Erin Wilke had a great job in a state she loved, but she wanted to grow. After completing a bachelor's degree in public health, she started working as a research coordinator within the orthopedic department of the Medical University of South Carolina. She did not want to uproot her life.
Judge Patrick Shannon looks forward to Mondays, when he sees firsthand the spectrum of problems that arise from the current national opioid epidemic. The stories he hears include abuse, neglect, and mental health. Instead of handing out jail sentences, Shannon has helped implement “the public health approach” in offering alternatives to jail time—prevention, intervention, and treatment.
Rachel Jantz has wanted to care for people in her community since she was a child. She discovered in college that she loves data. Public health, specifically epidemiology, brought those loves together for her. As an opioids epidemiologist in Michigan, she works to connect human experiences and data to help people stay healthy.
Growing up, bachelor's student Carmelita Perrien Naccarato was surrounded by the untimely deaths of family members. But their stories became one of the driving forces behind her interest in health. Now at Michigan Public Health, honoring the legacy of those she loves inspires her pursuit of public health.
Anthropology showed her how the human body works in its environment. Nutritional Sciences taught her to interpret and apply data. Now Hollie Kicinski is bringing it all together to improve public health across the state of Indiana.
With a legal background and a PhD in health policy, Rebecca Haffajee explores the relationship between the law and health, focusing on policy issues related to behavioral health, such as the opioid epidemic and marijuana legalization.