Celebrating freedom and wellness: Uniting our community for an empowered Juneteenth

Written by Maeve Fahy, BCL, MD candidate, University College Dublin, Ireland, and the Mark and Cathleen Reifsteck Summer Research Program Scholar in the 2023 Institute for Public Health Summer Research Program As a student in the Institute for Public Health Summer Research Program – Public and Global Health Track, I was thrilled to attend the festivities […]

Local and global period poverty

This student in the Summer Research Program-Public & Global Health Track discusses one of the issues facing more than 10% of the world’s population-meeting basic human needs.

Implementation science should give higher priority to health equity (Links to an external site)

Written by Neil Schoenherr This story was originally published in The Source and features a study by Institute Faculty Scholars, Ross Brownson, Matthew Kreuter, Debra Haire-Joshu and other colleagues. Moving scientific research results into public health and patient care more quickly could have a significant impact on health equity, finds a new paper from researchers […]

Why older people are among the first to get the vaccine

By Nancy Morrow-Howell, MSW, PhD, the Bettie Bofinger Brown Distinguished Professor of Social Policy, Brown School of Social Work and director of the Harvey A. Friedman Center for Aging On December 8, 2020, the first Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine went into the arm of a 90-year-old woman, Margaret Keenan, with the second delivered to an 81-year-old […]

Reflection: Public health in St. Louis

Written by Lauren Jennings, BS Candidate, University of Kansas; SPRIGHT Scholar in the 2020 Institute for Public Health Summer Research Program – Public and Global Health Abbreviated Track  As a rising senior at the University of Kansas, I study Molecular Biology on the premedical track. My experiences working with marginalized groups in my collegiate career paired with my […]

Adapt and respond: The necessity of versatility in public health

 By Samantha Grounds, BSPH nutrition candidate at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ; SPRIGHT Scholar in the 2020 Institute for Public Health Summer Research Program – Public and Global Health Abbreviated Track When discussing how her experience living through 9/11 as a law student in New York City altered her work and […]

How physicians can use their privilege to become a patient’s advocate

 Written by Laasya Vallabhaneni, BS neuroscience and cognitive Science at University of Arizona; SPRIGHT Scholar in the 2020 Institute for Public Health Summer Research Program – Public and Global Health Abbreviated Track The physician is the ultimate patient advocate, finding themselves at an intersection where they have the power to help a patient outside of […]

COVID-19 double jeopardy: The intersection of race and age

Written by Emma Swinford, Natalie Galucia and Nancy Morrow-Howell Harvey A. Friedman Center for Aging at the Institute for Public Health, Washington University in St. Louis The American Society on Aging recently released a statement, which begins, “Age offers no immunity to racism and violence.” In fact, age often magnifies the impact of structural inequalities like racism. […]

Perspectives: Black Lives Matter

Written by Adjoa Cofie, research technician, Washington University School of Medicineand alumnus of the Institute for Public Health Summer Research Program, Public and Global Health Track In the wake of the death of Floyd George, and subsequent nationwide civil unrest over police brutality and systemic racism, many are speaking out about how we can all work […]

COVID-19’s amplification of racial health inequities: A reflection about losing my people

Written by Kamaria Lee, MD candidate at Washington University in St. Louis; collaborator with the Global Health Center on the USAID-ASHA project to Improve Cancer Care in Guatemala Recently, Americans have faced the reality that COVID-19 is not immune to the power of racial inequity. In honest efforts to promote a “we are all in […]

Premature Birth: Paving the Path for my Granddaughter

Written by Ebony B. Carter, MD, MPH, assistant professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Washington University School of Medicine Embed from Getty Images “In the shadows of our finest medical facilities, where kings and shahs travel thousands of miles for the world’s best medical care, black babies continue to die.” My mother opened nearly every […]

Postpartum diabetes screening essential for health equity in women

Paving the path to reproductive equity requires raising awareness of the long term consequences of conditions first diagnosed in pregnancy.  Pregnancy complications like gestational diabetes and pre-eclampsia serve as early warning signs for a woman’s future disease risk; however, our fragmented healthcare system often makes it difficult to effectively monitor and prevent disease in these […]

People as people, not problems

Written by Antonia Asher, MPH Candidate, Tulane University and participant in the 2019 Institute for Public Health Summer Research Program – Public & Global Health Track As a participant of the Institute of Public Health Summer Research Program- Public & Global Health track, I am working with Dr. Darrell Hudson, Associate Professor, Brown School, and his research […]

