April 12, 2026

New data contradict a misperception that many working-age Medicaid recipients are able-bodied but not working, according to a policy brief from WashU researchers. The analysis indicates that about two-thirds of Missouri Medicaid recipients ages 19 to 64 are employed, a rate similar to national levels. The findings come as states begin implementing new work reporting requirements under a 2025 federal law.

WashU Public Health's Global Health Futures wants to help re-envision the field, with an increased emphasis on closing health gaps, translating global knowledge to local contexts and strengthening international partnerships.

“Teaching Public Health, Volume 2” is a collection built on the foundation of the first book, but with additional writings that take into account the field’s rapid evolution and changes to academic public health that the pandemic brought about.

Cynthia Rogers, a WashU Medicine professor and WashU Public Health secondary faculty member, leads an adolescent psychiatry clinic that cares for teens and pre-teens suffering from trauma-related disorders, pervasive emotional dysregulation and suicidal behavior.

Already an accomplished public health professional when she started her doctoral studies, PhD candidate Kate Hoppe works to promote healthy, equitable and resilient communities.

Uriyoán Colón-Ramos, an associate professor at Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University, presented on Tuesday, April 7, “Community-Participatory Mixed Methods meets Systems Science Approaches to Address Diet Disparities.”

Rachel Tabak, an associate professor, researcher and registered dietitian at WashU Public Health, gave a talk April 8 titled, “Implementation of Health Promotion Interventions in Community Settings.” 

Briana Chronister, a postdoctoral researcher at UC San Diego's Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health, presented on Thursday, April 9, “From exposure to health: The impact of pesticide exposure on neurobehavior and health among adolescents and young adults in rural agricultural communities.” 

On Thursday, April 9, WashU Public Health celebrated faculty granted tenure and/or promotion by the WashU Board of Trustees. From left, Professors Carrie Breton and Tracy Bastain received tenure, Salma Abdalla was promoted to associate professor with tenure, and Associate Professors Anusha Vable and Julia Fleckman were granted tenure.

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

WashU Medicine's Mark Huffman, a member of the WashU Public Health secondary faculty, said in an editorial published along with a study focused on high blood-pressure care that the research highlights the need for systems-based strategies for managing high blood pressure. (Source: STAT News) 

The $50 billion rural health fund is good, but the net effect of Medicaid cuts on rural health will be negative, said WashU Public Health's Tim McBride, an expert on rural health policy. (Source: Iowa Public Radio)

A dangerous opioid – 5 to 10 times more potent than fentanyl – was found in wastewater from two St. Louis schools. Few St. Louis adults had ever heard of nitazenes, a type of synthetic opioid, or knew that nitazenes had been found in local schools’ wastewater. By a huge margin, St. Louisans supported wastewater testing for schools.  

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.

Todd Combs, a research assistant professor at WashU Public Health, is the last and corresponding author on, “Five translational design principles for communicating research to practice in public health,” published in Community Health Equity Research & Policy. Co-authors include WashU Public Health’s Center for Public Health Systems Science members Doug Luke, the director; Laura Brossart, the assistant director of communications and dissemination; Zara Petkovic, a project coordinator; Rachel Hackett, a research project coordinator; Veronica Easson, a senior data analyst; and Mia Vogel, a PhD student.

WashU Medicine’s Karen Joynt Maddox, a member of the WashU Public Health secondary faculty, is the last and corresponding author on, “Acute myocardial infarction in Medicare beneficiaries during and after the COVID-19 pandemic,” published in JAMA Network Open.

WashU Public Health PhD student Anita Kabarambi is the first author on, “Correlates of willingness to use pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) among young people impacted by HIV in Uganda,” published in AIDS Care.

Postdoctoral researcher Yi Wang, a member of WashU Public Health’s People, Health and Place Unit – St. Louis, is the first and corresponding author on, “Eviction filing patterns in subsidized housing: differences by owner, manager, and program type,” published in Housing Policy Debate.

In this episode of the "Conversations" podcast, JAMA Health Forum Editor-in-chief Sandro Galea talks with Heidi Allen of Columbia University's School of Social Work about policy shifts that may reshape health care for millions in the U.S. Listen to this episode, "The Year We Lost Medicaid," here.

For more on the topic, read the companion article by Dean Galea, also titled, "The Year We Lost Medicaid."

Dean Sandro Galea's latest post in The Healthiest Goldfish is a piece co-authored by frequent collaborator Nason Maani, a senior lecturer in inequalities and global health policy in the University of Edinburgh’s Global Health Policy Unit, within the School of Social and Political Science. The post is titled: "A Healthier Profit," and it introduces Galea's and Maani's new public-facing book on commerce, health, and why commerce and health are more entangled than most of us realize.

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

This symposium, led by WashU Public Health’s Global Health Futures research network, will convene leading voices to consider global health's future 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. 

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