Bridging public health, writing and AI innovation
Q&A with Ella August
Clinical Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Global Public Health
Raised in Orchard Lake, Michigan, just outside Ann Arbor, Ella August was inspired by her mother, a fiction writer and poet, which kindled her early interest in writing.
August, clinical associate professor of Epidemiology and Global Public Health at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, is editor-in-chief of PREPSS (Pre-Publication Support Service).
She pursued a Bachelor of Arts in English at Michigan State University before earning a Master of Science in Human Nutrition and a PhD in Epidemiology from the University of Illinois, Chicago. Returning to her literary roots, she completed a Master of Arts in Writing from Eastern Michigan University.
Her diverse educational background has informed a unique approach to public health, particularly as she has investigated the broader context of health beyond individual behaviors.
In this Q&A, August discusses how her career has evolved, highlighting pivotal moments and challenges. Recognizing a gap in scholarly communication training, she established PREPSS, supported by the flexible clinical professor track at the University of Michigan. She also emphasizes the importance of artificial intelligence as a tool for promoting equity, revealing how PREPSS harnesses AI to enhance manuscript editing for researchers worldwide.
She shares her excitement about Michigan Public Health’s diverse and vibrant research environment and her belief in the critical role of strong writing skills in public health. Her journey highlights the dynamic intersection of public health research, education and the art of writing.
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What sparked your interest in public health?
Despite having been at the University of Michigan for 20 years, my career has taken many twists and turns. Early in life, I was influenced by my mother, a fiction writer and poet, who inspired my love of writing. This led me to study literature as an undergraduate. I was also heavily involved in sports, which ultimately steered me toward graduate work in human nutrition. My experience as a study project coordinator in graduate school introduced me to epidemiology. I was part of a team investigating the cardiovascular health of men with spinal cord injuries, which made me realize how closely our health is tied to our circumstances and environment. My master’s advisor in nutrition, who was also trained in epidemiology, guided me to doctoral work in this field. I saw epidemiology as a way to understand the bigger picture and context beyond individual behaviors.
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What is your primary research area? What motivated you to focus on it?
In 2005, I started at Michigan Public Health as a postdoc, doing work in nutritional epidemiology and focusing on patterns of chronic diseases. I joined a social epidemiology team to study the impact of an individual’s social context in the development of disease. We investigated how the neighborhood environment affects cardiovascular health and mobility. This work embodied a public health approach to disease prevention, identifying low-cost interventions that had the potential to broadly impact populations. Although the research was enriching and deepened my connection with public health, after 10 years I found myself drawn to applied public health practice. During this time, I became aware of the enormous need for training in scholarly publishing, particularly in regions with fewer resources. I realized how this lack of training led to disparities and underrepresentation of authors in low-income settings where the burden of disease is high.
In 2015, I returned to school for a master’s degree in writing with a focus on teaching writing at Eastern Michigan University. I reconnected with my love of writing while working in the writing center and teaching first-year composition there. Two years later, I combined my skills in public health and writing to start Pre-Publication Support Service (PREPSS), an organization that helps researchers publish their findings in academic journals. My transition to more applied work and the creation of my own organization was possible through the University of Michigan’s clinical professor track, which offers great flexibility.
PREPSS has supported researchers from 17 countries, most of which are low-income, to publish their work in academic journals. We have a dedicated group of volunteers who provide feedback to our authors. They consist of researchers and advanced PhD students that span 15 countries. Together, we are making a significant impact in supporting researchers from around the world.
One of the most exciting aspects of the current public health landscape for me is the role of AI. At PREPSS, we view AI as a tool to promote equity. We are now training researchers to use generative AI to copy edit their manuscripts. This capability has enormous potential to increase the representation of authors from low-resource regions in the academic literature.
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What challenges did you face in finding a way to integrate your expertise in public health with your passion for writing?
I faced the challenge of finding a niche that would allow me to combine my expertise in public health with my passion for writing. After earning my master’s degree in writing at Eastern Michigan, I rejoined the Michigan Public Health faculty on the clinical professor track. This track offered potential due to its flexibility; however, it was not commonly pursued at the time beyond those it had traditionally been designed for: clinical faculty in medical settings. Despite this limitation and with supportive administrators and mentors, I was able to carve out a unique path and create something new—PREPSS—and ultimately succeed.
What drew you to a career at Michigan Public Health?
Michigan Public Health offered opportunities for growth and engagement with a diverse array of people and perspectives. Through Global Public Health, I gained exposure to global health activities and networks. I discovered a range of vibrant research areas that were valuable but underappreciated, often due to a lack of communication training. The connections I made at the school enabled me to conduct my first author training sessions in Kenya, Ethiopia and Ecuador, which paved the way for launching PREPSS.
What’s something about public health you wish everyone knew?
I wish there was a greater emphasis on writing in graduate and professional training programs. Like in other fields, strong writing skills are crucial for graduates in securing grant funding and communicating research effectively. In public health, however, the need to communicate is even more critical given the applied nature of our work. It’s not only about connecting public health solutions with those who need them but also about ensuring public health practitioners can apply the findings from our research.