Fall 2022

Public Health IDEAS: Pioneering firearms research

Becoming a violence exposure researcher wasn’t initially the plan for Hsing-Fang Hsieh, MPH '06, PhD '12, but an introduction to a University of Michigan School of Public Health faculty member and subsequent work on a youth resilience study paved the way for her new research path. Now she is a research assistant professor at the University of Michigan Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention spearheading firearm violence prevention research, an area that has historically been understudied and underfunded.

Better together

Alumnae pair up to help healthcare facilities stay afloat during the pandemic and beyond

Colleagues Susan Marsiglia Gray, MPH ’01, and Tasha Akitobi, MPH ’05, share so much common ground, they practically read each other’s minds. That comes in handy because their federal government workplace, the Provider Relief Bureau, is responsible for $200 billion in COVID relief funding. While their partnership is somewhat new—with only about 18 months of being on the job together—their paths to public health have created deep familiarity.

Turning to public health in a crisis

Graduate student Oksana Fedorak works to prevent human trafficking in Ukraine

Traditionally, the sunflower is emblematic to Ukraine—but it signifies so much more to the Ukrainian people, and especially Oksana Fedorak. “Our national flower is the sunflower—it means a lot to us and me personally,” said Fedorak, a Master of Public Health student in Health Behavior and Health Education at the University of Michigan School of Public Health.