What gives you hope?

WashU Bursky Public Health

April 4, 2026

Dean Sandro Galea frequently closes talks and gatherings with this simple question. We thought sharing answers to that question would be an uplifting tribute to public health and National Public Health Week

In our Public Health Ideas series, Dean Sandro Galea engages experts in public health, from near and far, in conversations ranging from one-on-one recorded talks, to fireside chats, to panel discussions. The recordings of each are then shared via the school's YouTube channel, newsletter, and website.

The goal of the Public Health Ideas series is to engage the public health community broadly — scientists, scholars, students, practitioners, community members, experts from disciplines that are outside of but work with public health, members of the media, policymakers — in conversation about pressing issues in public health, to better understand the challenges the field faces, toward illuminating better solutions.

Dean Galea often closes these conversations with a simple question: "What gives you hope?” Because ultimately, public health is an aspiration for a better, healthier world for all. And that should be a reason for hope for all of us. 

This video captures some of these one-on-one conversations and the thoughts of a few other WashU Public Health people — faculty, staff, students — on what gives them hope at this moment in time. We thought it would be particularly appropriate to share during this National Public Health Week. 

https://youtu.be/U02OPagLpDU

Video and graphic illustration produced by Zachary Linhares/WashU Public Health

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