in person or on Zoom.
Public Health ideas
A video of my conversation with Matthew Kreuter, PhD, a Brown School professor in the field of health communications, focused on a paper Kreuter co-authored, “Repeated Exposure to COVID-19 Misinformation: A Longitudinal Analysis of Prevalence and Predictors in a Community Sample,” is here. Thank you to Professor Kreuter for being a part of this
Also this week
If interested, this week a blog in The Healthiest Goldfish, on building a healthier world as a matter of social duty.
Warmly,
Sandro
Sandro Galea, MD, DrPH
Margaret C. Ryan Dean of the School of Public Health
Eugene S. and Constance Kahn Distinguished Professor in Public Health
Washington University in St. Louis
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