How can academic science better serve the public?

How can population health research lead to better and more equitable health?

How can it motivate and inform population health action?

IAPHS empowers researchers to make their science matter. The IAPHS Research to Action Webinar and Discussion Series addresses issues that affect population health scientists who aspire to conduct public facing science. The Webinars are free and open to all.

All events are held virtually.

A People First Approach to Government and the Right to Health

March 7, 2024 at 12:00PM-1:00PM EST

Researchers and scholars, representing various disciplinary and methodological backgrounds, will discuss collaborating with governments and constituents to advance health equity and justice, while improving policy, law, governance, and ethics. Topics include climate change and environmental justice communities; administrative burdens and barriers to accessing government benefits, services, and rights; and economic and social rights and the right to health and safety where people live, work, play, and travel. Our panelists have provided research, analysis, expertise, and leadership necessary for policy development, implementation, evaluation, and decision making from local to global levels of government. Please join our conversation on working with government departments, agencies, and organizations to improve population health. Free to all. Please spread the word.

RECORDING

MODERATOR:

Keshia Pollack Porter
Keshia Pollack Porter
Chair of the Health Policy and Management Department and Director of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Research Scholars, Johns Hopkins University.
Dr. Pollack Porter is the Bloomberg Centennial Chair of the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Bloomberg School of Public Health and director of the Health Policy Research Scholars, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Dr. Pollack Porter is a health equity scholar whose research advances policies that create safe and healthy environments where people live, work, play, and travel, with an emphasis on addressing structural drivers of health and promoting effective cross-sector collaborations. She is also Director of the School’s Institute for Health and Social Policy, and part of the leadership team for the Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Solutions.

PANELIST:

Alicia Ely Yamin
Alicia Ely Yamin
Lecturer on Law and Health Policy and Management and Senior Fellow on Global Health and Rights at the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology and Bioethics, Harvard University. Senior Advisor on Human Rights and Health Policy at the global health justice organization, Partners In Health.
Dr. Yamin is known globally for her trans-disciplinary work in relation to economic and social rights, sexual and reproductive health and rights, the right to health, and the intersections between development paradigms and human rights. Her career bridges academia and activism. She has lived in Latin America and East Africa for many years and worked with local advocacy organizations, plus founded a program on health and human rights in the Asociación Pro Derechos Humanos in Peru. She has served on numerous UN, WHO and other global expert committees. Dr. Yamin regularly provides testimony and guidance to tribunals and legislative bodies around the globe, as well as amicus curiae briefs, in relation to the application of international and comparative law to health and sexual and reproductive rights issues. Her latest monograph, When Misfortune becomes Injustice: Evolving Human Rights Struggles for Health and Social Equality, was published by Stanford University Press in 2023.

PANELIST:

Michael Méndez
Michael Méndez
Assistant professor of environmental policy and planning, UC Irvine, National Center for Atmospheric Research Visiting Scientist, and Andrew Carnegie Fellow.
Dr. Méndez’s research, which investigates how climate-induced disasters intensify social inequities, includes communities of color, undocumented Latino/a and Indigenous migrants, LGBTQI people, people working outdoors, and people who are incarcerated. With over ten years of senior-level public and private sector experience, he has consulted for the California State Legislature as a lobbyist, gubernatorial appointee, and Sacramento City Planning Commission vice chair. Contributions to state and national research policy initiatives include advising the California Air Resources Board and participating in the U.S. Global Change Research Program’s workgroup on “Climate Vulnerability and Social Science Perspectives.” He serves as a National Academies of Sciences’ Transit Cooperative Research Program panel reviewer and National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Board on Environmental Change and Society member. Dr. Mendez’s first book published by Yale University Press in 2020, Climate Change from the Streets: How Conflict and Collaboration Strengthen the Environmental Justice Movement, has received multiple awards.

PANELIST:

Donald Moynihan
Donald Moynihan
Inaugural McCourt Chair and Better Government Lab Co-Director at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy.
Dr. Moynihan’s research seeks to improve how government works. He studies the administrative burdens people encounter in their interactions with government, with the goal of making those interactions simple, accessible and respectful. He is the current President of the Association of Public Policy and Management and a member of the National Academy of Public Administration. Moynihan has presented his research to the U.S. Office of Management and Budget and Government Accountability Office, World Bank, World Health Organization, United Nations, OECD, and governments worldwide. His research and writing has been cited in President Obama’s and President Biden’s budget proposals, OMB policy guidance under Biden, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, and other media. He is a Visiting Professor at Aarhus University and was previously at Oxford University. Dr. Moynihan’s 2018 book coauthored with Pamela Herd and published by Russell Sage Foundation, Administrative Burden. Policymaking by Other Means, has received numerous awards.

Past Events

R2A Webinar: Collective Advocacy for Population Health Equity

October 26, 2023 at 12:00PM – 1:00PM EST

Hear from scientists who are successfully approaching policy change based on the findings of their research through collaboration with collective advocacy groups in population health. Featured case studies on collective advocacy presented in the webinar will cover researchers’ success and effectiveness through community-based research methods, partnership or synergistic timing with organizations, or alignment with local movements and/or lobbying. Panelists will discuss their experiences and lessons learned with collective advocacy in order to translate population health research into real world change that advances social justice and health equity.

