March 8, 2026

There is no pattern of evidence that federal food assistance programs such as school meals and grocery benefits promote unhealthy weight in children, a study by WashU researchers reports. On the contrary, programs with evidence-based nutrition standards may support healthy weight.

A multidisciplinary panel of experts will discuss that question as part of a WashU Public Health convening March 17. The event is part of an initiative to reimagine how public health knowledge is generated, communicated and translated into action.

Joe Steensma, WashU Public Health professor of practice, has been installed as the inaugural E. Desmond and Mary Ann Lee Professor. His especially festive installation ceremony drew a wide cross-section of attendees.

Environmental epidemiologist Tracy Bastain researches how environmental burdens such as chemical pollutants, psychosocial factors and the built environment affect the health of pregnant people and their children.

On Tuesday, March 3, Whitney C. Irie, an assistant professor at Boston College School of Social Work, a lecturer at Harvard Medical School, and a member of The Fenway Institute research faculty, presented, “In the Wake: What Black Women Teach Us about Health, Care, and Implementation.” 

Ragini Maddipati, a senior lecturer at WashU School of Public Health and faculty liaison for the dual-degree MPH programs, gave a presentation Wednesday, March 4, titled, "Exploring Avenues for Enhancing Public Health Education." 

Matthew Boyce, an assistant professor at Texas A&M University School of Public Health, and a faculty affiliate at the university's USA Center for Rural Public Health Preparedness, presented, “Un(der)prepared: The Need to Rethink and Reinforce Public Health Preparedness.” The talk was Thursday, March 5.

And Jennifer Layden, an infectious diseases physician, epidemiologist and senior vice president for the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, gave a talk titled, "Public Health Practice: Building Partnerships to Protect our Communities.” The talk was Friday, March 6.

Tuberculosis researcher Christina Stallings, a WashU Medicine professor and WashU Public Health secondary faculty member, has been named a senior member of the National Academy of Inventors.

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

Chancellor Andrew D. Martin delivered the annual State of the University address March 2. Among the other speakers at the event was Dean Sandro Galea, who offered an update on the School of Public Health. (Source: Student Life)

Research by the Brown School's Cal Halvorsen, a WashU Public Health secondary faculty member, shows that volunteering can contribute to healthy aging by providing social interaction and physical activity. (Source: Real Simple)

McKelvey Engineering's Alvitta Ottley, a WashU Public Health secondary faculty member, joins the U.N.'s Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence, which aims to bridge the knowledge gap in AI and assess its real-world impact. (Source: The St. Louis American)

Multivitamins, intermittent fasting, and seed oils are currently popular health topics online and on social media. For each of the three, we asked St. Louis adults if it was beneficial for health, and if they wanted to learn more about it. Here’s what iHeard found.

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.

Jean-Francois Trani, a professor at WashU Public Health, co-senior authored, “The Population Neuroscience-Dementia Syndemics Framework to better understand global sex- and gender-based risk in low- and middle-income countries,” published in Nature Aging.

WashU Public Health's Rodrigo Reis, a professor; Yi Wang, a postdoctoral researcher; and Milena Franco Silva, a PhD student, co-authored, "Enhancing the socioecological model to integrate equity and planetary health: a framework for understanding complex interventions shaping population health and active living," published in the Journal of Physical Activity and Health.

WashU Public Health’s Abigail Barker, a research associate professor, and Ginger McKay, an assistant professor, along with secondary faculty members Michelle Silver, an assistant professor, and Allison King, a professor, both at WashU Medicine, co-authored, “A multicomponent strategy to increase human papillomavirus vaccination rates in primary care: a cluster randomized clinical trial,” published in JAMA Network Open.

Sara Malone, a WashU Public Health assistant professor, co-authored, “Internalized stigma among pediatric patients with osteosarcoma and retinoblastoma in Guatemala, Jordan, and Zimbabwe,” published in Frontiers in Oncology.

In the most recent Healthiest Goldfish, Dean Galea discusses a topic weighing on many minds and hearts at the moment, "The human consequences of war: Addressing the physical and mental health effects of conflict."

Also, Dean Galea co-authored, "Progress towards Healthy People 2030 population health goals," in the journal Health Affairs Scholar. The study reports that the U.S. is lagging or worsening in 10 of 23 "Healthy People 2030 leading health indicators" — based on societal health and well-being initiatives with set targets to be achieved by 2030. The study findings are valuable in identifying health-care gaps, areas for improvement, and highlighting need for action. The dean's co-authors are Siddharth Kesiraju, Urvish Jain and Aditya Arkalgud, of the University of Pittsburgh; Shriya Garg, of the University of Georgia; Edward Christopher Dee, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center; and Joseph T. Kannarkat, of Johns Hopkins University.

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]

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