November 1, 2019

The Lindy Institute's Urban Innovation Fellows were featured in local publications recently:

The Philadelphia Citizen highlighted the many complexities of what Innovation Fellow Chris Spahr and Parkside CDC are trying to do with Solar Energy in East Parkside, documenting their recent effort to change Pennsylvania law to allow their project to proceed. 

Innovation Fellow and Emergency Physician Priya Mammen authored an op-ed in the Inquirer as part of the mind-changing experiences series. As Mammen writes about her evolution toward policy advocate from ER doc:

"These experiences made me realize that my best work as a physician would not come from staying within the fortress of medicine. It would require informing policymakers on the gaps in systems — from insurance to mental health to housing — that I saw hurting my patients on a daily basis.

I entered the policy realm, first to answer questions as an expert on subjects like opioid use disorder. In the world of medicine, decisions hinged on data and clinical evidence. But I was surprised to learn this was not always the case for policy decisions that would affect entire populations. I couldn’t believe I was often the only practicing physician at many of these discussions. With an increasing sense of responsibility, I ended up serving on the Mayor’s Task Force to Combat the Opioid Epidemic in 2017, and several related committees and advocacy tables since."
  

Congrats to both for their leadership on some of the most pressing challenges facing Philadelphia and cities across the country!