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12/19/2016 9:31:25 AM
Science and action are the two faces of public health: each is strengthened and reinforced by the other. Facts and science can motivate and support action; effective action requires facts and the need to act motivates our search for facts.
Today, at the end of 2016, at a time of fake news and the frequent decoupling of political discourse from truth and facts, we need to redouble our commitment to the two faces of public health: yes to action and activism, and yes also to the facts than describe reality, speak truth, and thus empower and sustain action.
May the year 2017 be one of renewed commitment to what we in public health, through action and facts, can do to make our societies healthier and more fulfilling for all.
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11/14/2016 1:48:34 PM
The recent campaign and election have created turmoil, uncertainly and anxiety among many of us, and most certainly within the public health community.
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10/25/2016 9:27:18 AM
Nearly 35,000 people came together in Quito, Ecuador to discuss the future of cities across the world. The meeting, formally the third United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development had as its goal the adoption of the future urban agenda for the planet.
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9/26/2016 1:24:00 PM
As we begin a new academic year and welcome 153 new graduate students, 22 new undergraduate majors, and 8 new faculty to our school, it is worth taking a moment to reflect on who we are and our mission as a school of public health.
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7/14/2016 9:30:51 AM
Two important, but quite different, events over the past few weeks made me reflect on what it means to adopt a true “public health” approach to improving population health, and reminded me of the often cited quote from Rudolf Virchow, famous physician, anthropologist, pathologist and politician that “mass diseases require mass solutions”.
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5/27/2016 1:24:29 PM
This month Camara Jones visited our school to deliver the Jonathan Mann Health and Human Rights Memorial Lecture and eloquently spoke about racism and the multifaceted ways in which racism can affect health. When we think about the impact of racism on health one of the first things that comes to mind is what Dr. Jones refers to as “personally-mediated” racism. Personally mediated racism results in a collection of often subtle but pervasive and persistent daily experiences that can set off the body’s “fight or flight” responses leading to a cascade of physiologic effects that can trigger things like deposition of body fat, diabetes, and elevations of blood pressure. Dr. Jones also spoke about the role of internalized racism, in her words “the acceptance by members of the stigmatized races of negative messages about their own abilities and intrinsic worth”. Internalized racism can also have subtle yet important effects on health. But perhaps the most profound way in which racism affects health has to do with institutionalized racism.
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4/28/2016 8:41:32 AM
What should we do to improve health in our city? How can we shift the health of whole populations so that everyone is healthier and inequalities in health by race, ethnicity or social class are reduced? This is the big question for public health, something we are often asked but regrettably often don't have good answers for.
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