KU-Master of Public Health Program

Happy National Public Health Week! APHA's theme this year is “Protecting, Connecting and Thriving" and they are starting the week off strong with the first daily theme - Civic Engagement 🗳️

Voting is a powerful tool for driving change and studies show better public health outcomes occur in states where more people vote. Civic engagement helps allocate resources to support healthy lives and it's both our duty and privilege to engage in the democratic process to shape our future.

Access the toolkit here: https://nphw.org/Tools-and-Tips/Toolkit

Q&A with Sharla Smith, Maternal and Fetal Health Researcher Sharla Smith, Ph.D., MPH, answered a few questions about her work and the problem of health disparities for Black infants and mothers.

Participants will learn how to synthesize coded data into main findings and conclusions. Participants will also be introduced to strategies for writing and applying non‐ traditional methods of disseminating findings.
Register now:
https://cmhredcap.cmh.edu/surveys/?s=DW7KXHE4JR8KAERW

Welcome To eDecide - eDecide eDECIDE is one of the first web-based platforms to help adults manage type 2 diabetes. eDECIDE is one of the first web-based platforms to help adults manage type 2 diabetes. What is eDecide? eDECIDE is an adaption of the evidence-based DECIDE program. It was created to provide an online, easy access...

Congratulations to KU-MPH grad Tara Nolen!

Congratulations to Community Health Manager Tara Nolen, who is being recognized for Excellence in Health Care by the Wichita Business Journal!

What advice would she give someone considering a career in health care? "Find a path that you love; something that speaks to your heart and soul... If you can find a mission or a calling to believe in, then bad days will just be a slight bump in the road."

Learn more about Tara's passion for serving others here: https://bit.ly/3A4BGEc

Governor Laura Kelly proclaims August “Kansas Breastfeeding Month”🤱🏻🤱🏾🤱🤱🏽🤱🏼 Thank you to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Kansas Birth Justice Action, Kansas Children’s Cabinet, Senator Kristen O'Shea, Senator Dinah Sykes for joining us in celebrating 🎉

https://news.ku.edu/2022/07/15/people-underestimate-surprising-impact-reaching-out-study-finds

Reaching out appreciation Get the info on how a new study reveals the surprising impact of reaching out and reconnecting

Congratulations to KU-MPH graduate Dr. Ithar Hassaballa!

Ithar Hassaballa: Boston Congress of Public Health in 40 under 40 Winner - NYC Daily Post The inaugural 40 Under 40 Public Health Catalyst Awards aim to highlight the rising leaders and innovators of the public health field. The Boston Congress of Public Health (BCPH) and the HPHR Journal selected a group of “leaders, entrepreneurs, researchers, scientists, activists”, and doctors th...

We love to see our MPH faculty, graduates, and students working in governmental public health!

Our Community Health Team has been working to improve social and environmental health factors in Douglas County for over a decade, but at today's staff meeting we were introduced (and re-introduced) to some new members of that team who will be helping us move forward with these initiatives, as well as the upcoming Community Health Plan! 👍

Leading the group is our Academic Health Department liaison Vicki Collie-Akers (back right). Laura McColloch is also a longtime LDCPH employee (front center), but they are now joined by Tatiana Darby, Christina Baker, and Sara Obermeier (pictured from left to right, not pictured: Sarah Landry). We cannot emphasize enough how important the mission of the Community Health Team is to us as an organization and how excited we are to have these new staff members contributing to that work. Welcome! 💕

Check out this awesome work by KU-MPH faculty and students.

https://youtu.be/CskyLFYGDbc

(S)HE Stories Student Documentary: Incarceration to Empowerment Public health graduate students Katie Russell and Sydney Wells wrote and edited this short documentary about the Sexual Health Empowerment Team ladies and pr...

The University of Kansas Cancer Center population health researcher, Christie Befort, PhD, received a $4.5 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to fund her work exploring sustainable obesity treatment options for people in rural communities.

More than 40% of American adults have obesity, and that number is growing. From 1999 to 2018, U.S. obesity prevalence increased from 30.5% to 42.4%. Being overweight or having obesity is linked with a higher risk of getting 13 types of cancer. These cancers make up 40% of all cancers diagnosed in the United States each year.

Learn more ➔ https://bit.ly/3vMVwmp.