VIEW RECORDING

PANELIST:

Cassandra Crifasi
Cassandra Crifasi
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Dr. Cassandra Crifasi is an Associate Professor of Health Policy and Management at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Co-Director of the Center for Gun Violence Solutions. She is also core faculty in the Center for Injury Research and Policy and the Center for Health Disparities Solutions. Dr. Crifasi’s research focuses on the intersection of public health and public safety including injury epidemiology and prevention, gun violence and policy, and attitudes and public opinion regarding gun violence solutions. She works to effectively translate her research into evidence-based policies and programs to save lives.

PANELIST:

Rahwa Haile
Rahwa Haile
Lehman College (City University of NY)
Dr. Rahwa Haile is an Associate Professor at Lehman College (City University of NY). Her scholarly work is situated in the field of social epidemiology, and centers around the ways in which intersecting inequalities linked to racism, socioeconomic status, and heteronormativity exert an impact on health and well-being. Her long-term goal is to conduct policy-translatable research that helps improve social conditions in Black communities.

PANELIST:

Dana Rice
Dana Rice
University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health
Dr. Dana Rice is an Assistant Professor in Public Health Leadership at the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health. Dr. Rice is a public health practitioner and researcher who examines best practices in public health leadership and community engagement with a health equity, social justice and human rights lens. Her primary focus is on the integration of public health and correctional health systems and the impact of mass criminalization and mass incarceration on public health. Prior to joining the faculty at Gillings, Dr. Rice spent 20 years working in the public, private and non-profit sectors.

MODERATOR:

Paul Fleming
Paul Fleming
University of Michigan School of Public Health
Dr. Paul Fleming is Associate Professor of Health Behavior and Health Education & Faculty Lead for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, University of Michigan School of Public Health. Dr. Fleming focuses his work on the root causes of racial health inequities and strategies to address them. He conducts community-based participatory research focused on the health needs of Latinx immigrants in Michigan and examines how to best integrate anti-racist principles into public health training and practice. He also is a member of Public Health Awakened and contributes to community organizing efforts to promote health through social change.

Communicating Controversial Science

June 1, 2023 at 12:00PM EDT

Every now and then scientists produce research findings that challenge accepted narratives in public health and academia or even their own assumptions about what’s right and wrong. Maybe they find that a favored gun policy does not reduce gun violence, or that having an abortion causes emotional distress. Scientists can’t self-censor: they need to share all evidence that sheds light on the issues they study. However, colleagues have been known to respond to findings such as these with resistance or even censure. What should scientists do if they have controversial findings? Can they disseminate these in a way that promotes constructive discussion? How can they prepare for any negative attention their findings might provoke? This webinar convenes scientists who have had experience with these issues along with experts in the communication of science to search out and share helpful guidance for anyone facing this situation.

REGISTRATION

PANELIST:

Cynthia Colen
Cynthia Colen
Associate Professor in Sociology, Ohio State University
Cynthia Colen is a social demographer whose research intersects the fields of public health and sociology. She is currently an Associate Professor in Sociology and a research affiliate of the Institute for Population Research at Ohio State University. Dr. Colen received her Ph.D. in Health Behavior & Education from the University of Michigan and was a Robert Wood Johnson Health and Society Scholar at Columbia University. Broadly defined, her work examines the causes and consequences of racial disparities in health within the United States, with a particular emphasis on middle-class African Americans. She is interested in examining the intricate ways that socioeconomic status and race interact to produce health disparities. Her research is largely quantitative and highlights lifecourse processes within a single generation as well as across multiple generations. Dr. Colen has published in multiple outlets including the American Journal of Epidemiology, American Journal of Public Health, Annual Review of Sociology, DuBois Review, Journal of Health and Social Behavior, Milbank Quarterly, Social Science and Medicine, Social Science and Medicine-Population Health.

PANELIST:

Gregg Gonsalves
Gregg Gonsalves
Associate Professor of Epidemiology, Yale School of Public Health and Co-Director of the Global Health Justice Partnership, Yale Law School
Gregg Gonsalves is Associate Professor of Epidemiology at Yale School of Public Health and Co-Director of the Global Health Justice Partnership at Yale Law School. He also holds positions at the Yale Institute for Global Health. He is an expert in policy modeling on infectious disease and substance use, as well as the intersection of public policy and health equity. His research focuses on the use of quantitative models for improving the response to epidemic diseases. For more than 30 years, he worked on HIV/AIDS and other global health issues with several organizations, including the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power, the Treatment Action Group, Gay Men’s Health Crisis, and the AIDS and Rights Alliance for Southern Africa. He is a 2011 graduate of Yale College and received his PhD from Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences/School of Public Health in 2017. He is currently the public health correspondent for The Nation. He is a 2018 MacArthur Fellow.

PANELIST:

Tiffany Green
Tiffany Green
Assistant Professor, Departments of Population Health Sciences and Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
Tiffany Green is an economist, population health scientist, and science communicator whose mission is to reduce and eliminate racial/ethnic disparities in reproductive health. Her primary research agenda is motivated by a persistent unsolved puzzle: how and why Black people with the capacity for pregnancy experience the worst reproductive health access and outcomes of any racial/ethnic group—and what innovative solutions might ameliorate these persistent inequities. She is currently Assistant Professor of Population Health Sciences and Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is also a Temple Center for Public Health Law Research Fellow and is a University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health Centennial Scholar. Dr. Green earned her Ph.D. in economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a B.A. in economics from Florida A&M University.
As a science communicator, Dr. Green is dedicated to making complex issues accessible to policymakers and lay public. She has used her expertise to promote evidence-based policy via legislative testimony and participation on panels for legislators. She has provided interviews for numerous local and national media outlets on reproductive equity and the racial/ethnic and socioeconomic inequalities heightened by the COVID-19 pandemic.

