Emily Toth Martin, associate professor of Epidemiology at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, received the University of Michigan President’s Award for National and State Leadership for her contributions to the COVID-19 response in 2020.
Capacity building is a ubiquitous phrase in grant applications, communications, and guidelines for many global health initiatives. Too often the phrase connotes an assumption that “established” US partners build knowledge or practice in “less-resourced” communities. What language can we use to more honestly recognize the value and contributions of all collaborators?
A hypothetical college football game—a familiar scenario for Michigan students—provided the backdrop to a remote preparedness exercise for public health students and the Washtenaw County Health Department. Familiarity with the Big House and surrounding terrain helped the students focus on how to keep everyone healthy.
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.
It is painfully clear that everyone in our nation and across the world needs an injection of public health—in policy, economics, and across the sociopolitical spectrum—to effect real and sustainable change. Making all of our choices with a public health lens, we’ll be closer to achieving a healthier, more equitable world for all.
Public health is running for office, and it will have an uphill battle on many fronts. Those in the field of public health understand what policymakers must enact: If we cannot protect, improve, and ensure the health of everyone, then everyone’s health will be at risk.