KU-MPH professor Megha Ramaswamy and graduate Joi Wickliffe at the KC AIDS walk! Rock Chalk!

https://www.facebook.com/709950669/posts/10158089134865670/

Thank you to KU-MPH alum, Sonalli Kurlekar, for showcasing and celebrating epidemiology as a career. We can't wait to see the new exhibit!

We're giving away free condoms here at City of Kansas City, Mo., Health Department. It's and there's always room for extra protection. Take control of your sexual health by grabbing a bag of condoms and other goodies here.

Happy World Health Day! From Baby Jay and all of us here at KU School of Medicine-Wichita, thank you to all the health care professionals and organizations working to improve the health of our community and our world. 🩺

This is it! The call for abstracts for is now open. Submit today to be part of November’s meeting in Boston: https://apha.org/Events-and-Meetings/Annual/call-for-abstracts

Make plans to join the virtual town hall, “Keeping our Communities Safe: The Role of Public Health,” on Feb. 22, 4-5:30 p.m. ET. The free event is designed to ensure that professionals, colleagues, multisectoral partners, and the broader public are aware of challenges to public health. Co-sponsored by APHA, the Alliance for Disease Prevention and Response, and the COVID Collaborative. Register now https://bit.ly/3LFemSr

Public health systems are wrestling with shrinking budgets, a resurging pandemic, and a racial reckoning. Three leaders, including APHA's Georges C. Benjamin, MD, will make sense of the state of the nation's public health and will offer their vision for the future. Register for the County Health Rankings & Roadmaps webinar now: https://chrr.zoom.us/.../261642.../WN_Rou_aB53RBSayjv2vJF7Xg

We're hiring! Applications are now being accepted for a full-time Public Health Emergency Planner. Apply today: https://jocogov.hua.hrsmart.com/hrsmart/ats/Posting/view/5511/0/0/0

The KU-MPH program couldn't be more excited about this announcement. Congratulations Dr. Marvia D. Jones!
https://www.kcur.org/health/2022-02-04/marvia-jones-named-first-black-female-director-of-kansas-city-health-department

Marvia Jones named first Black female director of Kansas City Health Department Jones takes over leadership of Kansas City's health department as COVID-19 cases run high, and as Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt challenges the authority of local health agencies to issue mitigation orders.

There are a variety of different jobs in the profession. But one thing they have in common is that they all help protect the health of families, communities, and individuals in the nation and around the world.

Thank you Dr. Sharla Smith for providing testimony in Topeka.
https://www.kake.com/story/45693383/kansas-women-ask-for-better-study-of-childbirth-deaths

Kansas women ask for better study of childbirth deaths Nationally, researchers say about 60% of deaths in childbirth are preventable. A study released last year showed 92% of Kansans who died in child birth, from 2016 to 2018, had at least one chance to

Congratulations to KU-MPH graduate Miles Crowley! Welcome to the faculty!

We are very proud of our KU-MPH student, Tori Gleason, DC, who uses her expertise to champion health equity for all in rural Kansas. Way to go, Tori!

https://www.kumc.edu/school-of-medicine/campuses/wichita/about/news/news-archive/mph-student-focuses-on-marginalized-communities.html

MPH student focuses on marginalized communities Tori Gleason, a Master of Public Health student at KU School of Medicine-Wichita, is working to help the LGBTQ+ community achieve health equity

Sunflower has been honored to work with the Bipartisan Policy Center and a coalition of the nation’s top public health associations and foundations to produce a 5-year roadmap for state and local elected officials and public health leaders to build a more equitable, robust, and sustainable public health system. The report outlines the critical investments needed to modernize the public health system so that the United States becomes a healthier nation, able to respond to an array of public health challenges while ensuring every American has the opportunity to achieve their best possible health and well-being. Read more at http://bpcdc.org/3lj94Rd - with ASTHO (Association of State and Territorial Health Officials), Big Cities Health Coalition, CDC Foundation, de Beaumont Foundation, Kresge Foundation, National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), The Pew Charitable Trusts, Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB)

We don't say it enough. THANK YOU to our heroes in public health, especially our friends, neighbors and colleagues in Kansas. The pandemic has magnified the importance of public health and the debt of gratitude we owe our public health professionals for their efforts to protect and improve the health of all people in all communities -- even under the most trying of circumstances.

In addition to protecting us from infectious diseases, public health professionals work to ensure we have clean water to drink and clean air to breathe; they help identify genetic disorders in newborns; and help us prepare for and recover from natural disasters, among many other critical services.



Kansas Public Health Collaborative
Kansas Association of Local Health Departments
Kansas Public Health Association