Weekly news from the School of Public Health at Washington University in St. Louis
Dear colleagues,
We start the week with sadness, and with gratitude.
With sadness
As communicated by Dean Dorian Traube, Jeremy Goldbach, the Masters & Johnson Distinguished Professor in Sexual Health and Education at the Brown School, passed away early Saturday morning. Jeremy was also the associate dean for faculty affairs at the Brown School. I only had the privilege of getting to know Jeremy a little bit since my time here, but quickly came to admire him, for what he did every day, and for his dignity in the face of a far-too-early terrible cancer. I can only imagine how difficult this moment is for all who loved him — his family first and foremost, but also his colleagues at the Brown School, and many of our faculty in Public Health who have long intersected with and worked with Jeremy. My thoughts are with the entire community during this difficult time, and in particular with Dean Traube, who is leading the community during this moment of grief while experiencing the loss of a longtime friend.
With gratitude
A note of gratitude to all of our staff and faculty who came to our first-ever get-together as a school community last week. It was truly lovely to have everyone there, a milestone in building a new community. Thank you to all who have done so much to help us get here, and who will do much to elevate the vision of a School of Public Health of consequence.
Joining the School of Public Health
Two secondary faculty and several staff members join the school this week.
Brenda Dvoskin, SJD, an associate professor at WashU Law, joins the School of Public Health as a secondary faculty member. Dvoskin’s research focuses on legal and social questions surrounding sexuality, privacy and digital spaces, with a focus on the regulation of online sexuality.
Jeffrey I. Gordon, MD, the Dr. Robert J. Glaser Distinguished University Professor at WashU Medicine, joins the School of Public Health as a secondary faculty member. Gordon is credited with founding the field of gut microbiome research. His body of work has opened up the vast new therapeutic potential for the microbiome, exemplified by his identification of ways to repair the gut microbiomes of children with malnutrition and restore their healthy growth.
Mikayla Johnson, MSW, MPH, joins the School of Public Health as a research project coordinator in the Health Communication Research Laboratory. A 2022 Brown School graduate, Johnson works on community-engaged health communication research consistent with her interest in the impacts of policy and messaging on population health and trust in public health systems.
Alex Koehl joins the School of Public Health as a UX/UI designer in the Health Communication Research Laboratory. A 2021 graduate of Sam Fox, they bring experience working at the Creative Reaction Lab and the lab’s Equity-Centered Community Design framework into their development of public health communications.
Eileen Michael joins the School of Public Health as a grants accountant with the Health Communication Research Laboratory. She brings more than 25 years of grants and business management experience at the laboratory.
Madison Pickerel, MPH, is a research manager working for Salma Abdalla, MBBS, MPH, DrPH, an assistant professor at the School of Public Health, in the Healthier Futures lab. Madison supports population health research through mixed-methods data collection and analysis, literature synthesis and project management. Her work includes developing data tools, producing manuscripts and reports, and engaging with stakeholders to inform research priorities and communicate findings.
Jennifer Ramirez joins the School of Public Health as the doctoral program manager, a role she held at the Brown School. In collaboration with Patrick Fowler, PhD, director of the Doctoral Program in Public Health Sciences, as well as students and campus and community partners, she works to support the doctoral education mission, with a particular focus on student recruitment, retention, and academic progress and degree completion.
Cherita Washington joins the administrative team at the School of Public Health as the operational excellence lead. In this role, she will drive strategic alignment and operational infrastructure to support the school’s launch and long-term success. With a background in human resources, operations, and organizational transformation, Washington will advance operational excellence through innovation, data and partnership.
Christine Watridge joins the School of Public Health from the Brown School as a program coordinator for the Health Communication Design Studio, affiliated with the Health Communication Research Laboratory. With experience in graphic design, community-engaged research, and human-centered design thinking, she brings an interdisciplinary approach to health communication and design research.
Campus events this week
A webinar, “From Demos to Doing: Using AI Responsibly in the Social Sector,” will be held from 1-3 p.m. Thursday, June 12. It is co-hosted by the Evaluation Association of St. Louis, and Data for Social Impact, of the Brown School’s Center for Social Development. See here for details and to register.
“Kemper Live: Collective Futures” will be held from 2-4 p.m. Saturday, June 14, at the Kemper Art Museum. This is an event to celebrate the exhibition Seeds: Containers of a World to Come through music, dance, and art-making. See here for details and to register.
Public Health Ideas
If you have not had the opportunity to watch any of our Public Health Ideas videos, or recordings of our Talking Public Health seminar series, you can find all such recordings on the WashU Public Health YouTube channel and on our website. Subscribe to the YouTube channel if you would like updates on new recordings.
Public Health News
In a letter published June 7 in The Lancet, Lindsay Stark, DrPH, a professor at the School of Public Health, Ilana Seff, DrPH, a research associate professor at the School of Public Health, and other scholars, argue that recent U.S. funding decisions are putting the world’s most vital violence-prevention tools at risk. These include the Violence Against Children and Youth Surveys, and the Demographic and Health Surveys. Read more on this in WashU’s Source.
Papers of interest
Massy Mutumba, PhD, an assistant professor at the School of Public Health, is senior author of “Assessing the association between sport participation and suicide ideation and behaviors among middle and high school students in the U.S. between 2007 and 2023,” published online in the Annals of Epidemiology.
Mary Politi, PhD, a professor at the School of Public Health, is senior author of the article “Costs of non-metastatic prostate cancer treatment among privately insured men in the United States,” published in PLOS One.
Podcast of interest
Rebecca Messbarger, PhD, a professor of Italian in WashU’s Department of Romance Languages and Literatures in Arts & Sciences, and secondary faculty member at the School of Public Health, has launched a podcast called “The Eye,” a medical humanities podcast that aims to explore universal experiences of well-being, illness and care.
From the associate dean for administration
There will be a School of Public Health Compass session 1 p.m. Monday, June 9, in 333A Goldfarb Hall and via Zoom. These sessions are designed to support faculty and staff in navigating key administrative processes involving human resources, IT, finance and grants. The informal sessions offer helpful guidance, updates and time for questions and answers.
Also this week
In The Healthiest Goldfish, some thoughts on “Equanimity in a fraught moment.”
And, in JAMA Health Forum, a piece that examines support for the care economy among caregivers, noncaregivers, Democrats and Republicans.
To the week, with suitable reflection.
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
Vice-provost for Interdisciplinary Initiatives
Washington University in St Louis
Past PHiPs, as well as Community notes, are archived here. You are receiving this email if you signed up for it or are a core member of the SPH community. Please feel free to reach out to Elizabethe Holland Durando, our director of communications, if you would like an item added in a future PHiP, or if you would like to change your subscription.