March 1, 2026

Across much of modern health research, children are measured — but not always heard. A new analysis argues that qualitative methods that center the voices of children are necessary to improve pediatric care.

Toxic metals in soil was among the topics WashU faculty discussed with gardeners at the recent Seed St. Louis Community Agricultural Conference. But the WashU attendees had questions for the growers, too.

Derek Brown brings an economic lens to public health research. He determines the costs of social issues, analyzing the financial impact on institutions and households, as well as the financial burden on people.

On Tuesday, February 24, Andria Eisman, an associate professor of community health in the College of Education at Wayne State University, presented, "Advancing Public Health Impact within Youth-Serving Systems: Integrating Implementation Science and Economic Methods for Prevention." 

Amy McQueen, a professor at WashU Public Health and an expert in social psychology and health behavior theory, gave a talk titled, "Challenges in Health Behavior Research" on Wednesday, February 25.

This week, there will be four presentations.

Seven MPH, PhD and dual-degree WashU Public Health students were honored for their research, which was showcased at the university's annual Graduate Research Symposium.

WashU Public Health Professor Lindsay Stark was an adviser for a new BMJ research collection on child mental health in conflict situations, and also co-authored one of its papers. The collection calls for expansion of the humanitarian evidence base to ensure contextually relevant, comprehensive, and long-term responses; scalable and sustainable interventions to be integrated into existing health, education, and social systems; and global commitment and funding to protect the mental health of children affected by war. The articles are free to access.

Media coverage of WashU Public Health's people, research, and other news.

Karen Joynt Maddox, a WashU Medicine professor and member of the WashU Public Health secondary faculty, led a study that found that rates of cardiovascular disease in women are likely to go up in the next few decades, partly due to the rising prevalence of diabetes, obesity and high blood pressure. (Source: NBC News. The study also was reported on by USA Today, U.S. News & World Report, and other news outlets.)

Music can shift the climate change conversation away from statistics and into a realm of emotion, said McKelvey Engineering's Dan Giammar, a member of WashU Public Health's secondary faculty and co-director of the school's SPHERE research network. (Source: St. Louis Public Radio)

A new policy addresses a real issue for rare diseases, but there are concerns it may be applied inappropriately to more common diseases, said WashU Law's Rachel Sachs, a member of the WashU Public Health secondary faculty. (Source: National Public Radio)

The American Red Cross warned that it is experiencing a severe blood shortage. From this past December to January, the U.S. blood supply fell by 35%, possibly due to an active flu season that kept some people from donating. We asked St. Louisans about it.

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.

WashU Public Health's Emmanuel Tetteh, a research assistant professor, and Alison Antes, an associate professor at WashU Medicine and a member of the WashU Public Health secondary faculty, were the lead and senior authors, respectively, on, "Ethical considerations in implementation research: A scoping review of key principles, unintended consequences, and emerging ethical guidance," published in Implementation Science Communications. WashU Public Health co-authors included Nwali Anidi, a research project coordinator; Gifty Aboagye-Mensah, a research assistant; and secondary faculty members Elvin Geng, a professor at WashU Medicine; Byron Powell, an associate professor at the Brown School; and Mark Huffman, a professor at WashU Medicine.

Richard Griffey, a professor of emergency medicine at WashU Medicine and a member of the WashU Public Health secondary faculty, was the first and corresponding author on, “Identifying adverse events associated with high-risk opioid administration using the emergency department trigger tool,” published in Academic Emergency Medicine.

WashU Public Health’s Amanda Gilbert, a postdoctoral researcher; Debra Haire-Joshu, the Joyce and Chauncy Buchheit Professor in Public Health; and Rachel Tabak, an associate professor, co-authored, “Accessibility, acceptability, and usage during COVID-19 of the evidence-based intervention Healthy Eating and Active Living Taught at Home (HEALTH): Implications for implementation strategies,” published in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity.

Mark Fiala, an assistant professor at WashU Medicine and a member of the WashU Public Health secondary faculty, was the senior author on, “A call for compassion: How you can help get multiple myeloma added to the Social Security Administration’s Compassionate Allowances list,” published in Clinical Lymphoma, Myeloma and Leukemia.

How do we better deploy market-based solutions to improve health care in the U.S.?

In this episode of JAMA Health Forum's podcast, "Conversations," public policy expert Lanhee Chen of Stanford University joins JAMA Health Forum Editor-in-Chief Sandro Galea to discuss how market-based approaches can complement public strategies to create a health-care system that is more adaptive, responsive, and fiscally sustainable. Listen to the episode, titled, "Market-Based Solutions to Improve U.S. Health Care."

In the most recent Healthiest Goldfish, Dean Galea shares his thoughts on "Defining the parameters of debate: How to cool the temperature of our often-heated public conversation."

Also, Dean Galea and WashU Public Health Assistant Professor Salma Abdalla co-authored "Embracing complexity and innovation to tackle the social determinants of health," in BMJ Global Health.

Tuesday, March 17, 2026, 4 p.m. CT
At WashU and online

"Better Ways of Knowing" is a multiyear initiative led by the Healthier Futures Lab at WashU Public Health, in collaboration with the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research. The focus of this convening is “Asking Better Questions to Improve the Health of Populations.” 

Tuesday, March 31, 2026, 4 p.m. CT
At WashU and online

Dean Galea will moderate a panel featuring national leaders in public health and their thoughts on the erosion of public health infrastructure funding and the consequences for preparedness, workforce stability, and population health. They will discuss strategies to safeguard core public health functions, and other ideas regarding population health.  

Tuesday, April 14, 2026, 9 a.m. CT
At WashU and online

This symposium will bring together leading voices to consider the future for global health amid reduced commitments to health-related development assistance, as well as calls to reform or replace the institutions underpinning global health policy and coordination since the end of World War II.

1 Brookings Drive
St. Louis, MO 63130

[email protected]

Manage preferences | Unsubscribe
Sign up if you received this as a forward.