PANELIST:

Harold Pollack
Harold Pollack
Helen Ross Professor, Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice, University of Chicago
Harold Pollack is the Helen Ross Professor at the Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy and Practice at the University of Chicago. He is an Affiliate Professor in the Biological Sciences Collegiate Division and the Department of Public Health Sciences. Dr. Pollack co-directs the University of Chicago Urban Health Lab. Dr. Pollack’s research regularly appears in Health Services Research, American Journal of Public Health, Journal of the American Medical Association, and other publications. His popular journalism has appeared in the Washington Post, New York Times, Vox, Atlantic Monthly, and other publications. He regularly advises local, state, and federal policymakers on public health, addiction, and crime policy. Most pertinent for today’s presentation, he is an expert on personal finance, and co-author with Helaine Olen, of the best-selling book: The Index Card: Why Personal Finance Doesn’t Have to be Complicated.

MODERATOR:

Sarah Gollust
Sarah Gollust
Associate Professor, Division of Health Policy and Management, University of Minnesota School of Public Health
Sarah Gollust is an Associate Professor in the Division of Health Policy and Management at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. She is a member of the Collaborative on Media and Messaging for Health & Social Policy, an interdisciplinary group of researchers who study how media and messaging shape public opinions, attitudes, and behaviors. Dr. Gollust is a social scientist studying the intersections of communication, politics, and health policy. In her past research, she has examined media influences and public opinion around significant health policy issues, including obesity, health equity, the Affordable Care Act, and cancer screening. She also examines how research is translated into health policymaking. Dr. Gollust was a RWJF Health & Society Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania from 2008 to 2010 and she received her PhD in Health Services Organization and Policy from the University of Michigan.

Webinar: Speaking Science on Social Media
March 2, 2023, 12pm ET

Hear from scientists who have used social media to communicate their population health knowledge and research and learn how to choose and create your own program of science dissemination.

Recording

PANELISTS

Sirry Alang, Associate Professor, Health and Human Development, University of Pittsburgh
Sirry Alang, Ph.D. is a Health Services Researcher and a Medical Sociologist. Her research explores the role of social structures and institutions in creating health inequities. In particular, she examines how racism impacts health outcomes, and shapes the organization and delivery of health care. Her research has appeared in journals such as Social Science & Medicine, Health Services Research, and the American Journal of Public Health. She has also published opinions in outlets like the Daily Beast, Salon and USA Today. Dr. Alang earned her Ph.D. in Health Services Research, Policy and Administration at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. She obtained an M.A. in Sociology from Lehigh University and a B.Sc. in Sociology and Anthropology from the University of Buea in Cameroon. She is currently an Associate Professor of Black Communities and the Social Determinants of Health at the University of Pittsburgh.

Bryan Buckley, Director for Health Equity Initiatives at the National Committee for Quality Assurance
Dr. Bryan O. Buckley is the Director for Health Equity Initiatives at the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), where he supports NCQA’s Health Equity strategy across multiple departments to better integrate health equity concepts into existing programs and projects. Dr. Buckley serves as an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Georgetown University School of Medicine, where he teaches, coaches, supports, and supervises graduate students at the School of Medicine and Biomedical Graduate Education. He is a Board Member of the American Public Health Association, American Heart Association Greater Washington, DC Region, and Food & Friends.

Julia Raifman, Assistant Professor, Health Law, Policy & Management, Boston University
Julia Raifman, ScD, SM conducts research on how health and social polices shape population health and health disparities. She created and leads the COVID-19 U.S. State Policy Database (CUSP), tracking more than 200 state policies to prevent COVID-19 and reduce economic hardship during the pandemic. Her research on unemployment insurance and food insufficiency helped inform the American Rescue Plan and she is a collaborator on a study indicating that lifting state eviction freezes was associated with increased COVID-19 cases and deaths, a finding that helped uphold a federal eviction moratorium until the fall of 2021. She has also documented how structural racism shaped disparities in susceptibility to severe illness due to COVID-19. Dr.Raifman also conducts research on structural drivers of mental distress, HIV, and disparities in both conditions. She earned her doctoral degree from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and conducted a postdoctoral fellowship at Johns Hopkins before joining Boston University.

MODERATOR

Richard Carpiano, Professor of Public Policy, University of California Riverside
Richard M. Carpiano is Professor of Public Policy at the University of California, Riverside. A public and population health scientist and medical sociologist by training, Carpiano studies how social factors, such as socioeconomic status, race-ethnicity, social connections, and community conditions, contribute to the health of adults and children. A substantial focus of Carpiano’s research concerns social, behavioral, attitudinal, and policy factors underlying vaccination uptake and coverage (and refusal or delay). As part of this work, Carpiano is presently a member of the Lancet’s Commission on Vaccine Refusal, Acceptance, and Demand in the United States. More recently, Carpiano’s research- and policy-related activities have also centered on pandemic preparedness and response. He is a co-principal investigator of Resilient, a National Science Foundation-funded team initiative focused on improving pandemic preparedness through fostering community resilience, and member of the California Council on Science and Technology’s COVID-19 Task Force, which aims to link science and technology expertise to state policy-makers regarding how California can be more resilient to public health threats.

