It can take a long time to develop new policy, and some advocacy roads lead to dead ends. But good advocacy work always makes a difference. As racism, policing, and police reform were becoming the national public health story of the summer, student leaders led a remote advocacy initiative to continue bringing public health insights to the discourse.
Numbers can help us make sense of our lives, a comforting thing in a world filled with uncertainty. But when faced with harrowing statistics around the pandemic’s toll on human populations, that comfort wanes. Two recent graduates share what they learned when their research became personal.
Despite the difficult times, signs of hope have blossomed around the Michigan Public Health community. Students help lead campus sampling efforts, alumni bring all their public health expertise to bear, and the school moves up in national rankings.
Since grade school, Dolly Katz had planned to be a reporter. The Michigan alum worked for years as a Detroit journalist before changing paths. She is now a disease expert at the CDC working to eradicate tuberculosis. Katz’s investigative skills have served her well as both a journalist and an epidemiologist.
Students, staff, faculty, and alumni from around the School of Public and beyond work every day to advance our collective pursuit of a healthier, more equitable world for all.