Blog

Dr. Julio Frenk, MPH, PhD, President of the University of Miami, Florida

Leadership to Inspire Global Change

Julio Frenk, MPH ’81, PhD ’83

Julio Frenk’s career has oscillated between health care and higher education. He currently serves as President of the University of Miami and for six years served as Mexico’s Secretary of Health. Whether in the academy or in policymaking, the unifying theme to that career, Frenk says, has been trying to give back through service.

Tonya Allen, President of the McKnight Foundation, alum of the University of Michigan School of Public Health

Resilient Leadership in a Dynamic World

Tonya Allen, BA '94, MPH/MSW '96

From rewriting rules to enabling others to succeed, Tonya Allen thinks leadership is not about an individual person doing a great thing but about an environment where everyone wins. In Detroit and now Minneapolis, Allen keeps putting herself out there so that entire communities can thrive.

Sleep Awareness Week

Sleep Awareness Week: A Chance to Adjust and Prioritize Sleep

Astrid Zamora and Erica Jansen

Are you still feeling the effects of the Daylight Saving Time (DST) shift? If so, you are not alone. Experts say it can take the body about one week to readjust to this one-hour change in schedule. While you are readjusting might be a good time to assess your sleep health and prioritize good sleep habits.

Public health worker in Africa distributing vaccines

Is Africa Truly Free of Wild Polio?

Utibe Effiong, MPH ’14 and Uju Okeke

Without a case on the continent for several years, the World Health Organization declared Africa free of wild polio in 2020. But questions remain about the ability to reach remote areas for vaccination programs and for disease surveillance as well as questions around the security of infectious agents held in labs for research.

Illustration of a policing situation

Systemic Racism, Policing, and Public Health Advocacy

Q&A with Payton Watt and Jamison Koeman

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.

Health care worker taking a patient's blood pressure in a clinic

Should I take the COVID vaccine as a minority?

Anita Pandit, MS ’16

How are managing mental health and receiving a COVID vaccine similar? They both require minorities to have some level of trust in health sciences and the people administering their health care. Alum Anita Pandit walks us through the good and the bad reasons not getting a vaccine—and why she will be getting one.