Beyond his research, policy, teaching, and mentoring activities, Carpiano engages extensively with news media on a wide range of public health and sociological topics. During the pandemic, he has provided commentary on a variety of issues related to COVID-19. Carpiano is a former editor (with Brian Kelly of Purdue University) of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior, published by the American Sociological Association.
Carpiano received his Ph.D. and M.Phil. in Sociomedical Sciences (with concentration in Sociology) from Columbia University, his M.P.H. from Case Western Reserve University, and M.A. and B.A. in Sociology from Baylor University. From 2004-2006, he was a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health & Society Scholar at University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Webinar: Securing Funding for Applied Research
October 20, 2022, 12pm ET

Learn about private and public funding sources for applied research in population health and strategies for making your search for funding a success.

Recording

PANELISTS

Kim Cassel, Principal, CasselView Advising
Kim Cassel is a leader in the advancement of evidence-based policymaking. She currently serves as Principal at CasselView Advising, where she advises major philanthropic organizations and policymakers in the development and use of rigorous evidence about what works to improve the effectiveness of social policy. In her prior role – at the philanthropic organization Arnold Ventures – she was a founding member of its Evidence-Based Policy initiative, where she was responsible for developing strategic investments to build the body of social programs found to produce meaningful improvements in people’s lives, including overseeing a portfolio of randomized controlled trials evaluating programs across all areas of domestic social policy. Before joining Arnold Ventures, Kim worked for the Washington, D.C.-based Coalition for Evidence-Based Policy. She began her career with the Families and Communities Research Group (first at the Institute for Juvenile Research at the University of Illinois at Chicago and then at Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago), which conducted federally-funded longitudinal research studies focused on preventing youth aggression and violence in neighborhoods experiencing high levels of crime.

Erin Hagan, Deputy Director, Evidence for Action
Dr. Hagan is responsible for the day-to-day operations of Evidence for Action, including managing the proposal submission and review process, providing assistance to applicants and grantees, coordinating with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and overseeing administrative and programmatic activities. She also reviews and recommends applications for funding. Over the course of her career Dr. Hagan has worked across a variety of sectors including non-profit, academic, and public. Her experience spans health equity, cultural humility, public policy, and evaluation.

Robert W. Turner II, Assistant Professor, Department of Clinical Research and Leadership, The George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Science
Dr. Robert W. Turner II is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Clinical Research and Leadership, with a secondary appointment in the Department of Neurology, at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. He is the Chair of the Subcommittee on Community Engagement at the GW Institute on Brain Health and Dementia, also holds a position as a Research Scientist in the Center on Health & Society at Duke University and is a Faculty Fellow at the Global Sport Institute at Arizona State University. After attending James Madison University on an athletic scholarship, Dr. Turner played football professionally in the now defunct United States Football League (USFL), the Canadian Football League (CFL), and briefly in the National Football League (NFL) with the S.F. 49ers. He is also the author of “Not For Long: The Life and Career of the NFL Athlete” (Oxford Press) and a consultant for the LeBron James produced HBO documentary film “Student Athlete.”
Dr. Turner’s current National Institute on Aging (NIA) funded K01 award examines the interrelationship between multiple measures of psychosocial and neurocognitive risk and protective factors associated with accelerated cognitive aging & mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), and Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD) among former male collegiate athletes and professional football players. Additionally, he is the Principal Investigator (PI) for a NIA Health Disparities Administrative Supplement award to that assess caregiver burden by exploring whether the stress of being the primary caregiver of a person with dementia (PWD) produces cognitive dysfunction in adult and older adult Black American men. In January 2021 Dr. Turner received a NIA R13 grant award, and additional funding from the Alzheimer’s Association to host a 3-year conference during Super Bowl week entitled, “Black Male Brain Reserve, Resilience & Alzheimer’s Disease.”

MODERATOR

David Vlahov, Professor of Nursing and Epidemiology (Microbial Diseases), Yale School of Public Health
Dr. Vlahov is Professor at the Yale School of Nursing and Professor of Epidemiology- Microbial Diseases at the Yale School of Public Health. He is also the Co-Director of the National Program Office for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Culture of Health: Evidence for Action Program.
Prior to this, Dr. Vlahov served as Dean and Professor at the University of California, San Francisco School of Nursing and earlier was Senior Vice President for Research, Director of the Center for Urban Epidemiologic Studies at the New York Academy of Medicine. He was Co-Director of the National Program Office for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Health and Society Scholars’ Program. He came to New York from Baltimore where he was a Professor on the Epidemiology faculty and vice-chair of epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
His primary area of focus has been on urban health. Across these faculty appointments, he led the ALIVE study in Baltimore that recruited and followed 3,000 injection drug users to study the natural and then the treated history of HIV infection. Analyses from the study provided key information for HIV prevention and treatment; for this NIH recognized his worked with a prestigious MERIT Award. His studies in Baltimore, Harlem and the Bronx have served as a platform for subsequent individual-, community-level and policy level intervention studies and advocacy. He has led community based participatory research to address social determinants of health. This work has contributed new knowledge to promote health equity.
Dr. Vlahov was the founding President of the International Society for Urban Health (www.isuh.org ). He has been a Visiting Professor at the Medical School in Belo Horizonte, Brazil to develop their programs in urban health, and served an expert consultant to the WHO’s Urban Health Center in Kobe, Japan.
Dr. Vlahov is the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Urban Health, has edited four books on urban health. He has published over 675 scholarly papers.
He served on the New York City Board of Health, the NIH National Advisory Council on Drug Abuse, the NIH Advisory Board for the Office of AIDS Research, the Board of Directors for the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, and HRSA’s National Advisory Board on Nursing Education and Practice. He is currently on the Strategic Planning Workgroup for the National Institute of Nursing Research.
In 2011 Dr. Vlahov was both elected to the National Academy of Medicine and served on six panels and their Board of Global Health. In 2015, he was inducted into the Johns Hopkins University Society of Scholars. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and the New York Academy of Medicine. In 2019, he was elected to the Sigma Theta Tau International Nursing Researcher Hall of Fame.

