The first annual symposium of WashU Public Health’s Solutions through Planetary Health Research (SPHERE) network explored how infectious disease risk is changing as the environment changes, and why coordinated, multisectoral collaborations are essential to respond effectively.
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WashU Public Health’s Translational Science Benefits Model team has been named a winner of the Translational Science Education and Training Challenge. The team was recognized for their work training early-career scientists how to measure and communicate the impact of their research.
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WashU Public Health will host a convening February 10 to explore how dissemination and implementation science can enhance communication strategies so that health information is easier to understand and act on, and able to hold its ground in a crowded information landscape.
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Ragini Maddipati, who has master's degrees in social work and public health, says her passion lies in dual degrees and the unique opportunity they allow students to expand their impact by being at the intersection of two disciplines.
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Nhial T. Tutlam, of the Brown School and a secondary faculty member at SPH, presented on January 20 “Theory-informed interventions to address the mental health impact of war trauma among children from refugee families resettled in the United States and those living in refugee settlements in sub-Saharan Africa."
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David Spielman, director of the Innovation Policy & Scaling Unit at the International Food Policy Research Institute in Washington, D.C., presented on January 22 “Public goods, private investment, and innovation in the global food system."
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This week, Emmanuel Tetteh MD, MPH, a research assistant professor at WashU Public Health, will give a talk at noon Wednesday, January 28, in Danforth University Center (DUC), Room 234, and over Zoom. His talk is titled, “A Systems Approach to Expand HIV/STI Testing Access in St. Louis: The Clear Path Collaborative.”
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Media coverage of WashU Public Health's people, research, and other news.
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WashU Public Health's Tim McBride discussed the health insurance marketplace, Medicaid's vital role for working families, rural health care economics and more. (Source: The Catalyst)
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Dean Sandro Galea emphasized the need to depoliticize health, embrace interdisciplinary solutions and refocus on prevention during a Civic Café discussion, urging students and community members to see health as a unifying force and driver of societal progress. (Source: Student Life)
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On January 5, the CDC changed its recommendations for childhood vaccines, reducing the number of vaccines that are recommended. Forty percent of St. Louisans reported hearing about the changes.
iHeard is a listening project of the Health Communication Research Laboratory at WashU Public Health. iHeard surveys about 200 people who live or work in St. Louis weekly to find out what they know, believe and care about in regard to health.
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WashU Public Health's Douglas Luke, the Distinguished Professor in Public Health Systems Science; Sara Malone, an assistant professor; and Dean Sandro Galea co-authored, "The Road from Science to Health: The Importance of Designing For, Measuring, and Communicating Impact in Public Health," published in the Annual Review of Public Health.
Lindsey Filiatreau, an assistant professor at WashU Public Health, was the first author on, "Depression and the revolving door of HIV care: using multistate approaches to understand complex longitudinal exposure/outcome relationships among a cohort of people entering HIV care in Cameroon from 2019 to 2020," published in BMJ Public Health. Aaloke Mody, an associate professor at WashU Medicine and a member of the WashU Public Health secondary faculty, was a co-author.
Nathaniel Dell, an assistant professor; Hannah Szlyk, an assistant professor; and Patricia Cavazos-Rehg, a professor – all in the Department of Psychiatry at WashU Medicine and members of the WashU Public Health secondary faculty – co-authored "Leveraging a digital health intervention to improve recovery outcomes among people with substance misuse experiencing housing insecurity," published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence.
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A huge honor to have participated in this event and to see what the WashU School of Public Health is developing on planetary health. What an incredible group of faculty, staff and students that will be pushing the field in brand new directions. What really stood out to me is the spirit of collaboration and humility. Super exciting!
— Neil Vora, MD
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In this episode, "Introducing the Purple Public Health Project," Dr. Salma Abdalla is joined by Dean Galea to launch the Purple Public Health Project, an initiative that aims to start a conversation about how public health thinks, acts, and communicates so people of all stripes, ideologies, and perspectives can be reached.
Their conversation reflects the project’s ambition to encourage more rigorous thinking about public health, engaging across ideological and value differences without sacrificing scientific integrity or moral clarity. They consider the interplay between science and values, the distinction between being political and being partisan, and why public health must remain a broad and inclusive endeavor if it is to endure.
Read more about the project below, in The Healthiest Goldfish.
"Complicating the Narrative” is hosted by Professor Abdalla and supported by WashU Public Health and the Frick Initiative.
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Dean Galea and Salma Abdalla introduce the Purple Public Health Project in the newest post in The Healthiest Goldfish.
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| Public Health Ideas convenings |
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| Monday, January 26, 2026, 4 p.m. CT
Online only
Due to inclement weather, this event will be online only. It explores the long-term impact of war on child development, the ethics of cross-cultural trauma research, and how evidence-based interventions can support recovery in the most challenging circumstances.
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| Tuesday, February 10, 2026, 9 a.m. CT
At WashU and online
This gathering will explore how implementation science — the field that studies how to put evidence into practice — can help us communicate more effectively so that accurate, trustworthy health information is able to hold its ground in a crowded information landscape.
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The WashU Public Health Moment is published by the School of Public Health Office of Communications. You can reach us at sphcomms@wustl.edu.
Visit publichealth.washu.edu for the latest news and information, and follow us on social media.
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