April 26, 2026

Kumanan Rasanathan, executive director of the World Health Organization’s Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research, was one of several multidisciplinary public health practitioners, community representatives, and others who recently met for a two-day convening hosted by WashU Public Health. Participants discussed different ways to generate, communicate, and translate into action public health knowledge. See the story for a video that shares participants' thoughts on the initiative.

A suicide-prevention initiative led by faculty at WashU Public Health and the Brown School is expanding statewide, supported by new funding. The initiative aims to strengthen how Missouri schools prevent and respond to student suicide risk.

A new course that trains pharmacy professionals in harm reduction, overdose prevention, and substance use care was developed by a team that included the Brown School's Phillip Marotta, a member of the WashU Public Health secondary faculty.

Driven by a sense of justice and focused on solutions, Anusha Vable studies how structural inequities such as unequal access to quality education lead to health inequities, and then works to find ways to change them.

Zhang Zhang, a postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, presented on Tuesday, April 21, “Digital Health Integration and Insurance Policy: Advancing Chronic Conditions Prevention and Management for Healthy Aging.” 

Jean-Francois Trani, a professor at WashU Public Health, gave a talk titled, “Empowering communities to foster sustainable development goals: Case studies  from Afghanistan and Pakistan.” The talk was Wednesday, April 22.

The Brown School’s Mitra Naseh, also a member of the WashU Public Health secondary faculty, works to foster well-being and belonging among the region’s immigrants and refugees through the Forced Migration Initiative, which she directs. 

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

Fall prevention researcher Susy Stark, a professor at WashU Public Health, offers advice on minimizing the risk of falls. (Source: The New York Times)

WashU Medicine cardiologist Mark Huffman, a member of the WashU Public Health secondary faculty, joined KMOV to talk about how exercise can change your heart for the better. (Source: KMOV First Alert 4)

WashU Public Health Dean Sandro Galea and Lindsey Filiatreau, an assistant professor, along with WashU Medicine’s Aaloke Mody, a WashU Public Health secondary faculty member, co-authored, “Advancing systems thinking in implementation science: An epidemiologic perspective,” published in Annals of Epidemiology.

Karen Skinner, a PhD candidate in public health sciences, is the first author, and Matthew Kreuter, the Kahn Family Professor of Public Health, is the senior author on, “A three-year evaluation of COVID-19 vaccination and testing patterns among homebound older adults: Implications for future preparedness,” published in the American Journal of Public Health.

WashU Medicine’s Kyle Pitzer, a member of the WashU Public Health secondary faculty, is the first and corresponding author on, “Exploring associations between area deprivation index, income, and loneliness among cancer caregivers,” published in Supportive Care in Cancer.

WashU Medicine’s Margaret McNairy, a secondary faculty member at WashU Public Health, is the senior author on, “Association between charcoal cooking fuel and cardiovascular disease prevalence in Haiti: a cross-sectional analysis,” published in Environmental Health. WashU Medicine’s Mark Huffman and Victor Davila-Roman, both WashU Public Health secondary faculty members, are co-authors.

Dean Galea's latest post in The Healthiest Goldfish focuses on finding the discipline to engage — "A case for doing the uncomfortable, essential work of listening to ideas we dislike."