Related Event: Small Group Discussion

Small group discussion: Developing a concept proposal or a set of specific aims
October 27, 2022, 4-5:30pm ET

Learn how to make an effective pitch for your applied research project to foundations or government agencies in a short document describing your goals and methods.

EXPERT

Erin Hagan, Deputy Director, Evidence for Action
Dr. Hagan is responsible for the day-to-day operations of Evidence for Action, including managing the proposal submission and review process, providing assistance to applicants and grantees, coordinating with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and overseeing administrative and programmatic activities. She also reviews and recommends applications for funding. Over the course of her career Dr. Hagan has worked across a variety of sectors including non-profit, academic, and public. Her experience spans health equity, cultural humility, public policy, and evaluation.

IAPHS members:
$20 student/ $40 non-student

Non-members:
student $35/ non-student $70

Space is limited

Related Webinar: Rewarding Engaged Scholarship in the Academy: Strategies and Successes

Watch online at https://iaphs.org/tools-for-success/online-events/

Webinar: Bridging Research with Community Practice
July 21, 2022, 12pm ET

How scientists can contribute knowledge and research skills to population health practice in local communities by engaging with community organizations, building sustainable long-term relationships, and structuring meaningful and equitable collaborations.

Recording

PANELISTS

Marius Ibuye Balola, PharmD, Pharmacist In Charge, MercyOne Oelwein Medical Center and Co-Chair, Congolese Health Partnership
Dr. Marius Balola, PharmD, is Pharmacist-in-Charge at MercyOne Oelwein Medical Center in Oelwein, Iowa. He also serves as co-chair of the Congolese Health Partnership, a collaborative effort established by University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, College of Public Health, and leaders within the Congolese community of Johnson County. Balola earned his Doctor of Pharmacy from Oregon State University in 2019 and has previously worked at CVS Health. He has held numerous volunteer positions in health care and community organizations, and received awards from the City of Portland (OR), the Ford Family Foundation, and IAPHS. Balola enjoys spending time outdoors and playing music with his family. He speaks Swahili, French and Spanish.

Sean Joe, PhD, MSW, Benjamin E. Youngdahl Professor of Social Development, Brown School, Washington University in Saint Louis
Dr. Sean Joe is Benjamin E. Youngdahl Professor of Social Development at the Brown School at Washington University in Saint Louis. A nationally recognized authority on suicidal behavior among Black Americans, he is expanding the evidence base for effective practice with Black boys and young men. His research focuses on Black adolescents’ mental health service use patterns, the role of religion in Black suicidal behavior, salivary biomarkers for suicidal behavior, and development of father-focused, family-based interventions to prevent urban African American adolescent males from engaging in multiple forms of self-destructive behaviors.
Working within the Center for Social Development, Joe has launched the Race and Opportunity Lab, which examines race, opportunity, and social mobility in the St. Louis region, working to reduce inequality in adolescents transition into adulthood. The lab leading community science project is HomeGrown STL, which is a multi-systemic placed-based capacity building intervention to enhance upward mobility opportunities and health of Black males ages 12-29 years in the St. Louis region. Joe’s epistemological work focuses on the concept of race in medical and social sciences.
In recognition of the impact of his work, Joe was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare, the Society for Social Work and Research, and the New York Academy of Medicine.

William T. Story, PhD, MPH, Associate Professor of Community and Behavioral Health, University of Iowa College of Public Health and Co-Chair, Congolese Health Partnership
Dr. William Story is an Associate Professor in the Department of Community and Behavioral Health at the University of Iowa’s College of Public Health where he studies household- and community-level factors that are critical to improving access to healthcare and reducing health inequities among marginalized populations and translating that research into effective interventions and policies. Using both community-based participatory research and mixed-method approaches, his research currently focuses on three specific areas: (1) the design and evaluation of interventions that address the root causes of health inequities; (2) the influence of families (especially male partners) on health and healthcare access; and (3) the effect of social relationships on health behaviors, particularly the role of social capital as a resource that influences complex health outcomes. Dr. Story’s interdisciplinary research has led to successful partnerships with institutions and communities in India, Kenya, and Iowa. In 2017, he helped launch the Congolese Health Partnership (CHP) to help the growing number of Congolese refugees and immigrants settling eastern Iowa overcome daily obstacles to quality perinatal health care. Before joining the faculty at the University of Iowa, Dr. Story completed his MPH in Health Behavior and Health Education and his PhD in Health Services Organization and Policy from the University of Michigan’s School of Public Health, followed by a two-year postdoctoral fellowship at the Carolina Population Center at the University of North Carolina.

