Weekly news from the School of Public Health at Washington University in St. Louis
Dear colleagues,
Recovering from a natural disaster
The past week was marked in St. Louis by recovery from the worst tornado to hit the city in 15 years, and certainly the worst to hit WashU. Many members of our community had damage to their homes, schools were closed, electricity was out for much of the week. In addition, there was mourning in the community at large for the lives lost in the storms, and a sharp recognition, yet again, that it is areas that are already economically precarious that experience the greater burden of traumatic events such as extreme weather events. All of this takes a toll, and recovery will take some time. So a note of acknowledgement of loss and grief, and a note of hope for strength to emerge from tragedy. If anyone is interested, I wrote about disasters and their consequences, informed by these tornadoes, in The Healthiest Goldfish, here. As noted previously, resources for those affected by the tornadoes are available here. Two other helpful lists of resources, and ways to help, are here and here.
The past week
Coincident with the 78th World Health Assembly 2025, we hosted a Washington University Ideas event on “Listening to people to improve health systems: Post-COVID trends in public attitudes on healthcare,” in partnership with the Quality Evidence for Health System Transformation (QuEST) Network and the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research. A recording of the event is here. In times when global engagement in the ideas of health is being questioned, this was a terrific, well-received opportunity for WashU to take the stage as part of the larger community of ideas that generate health.
Accreditation review: Call for comments
The School of Public Health is undergoing an accreditation review by the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH). Part of this process includes the provision of a third-party comment period, which allows anyone, including students, alumni, faculty, staff, community and practice partners, and members of the public, to share relevant information about the school directly with CEPH. If you have any information you would like to share with CEPH to inform their review, send your comments to submissions@ceph.org by Oct. 17.
Joining the School of Public Health
Three new staff members join the school this week.
Ben Cooper joins the school as the director of data management and analytics. Ben is an experienced data and relationship strategist with more than 20 years of experience in the higher-education, nonprofit and corporate sectors.
Amanda Gilbert, PhD, is a recent graduate of the Brown School. She joins the School of Public Health as a postdoctoral fellow working with associate professor Rachel Tabak, PhD. Gilbert’s research focuses on operationalizing community context and systems to identify opportunities to facilitate implementation of community-based chronic disease prevention programs and policies.
Ashley Sturm joins the school as the manager of the Dissemination & Implementation Science Innovation Research Network. She has more than 15 years of experience in public health, leading cross-network initiatives and fostering collaboration through human-centered design. Ashley is pursuing an MSW at the Brown School, focused on trauma-informed care and psychedelic-assisted therapy.
Public Health Ideas
A video of my conversation with Lindsey Filiatreau, MPH, PhD, an assistant professor at the School of Public Health, about a paper she co-authored, “Intersectional HIV- and depression-related stigma among people with HIV entering HIV care in Cameroon.” The paper was published in the journal AIDS and Behavior and is available here.
SPH in the Record
A Q&A in the Record with Salma Abdalla, MBBS, MPH, DrPH, an assistant professor at the School of Public Health, about how to manage mental health in the wake of the recent storms.
Public health news
A study by Morgan Shields, PhD, a public health researcher and assistant professor, on the effects of private equity ownership of psychiatric hospitals was highlighted in the Source.
Public health in the news
Tim McBride, PhD, the Bernard Becker Professor at the School of Public Health, was quoted in a Washington Post article about the effects of Medicare cuts on rural health, and his Missouri Medicaid Enrollment Dashboard was cited by U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., in a New York Times opinion piece opposing cuts to Medicaid. Learn more about McBride’s research on Medicare and Medicaid policy here.
A paper of interest
A timely review of the global progress in physical activity was published in the Journal of Physical Activity and Health by Rodrigo Reis, PhD, a professor in the School of Public Health.
To a better week.
Warmly,
Sandro
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
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