WashU researchers including public health experts, have published a study on St. Louis children who experience nonfatal firearm injury.
A public health crisis: Newly published study assesses firearm reinjury among children

Public Health Data and Training Center
WashU researchers including public health experts, have published a study on St. Louis children who experience nonfatal firearm injury.
Rachel Ancona is helping change the way we view and understand data about firearm injuries. Learn more about her work and engagement with the Public Health Data & Training Center.
Public Health Faculty Scholar, Hilary Reno MD, is working to help lower the rate of sexually transmitted infections in St. Louis, which has some of the highest in the country.
2023 dual master’s degree awardee, Zoe Miller discusses her work with the Public Health Data & Training Center and the Life Outside of Violence Program.
The Institute for Public Health continues to evolve with the addition of a few leadership positions at three of its centers.
The Institute’s Data Center is collaborating on the creation of a regional sexual health data platform that will help local health leaders track sexually transmitted infections in our region.
What began as a sociology major turned into a career as a data engineer. Read about the career trajectory of one student who began his path at the Institute for Public Health.
The Institute for Public Health continues its mission as a connector, convener and catalyst for public health solutions by adding new staff.
On November 16, at the Immigrant Service Provider Network’s (ISPN) Annual Conference, researchers from the Institute for Public Health presented results from the study, “Impacts of COVID-19 on immigrant communities & service providers in St. Louis.” The study was a collaboration between ISPN and the Institute’s Center for Human Rights, Gender & Migration, Center for […]
Welcome Ben Cooper – Manager of the Public Health Data & Training Center! Ben’s role as the Center Manager at the Public Health Data & Training Center at the Institute for Public Health is to help develop and build public health data capacity, with a particular focus on health and social services data. A St. […]
How does information like the number of positive COVID-19 cases get from here to there to help decision makers? Read more to find out.
Wrangling the ebb and flow of medical data is a tireless job but members of the Data Center and the St. Louis Regional Data Alliance are making it happen.
According to a new study by the Public Health Data & Training Center, there is a correlation between vacancy and crime. Read more.
One of the strengths of the Institute for Public Health is its flexibility. Faculty and staff at the Public Health Data and Training Center pivoted quickly to support Covid-19 data efforts when the pandemic hit. Covid-19 & Regional Data Infrastructure Data Center Director, Randi Foraker leads an effort to create a regional Covid-19 dataset that […]
Written by Kim Furlow, communications manager for the Institute for Public Health Gonorrhea and chlamydia infections are prevalent here in St. Louis and across the county, and left untreated can result in serious complications such as infertility and pelvic inflammatory disease. These infections are transmitted through sexual contact, and can be diagnosed at a clinic, […]
In her off-campus hours, Dr. Foraker is one of a growing number of women in a primarily male dominated sport: drag racing.
As of July 1, Dr. Randi Foraker has joined Washington University as an Associate Professor in the Division of General Medical Sciences. She serves as the director of the Public Health Data and Training Center at the Institute for Public Health and faculty lead of population health informatics at the Institute for Informatics (I2). In […]
As of July 1, Dr. Randi Foraker has joined Washington University as an Associate Professor in the Division of General Medical Sciences. She serves as the director of the Public Health Data and Training Center at the Institute for Public Health and faculty lead of population health informatics at the Institute for Informatics (I2). In […]
Approximately 3,000 people are tested for gonorrhea and chlamydia in the Barnes-Jewish Hospital emergency department (ED) each year, and until recently 70-80% were lost-to-follow-up. A number of factors contributed to this high rate, including the lack of a robust mechanism in the ED for follow-up care and incorrect contact information. With funding from the Barnes-Jewish […]
The university offered a class this fall that combined data visualization with real-world crime data. This class was the Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Art’s course “Capstone in Design 1: Form and Function.” It included a Data Visualization Skill Lab in which students formed interdisciplinary teams to explore crime data from St. Louis City. […]
Ben Cooper, MPH, manager of the Institute’s Public Health Data and Training Center, recently attended the annual meeting of the American Public Health Association (APHA) and offered two presentations on recent collaborative projects. The first, “Novel approaches to obesity surveillance using population level data,” involved a partnership with the St. Louis City Department of Health […]
The Public Health Data and Training Center at the Institute for Public Health at Washington University in St. Louis will work with Allison King, MD, MPH, institute scholar and assistant professor in the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, on a project to help improve care to patients with sickle cell disease (SCD). […]