MODERATOR

Leonore Okwara, MPH, CEO and Founder, Public Health Research Consulting
Leonore Okwara is a program manager with extensive experience with community-engaged research, including cultivating partnerships with multidisciplinary groups to identify priorities and achieve research goals and serving as a liaison between the communities, investigators, and funders. For the last 16 years, she has managed national community-engaged research initiatives within the nonprofit, academic, corporate and government sectors. Okwara also founded and acts as CEO of Public Health Research Consulting, a company that creates a space for researchers to connect virtually and share best practices to meet the needs of funders and communities, to manage research studies, and to build genuine relationships with the community. She also formed the Association of Black Researchers (ABR), a 501(c)3 that serves as a central resource and support community for a multidisciplinary group of Black researchers.

Related Event: Small Group Discussion

Small Group Discussion: Trust, Communication, and Partnership: Strategies to develop a sustainable community engagement plan
August 4, 2022, 12:00pm ET

During this discussion, attendees will learn the importance of self-reflection, history, and community-based participatory approaches to inform the development of a community engagement plan.

EXPERT

Leonore Okwara, MPH, CEO and Founder, Public Health Research Consulting
Leonore Okwara is a program manager with extensive experience with community-engaged research, including cultivating partnerships with multidisciplinary groups to identify priorities and achieve research goals and serving as a liaison between the communities, investigators, and funders. For the last 16 years, she has managed national community-engaged research initiatives within the nonprofit, academic, corporate and government sectors. Okwara also founded and acts as CEO of Public Health Research Consulting, a company that creates a space for researchers to connect virtually and share best practices to meet the needs of funders and communities, to manage research studies, and to build genuine relationships with the community. She also formed the Association of Black Researchers (ABR), a 501(c)3 that serves as a central resource and support community for a multidisciplinary group of Black researchers.

Webinar: Communicating Research Through the Print and Broadcast Media
January 20, 2022, 12pm - 1:30pm ET

An expert panel discusses the keys to success when communicating with journalists or being interviewed about your research.

Recording

PANELISTS

Thom Blaylock, Clinical Assistant Professor of Public Service and Director, Writing and Communications Center, Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service, New York University
Thom Blaylock is an assistant Clinical Professor of Public Service at NYU Wagner where he teaches Health and Policy Communications, directs the Master of Science in Public Policy program and founded a semester-long writing co-curricular taken by all first year Masters Students at NYU Wagner which culminates in them writing and submitting Op-Eds for Publication. Before NYU he was a professor at Columbia’s Mailman School of Public Health where he taught science communication and leadership. He has written and ghosted op-eds and placed hundreds of his students’ work. He also produces and co-stars in a very nerdy podcast that has nothing to do with science, research or health equity.

Tara Haelle, Independent Science/Health Journalist and Topic Leader for Medical Studies, Association of Health Care Journalists
A former Forbes contributor, Tara is now a regular weekly contributor at Medium and blogs at the Association of Health Journalists, where she is the Medical Studies Core Topic Leader, providing resources and giving talks on responsible journalistic coverage of medical research. Her monthly blog at Science & the Sea, from the University of Texas Marine Science Institute, highlights short stories about marine life.

Jamila Michener, Associate Professor, Cornell University; Co-Director, Cornell Center for Health Equity
Jamila Michener is an associate professor of Government and Public Policy at Cornell University. She studies poverty, racism, and public policy, with a particular focus on health and housing. She is author of the award-winning book, Fragmented Democracy: Medicaid, Federalism, and Unequal Politics. She is Associate Dean for Public Engagement at the Brooks School of Public Policy, co-director of the Cornell Center for Health Equity, co-director of the Politics of Race, Immigration, Class and Ethnicity (PRICE) research initiative, and board chair of the Cornell Prison Education Program.

MODERATOR

Katherine Reed, Director of Education & Content, Association of Health Care Journalists
Katherine Reed is Director of Education and Content at the Association of Health Care Journalists. She was a professor of practice in the Missouri School of Journalism for 17 years and an editor at the Columbia Missourian — the newsroom lab for students learning print and digital journalism — where she taught health and public safety reporting. She also designed and taught a course on covering trauma and a course for STEM field and journalism students on improving science communication. Reed came to the school of journalism from Prague in the Czech Republic where she was the editor of Prague Business Journal and an instructor at the Center for Independent Journalism. She was a reporter and copy editor for several years and taught journalism before moving to the Czech Republic. She was a fellow of the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma and is a longtime member of AHCJ. Reed has published on the teaching hospital model of journalism education, trauma reporting training and more responsible, ethical coverage of mass shootings. (@reedkath)

Related Event: Small Group Discussion

Small group discussion: Writing an op-ed
February 24, 2022, 12pm ET

Learn the secrets to writing an effective opinion piece and getting it accepted by a paper from an expert who has written and placed hundreds!

