IAPHS Institutional Members Provide Leadership and Direction During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Around the country, population health institutions and organizations have been on the front lines in the response to the 2019 coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. In addition to supporting students and continuing to conduct vital population health research, our institutional members are on the front lines of the COVID-19 response, providing leadership and direction during this unprecedented time. Read about their work and leadership in these institutional member highlights.

NYU Langone Health, an academic medical center in New York City, is actively responding to patients with COVID-19, while working to inform the public at large about prevention, treatment, and conforming to a new way of life. Doctors at NYU Langone Health have started a podcast that discusses both medical advice and prevention, as well as tips for homeschooling children and social distancing practices. They’ve also featured stories from doctors and nurses who are on the front lines treating COVID-19.

The University of Texas Medical Branch serves communities throughout southeast Texas. Their Preventive Medicine and Population Health Department has compiled a list of resources and advice on everything related to preparedness to emergency response to community resources to address related inequities that have intensified as a part of the pandemic, like food insecurity and mental health.

Like universities across the country, the Drexel University Dornsife School of Public Health has effectively moved all learning and activities online. They developed a webinar series on emerging issues in the COVID-19 pandemic. These topics include implications for health equity, global impacts of the pandemic, and learning from past public health emergencies. In one interview, Dean Ana V. Diez Roux, MD, PhD, calls for the public health workforce to lead in this time of crisis:

“As public health experts, we have a responsibility to be the voice of reason, communicate the facts clearly, and use our best judgement based on the best available evidence to protect the most vulnerable from the effects of the virus while avoiding any unintended consequences of our actions.”

The IAPHS community shares our gratitude for these leaders and others around the world who are responding to this pandemic. To learn more about the ways in which our individual IAPHS members are contributing their expertise to the COVID-19 response and for additional resources, visit our website at Pop Health Tackles COVID.