Seeking, facing and conquering challenge

Written by Amy Jasani, BA, MPH, University of Alabama at Birmingham, participant in the 2019 Institute for Public Health Summer Research Program  – Public & Global Health Track I find it extremely difficult to summarize and reflect on my eight weeks in the Institute for Public Health Summer Research Program – Public and Global Health Track. Where […]

Defining public health research

by Jordan Leith, BS student at University of Tennessee-Knoxville and participant in the 2019 Institute for Public Health Summer Research Program – Public & Global Health Track For much of my undergraduate career, “Public Health” has been an enigmatic term. Many disciplines, ranging from mathematics to anthropology, are readily discerned due to their well-defined subject matter. However, […]

An enjoyable research experience

Written by Alayna Patrick, MS, PhD student at Saint Louis University and alumna of the Summer Research Program – Public & Global Health Track I must say that participating in the Institute for Public Health Summer Research Program – Public and Global Health Track, was one of the most engaging and rewarding experiences of my public […]

Importance of social context in health research

Written by Antonia Asher, MPH Candidate in International Health & Development at the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine and participant in the 2019 Institute for Public Health Summer Research Program – Public & Global Health Track This summer, I am working with Dr. Darrell Hudson, Associate Professor, Brown School, and his […]

The Pruitt-Igoe Myth

Written by Emily Saxon, BS candidate at Michigan State University and participant in the 2019 Summer Research Program – Public & Global Health Track As a native St. Louisan with a keen interest in supporting and revitalizing urban communities, I was looking forward to watching the documentary “The Pruitt-Igoe Myth.” I had heard people in […]

Preterm birth rates in immigrant populations on the rise under trump administration

Written by Monica Villarruel, MPH, 2019 practicum student at the Center for Community Health Partnership & Research at the Institute for Public Health; and Clark-Fox Institute Policy Scholar A 2018 study led by researchers at the Harvard Chan School of Public Health demonstrated a connection between sociopolitical stressors and rising rates of premature births among […]

Why does diversity matter in STEM research?

Written by Tobi Okopie, BS candidate, Georgetown University and participant in the 2019 Institute for Public Health Summer Research Program – Public & Global Health Track On June 4th, Assistant Provost of Diversity Initiatives, Rochelle Smith, challenged us to define the terms we so often use to combat the injustices inherent in the American educational […]

St. Louis bus tour reveals history of racial disparities

Written by Brittany Calkins, BA candidate at Emory University and participant in the 2019 Institute for Public Health Summer Research Program – Public & Global Health Track I am from St. Louis, so when I saw we had a bus tour, I assumed we would be visiting the “classic” St. Louis areas, such as the […]

2019 CUGH conference perspectives

Institute for Public Health Faculty Scholars joined global health colleagues from St. Louis and abroad to speak at the Consortium of Universities for Global Health Conference, March 7.

Action toward food equity

Written by Alyna Sibert, MS, operations manager for the North City Food Hub and Institute for Public Health 2018 Annual Conference speaker The CDC defines health equity as “everyone has the opportunity to be as healthy as possible.”  Healthy People 2020 defines health equity as the “attainment of the highest level of health for all […]

Keeping the public healthy: Who will pay?

Written by Will Ross, MD, MPH, associate dean for diversity, professor of medicine in the School of Medicine and Institute for Public Health 2018 Annual Conference moderator In 2002, The Institute of Medicine issued a report entitled, “Who Will Keep the Public Healthy?” The report concluded that “… public health professionals must have a framework for […]

Mental health equity

At the time of publishing, Jorge Riopedre was president of Casa de Salud. No sooner is there yet another school shooting, or for that matter a mass shooting of any kind, than the mantra of access to mental health services starts pouring forth from the mouth of politicians and activists. Paul Ryan, Speaker of the […]

The intersection of precision medicine and public health

Written by Sarah Wishloff, undergraduate student at Amherst College and participant in the Institute for Public Health Summer Research Program This past week, Dr. William Powderly, the Larry J. Shapiro Director of the Institute for Public Health, led a seminar on the intersection of precision medicine and public health. Precision medicine is a medical model […]

Understanding the significance of my research in the real world

Written by Tiffany Xie, undergraduate student at Indiana University Bloomington and participant in the Institute for Public Health Summer Research Program At the Institute for Public Health Summer Research Program, I am lucky to work under the mentorship of Dr. Kathleen Bucholz, Professor of Psychiatry at the Washington University School of Medicine. Dr. Bucholz is […]

Complexity of care: Voices from the field

Written by Laura Whitehill, medical student at the University College Dublin and participant in the Institute for Public Health Summer Research Program This week’s seminar brought together a panel of experts on various aspects of healthcare. The panelists were: Amy McQueen, PhD, professor at Washington University School of Medicine, whose research specializes in strategies for improving […]