EXPERT

Thom Blaylock, Clinical Assistant Professor of Public Service and Director, Writing and Communications Center, Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service, New York University
Thom Blaylock is an assistant Clinical Professor of Public Service at NYU Wagner where he teaches Health and Policy Communications, directs the Master of Science in Public Policy program and founded a semester-long writing co-curricular taken by all first year Masters Students at NYU Wagner which culminates in them writing and submitting Op-Eds for Publication. Before NYU he was a professor at Columbia’s Mailman School of Public Health where he taught science communication and leadership. He has written and ghosted op-eds and placed hundreds of his students’ work. He also produces and co-stars in a very nerdy podcast that has nothing to do with science, research or health equity.

Webinar: Making Research Actionable for State & Local Policymakers
March 31, 2022, 12pm ET

Learn what policymakers need from you to inform their decision-making and how to connect and communicate with them effectively.

Recording

PANELISTS

Rashawn Ray, Professor of Sociology, University of Maryland, College Park and David M. Rubenstein Fellow in Governance Studies, Brookings Institution
Dr. Rashawn Ray is Professor of Sociology and Executive Director of the Lab for Applied Social Science Research (LASSR) at the University of Maryland, College Park. Currently, he is a David M. Rubenstein Fellow at The Brookings Institution. Ray is also one of the co-editors of Contexts Magazine: Sociology for the Public. Formerly, Ray was a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Health Policy Research Scholar at the University of California, Berkeley and he currently serves on the National Advisory Committee for the RWJF Health Policy Research Scholars Program.
Ray’s research addresses the mechanisms that manufacture and maintain racial and social inequality with a particular focus on police-civilian relations and men’s treatment of women. His work also speaks to ways that inequality may be attenuated through racial uplift activism and social policy. Ray has published over 50 books, articles, and book chapters, and 20 op-eds. His articles have appeared in the American Journal of Sociology, Science Advances, Social Science Research, Ethnic and Racial Studies, Du Bois Review, and the Annual Review of Public Health. Recently, Ray published the book How Families Matter: Simply Complicated Intersections of Race, Gender, and Work (with Pamela Braboy Jackson) and another edition of Race and Ethnic Relations in the 21st Century: History, Theory, Institutions, and Policy, which has been adopted nearly 40 times in college courses.

M. Norman Oliver, Former State Health Commissioner, Virginia Department of Health
Dr. Oliver is a former State Health Commissioner at the Virginia Department of Health. Prior to this appointment, Dr. Oliver served as the Deputy Commissioner for Population Health for VDH. Before accepting the Deputy Commissioner position, Dr. Oliver was the Walter M. Seward Professor and Chair of the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. Dr. Oliver worked with others in the health department, other state agencies, and healthcare systems across the state to improve the health and well-being of all citizens of the Commonwealth. He is committed to a cross-agency and multi-sector approach to implementing population health initiatives.
Dr. Oliver attended medical school at Case Western Reserve University, where he also obtained his Masters degree in medical anthropology. He trained in family medicine at Case, and he then practiced broad-spectrum family medicine in rural Alaska for 2 years before joining the UVA Department of Family Medicine in 1998.

Dalia Palchik, Providence District, Board of Supervisors, Fairfax County, VA
Supervisor Dalia Palchik’s priority is keeping the community safe during the COVID-19 pandemic and serving communities that are disproportionately affected by the virus, both economically and physically. She leads the County’s work on these issues as Chair of the Health and Human Services Committee. She also serves as Vice-Chair of the Housing Committee, and Audit Committee, she is a co-lead of the Successful Children and Youth Policy Team, and Vice Chair for the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission (NVTC). In addition to these roles, Supervisor Palchik serves on the State Executive Council for Children’s Services, on the Council to End Domestic Violence, and on the Fairfax Food Council.
During her time in elected office, Supervisor Palchik plans to continue focusing on new and creative ways to increase quality affordable housing, bring more thoughtful transit-oriented development to Fairfax County, find new solutions to modernize schools, and commit to a new renewable energy standard.
Prior to being elected to the Fairfax Board of Supervisors, Supervisor Palchik represented the Providence District as a representative on the Fairfax County School Board. Additionally, Dalia served on the board of the Tysons Regional Chamber of Commerce, as Co-Chair of its Women’s Leadership Council, and on the board of the Woodburn Village Condo Association.

MODERATOR

Anne Ekedahl (De Biasi), Health Policy Consultant
Anne Ekedahl (formerly De Biasi) has dedicated her career to improving access to health care and promoting the health of the public. Anne is a health policy consultant, leveraging skills honed over 30 years of work in health care, community health and health policy. She is also a Senior Fellow for Policy at WE in the World where she leads the Well Being in the Nation Network’s development of a policy agenda for a more equitable economy and facilitates Well Being in the Nation Network Partners, a group of 100+ organizations working to advance intergenerational health and well-being. Anne is co-leading a research study on how to increase mental health services in schools, funded by the National Institute for Healthcare Management. Past clients include the National Association of School Nurses, National Academy of State Health Policy, the Green and Healthy Homes Initiative and Well Being Trust. Anne trained as a Reframing Aging facilitator in February, 2020.
Anne was previously the Director of Policy Development at the Trust for America’s Health, leading the strategy for incorporating prevention and public health into the reforming health system. She served as the first Director of Child Health Policy and Advocacy at Nemours, Director of Public Policy at the National Breast Cancer Coalition and first Director of the Children’s Dental Health Project. She was President/CEO of the Oak Orchard Community Health Center in New York and came to Washington, D.C. as a Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellow, working as health care staff for the U.S. Senate Majority Leader. Anne is Leadership Rochester graduate and received a “40 under 40 Award” from the Rochester Business Journal.
Anne serves on Georgia Health Policy Center’s Local Wellness Funds: Advancing the Practice Advisory Board, Brookings Institution Braiding and Blending Working Group, Brookings Institution Child and Adult Mental Health Working Group and the Institute for Medicaid Innovation Governing Board. She is Secretary of the Board of Mary’s Center, a Federally-Qualified Health Center, and on the Southwest Neighborhood Assembly’s Education and Scholarship Task Force.

