October 4, 2026

Mycobacteria cause hard-to-treat lung infections including tuberculosis. WashU experts in public health, medicine and chemistry are developing better tools to prevent, diagnose and treat life-threatening mycobacterial infections.

Two-day convening at WashU Bursky Public Health aims to rethink how food is produced, distributed and consumed to better support rural communities.

As climate change brings more extreme weather events, strengthening families before disasters strike can help protect children’s health and well-being, says Mary McKay, a professor at the Brown School and a Bursky Public Health secondary faculty member. 

A one-time social worker, Gilbert transitioned from helping patients navigate serious illness to studying how to prevent it. 

Cal Halvorsen, PhD, MSW, an associate professor at the Brown School and a Bursky Public Health secondary faculty member, gave a talk titled, "More Age Diverse Than Ever: Work, Purpose, and Intergenerational Connection," on September 30.

There will be no Talking Public Health this week. The series will return on October 15.

Mental healthcare expert Morgan Shields, an assistant professor, has been appointed to two groups tasked with developing quality measures for accountability in healthcare for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). She will sit on the Scientific Methods Panel, which advises on the scientific soundness of clinical measures of quality, cost and resource use; as well as the Endorsement and Maintenance Committee, which reviews, endorses and maintains healthcare quality and cost measures. Her term will run for three years.

Ross Brownson, the Steven H. and Susan U. Lipstein Distinguished Professor, gave a keynote address at the Dutch Implementation Science Symposium in Amsterdam on September 17 on equity in implementation science. His talk was paired with a Dutch case study presented by Meike van Scherpenseel from HU University of Applied Sciences Ultrecht, who illustrated key concepts using her research on falls prevention.

A clinical trial led by Bursky Public Health's Lora Iannotti showed that improved nutrition during pregnancy can boost fetal brain growth. (Source: St. Louis Public Radio).

Read the related news release here.

Entering the peak months for flu vaccination, most St. Louis adults surveyed say they’ve already seen reminders about getting a flu shot. Far fewer have heard about the newly approved mRNA flu shot, though, and many have questions about it.

iHeard is a listening project of the Health Communication Research Laboratory at Bursky 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.

Dean Galea's latest post in The Healthiest Goldfish is titled, "An argument for intentional moderation." The post argues that holding the center is critical in an age of extremes.