ESAL chats with Karen Gardner, economist, researcher, and policy analyst for better healthy retail public health policy.
State and local agencies develop and implement public health policies, looking for ways to improve health outcomes at the population level. Public health spans medical, behavioral, mental, and developmental health, among others. States often set the underlying regulatory standards that health institutions must follow, and manage much of the licensing to enforce those regulations. However much of the decision-making for the implementation of public health policy is relegated to county governments, which focus on the needs of specific communities. During times of emergency such as the COVID-19 pandemic, state governments can issue guidance and convene county health departments to enable better coordination of services and policies. State and local governments have recently attempted to ameliorate poor health policy and outdated public infrastructure to improve future government response to health crises, making them an even larger actor in subsequent health response efforts.
ESAL chats with Karen Gardner, economist, researcher, and policy analyst for better healthy retail public health policy.
ESAL hosted a panel discussion titled “Evidence-Driven Solutions to the Opioid Epidemic”. The panelists provided a deeply informative and multi-faceted view of one of the most serious public health challenges in the United States.
In a recent conversation with ESAL, Kavin Manickaraj, chief data scientist at Greenlink Analytics, reflected on how his concern for the well-being of the local community and effects of climate change informs his science and career path. Learn more about how Kavin wants to bridge the gap between science and political action.
Cynthia Prieto-Diaz, a biomedical engineer by training, actively contributes to scientific discourse by volunteering, engaging with city governments, and advocating for STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine) involvement and consideration in local governance.Prieto-Diaz currently holds a position on the leadership team for 500 Women Scientists and serves as a member of the Board of Directors for the Cal Poly Pomona-Latin Alumni Network.
Learn more about the recent history of nuclear energy usage in the United States and how both national and state-level policies are shaping its future.
Biomedical engineering PhD student Casie Slaybaugh shares how she combined her science policy and personal passions as a fellow working with the Virginia Board for People with Disabilities.
The debate around abortion is informed by science, medicine, and public health, as well as ethics. Many people with STEM backgrounds feel compelled to get involved. One way to do this is to have critical conversations with your friends, family, and other members of your community. We hope that the information in this post can serve as a guide for anyone looking to engage in this important policy discussion.
Information technology PhD student Xu Han recalls his experience building a data processing pipeline for analyzing data from the Office of Recovery Services at the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services and to better serve the people of Virginia.
Translational biology PhD candidate Frankie Edwards recalls his experience with analyzing data to find mobile service gaps in the Commonwealth of Virginia and how his work contributed to redesigning crisis services.