Related Event: Small Group Discussion

Small group discussion: Writing a Policy Brief
April 7, 2022, 12pm ET

Learn how to craft a policy brief for policymakers! Your research can influence policy if you communicate the information effectively and tie research results to specific recommendations. During this small group session you will be coached by a health policy expert who will help you identify and practice the format and techniques for a convincing policy memo.

EXPERT

Anne Ekedahl (De Biasi), Health Policy Consultant
Anne Ekedahl (formerly De Biasi) has dedicated her career to improving access to health care and promoting the health of the public. Anne is a health policy consultant, leveraging skills honed over 30 years of work in health care, community health and health policy. She is also a Senior Fellow for Policy at WE in the World where she leads the Well Being in the Nation Network’s development of a policy agenda for a more equitable economy and facilitates Well Being in the Nation Network Partners, a group of 100+ organizations working to advance intergenerational health and well-being. Anne is co-leading a research study on how to increase mental health services in schools, funded by the National Institute for Healthcare Management. Past clients include the National Association of School Nurses, National Academy of State Health Policy, the Green and Healthy Homes Initiative and Well Being Trust. Anne trained as a Reframing Aging facilitator in February, 2020.
Anne was previously the Director of Policy Development at the Trust for America’s Health, leading the strategy for incorporating prevention and public health into the reforming health system. She served as the first Director of Child Health Policy and Advocacy at Nemours, Director of Public Policy at the National Breast Cancer Coalition and first Director of the Children’s Dental Health Project. She was President/CEO of the Oak Orchard Community Health Center in New York and came to Washington, D.C. as a Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellow, working as health care staff for the U.S. Senate Majority Leader. Anne is Leadership Rochester graduate and received a “40 under 40 Award” from the Rochester Business Journal.
Anne serves on Georgia Health Policy Center’s Local Wellness Funds: Advancing the Practice Advisory Board, Brookings Institution Braiding and Blending Working Group, Brookings Institution Child and Adult Mental Health Working Group and the Institute for Medicaid Innovation Governing Board. She is Secretary of the Board of Mary’s Center, a Federally-Qualified Health Center, and on the Southwest Neighborhood Assembly’s Education and Scholarship Task Force.

Research to Action Webinar Series

How can academic science better serve the public?

How can population health research lead to better and more equitable health?

How can it motivate and inform population health action?

A People First Approach to Government and the Right to Health

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Past Events

R2A Webinar: Collective Advocacy for Population Health Equity

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Communicating Controversial Science

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Webinar: Speaking Science on Social Media March 2, 2023, 12pm ET

PANELISTS

MODERATOR

Webinar: Securing Funding for Applied Research October 20, 2022, 12pm ET

PANELISTS

MODERATOR

Related Event: Small Group Discussion

Small group discussion: Developing a concept proposal or a set of specific aimsOctober 27, 2022, 4-5:30pm ET

EXPERT

Related Webinar: Rewarding Engaged Scholarship in the Academy: Strategies and Successes

Webinar: Bridging Research with Community Practice July 21, 2022, 12pm ET

PANELISTS

MODERATOR

Related Event: Small Group Discussion

Small Group Discussion: Trust, Communication, and Partnership: Strategies to develop a sustainable community engagement plan August 4, 2022, 12:00pm ET

EXPERT

Webinar: Communicating Research Through the Print and Broadcast MediaJanuary 20, 2022, 12pm - 1:30pm ET

PANELISTS

MODERATOR

Related Event: Small Group Discussion

Small group discussion: Writing an op-edFebruary 24, 2022, 12pm ET

EXPERT

Webinar: Making Research Actionable for State & Local Policymakers March 31, 2022, 12pm ET

PANELISTS

MODERATOR

Related Event: Small Group Discussion

Small group discussion: Writing a Policy BriefApril 7, 2022, 12pm ET

EXPERT

Webinar: Speaking Science on Social Media
March 2, 2023, 12pm ET

Webinar: Securing Funding for Applied Research
October 20, 2022, 12pm ET

Small group discussion: Developing a concept proposal or a set of specific aims
October 27, 2022, 4-5:30pm ET

Webinar: Bridging Research with Community Practice
July 21, 2022, 12pm ET

Small Group Discussion: Trust, Communication, and Partnership: Strategies to develop a sustainable community engagement plan
August 4, 2022, 12:00pm ET

Webinar: Communicating Research Through the Print and Broadcast Media
January 20, 2022, 12pm - 1:30pm ET

Small group discussion: Writing an op-ed
February 24, 2022, 12pm ET

Webinar: Making Research Actionable for State & Local Policymakers
March 31, 2022, 12pm ET

Small group discussion: Writing a Policy Brief
April 7, 2022, 12pm ET