GWU Milken 2019 Progress Report by Moire Marketing Partners

2019 PROGRESS REPORT

FEATURED INSIDE: • Targeting an Ancient Killer • Progress and Promise at the Redstone Global Center for Prevention and Wellness • Establishing a Health Workforce Legacy MILKEN INSTITUTE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

Dean Lynn Goldman

LETTER FROM THE DEAN “ These accomplishments reflect the hard work and dedication of all of our faculty, staff, students and alumni, and I could not be more appreciative and proud.”

We are all students of change. As Benjamin Franklin once said, “When you’re finished changing, you’re finished.” Our school has experienced tremendous change this past year… and we are not finished. And with change comes the opportunity for significant growth, and if we stop growing we will fail in our mission to educate, advocate, legislate and dominate in the fields of public health and scientific research. We must grow to uphold our mission and serve the world. This past year we have undergone so many exciting transformations. You will read about them in more detail later in this report, but I will highlight a few here. We are now ranked by the most recent U.S. News and World Report graduate school rankings as the No. 12 school of public health in the country, up from No. 14. Furthermore, our Masters of Health Administration program was ranked No. 12 in the same rankings, up from No. 16. These accomplishments reflect the hard work and dedication of all of our faculty, staff, students and alumni, and I could not be more appreciative and proud. Our community collaborated to complete our new strategic plan with the inspiring vision: Healthier and Safer Communities Powered by Public Health. Their strong efforts and great ideas resulted in a strategic plan that provides a solid foundation for our future. This year we are part of a new university strategic planning effort led by President LeBlanc, his leadership team and three key committees that will move GW forward to its vision of a preeminent comprehensive global research university. We launched several new distinctive degree programs, positioning our school as a top destination for academic graduate students. For example, we now offer PhDs in health policy as well as environmental health. We also expanded the MPH program to include a new track in humanitarian health. Our students benefit greatly from the wide expertise among our

world-class faculty, research opportunities as well as the proximity to so many agencies, NGOs and other institutions here in Washington, DC. I’m particularly thrilled with the changes we have made in leadership this year. Some very senior leaders have left us to go on to greater heights. We are proud that Michael Lu, who was our senior associate dean for academic, faculty and student affairs, is now the dean of the UC Berkeley School of Public Health. We congratulate Monique Turner, who was a powerhouse as assistant dean of MPH programs and is now chair of the Department of Communication in the College of Communication Arts and Sciences at Michigan State University. Joining us as our new senior associate dean of academic, faculty and student affairs is our very own Jane Thorpe, health policy interim chair and professor. George Gray, who served as vice chair and professor in the Department of Environmental Health, is our new associate dean for MPH programs. We also now have Eugene Migliaccio as associate dean for applied public health, Sara Wilensky as assistant dean for undergraduate programs, Lorien Abroms as assistant dean of academic graduate programs, Heather Renault as assistant dean of student services and Ellen Beck as assistant vice president of development and alumni relations. With this newly constituted senior leadership team, I am confident that we are poised for future growth and development. Many of you know Dr. Fitzhugh Mullan, professor of health policy and management and a towering pillar in the effort to build a more diverse health workforce here and around the world. The university recently renamed the GW Health Workforce Institute as the Fitzhugh Mullan Institute for Health Workforce Equity in honor of Fitzhugh, who is also a professor of pediatrics in the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences. The

newly named institute will be directed by Patricia Pittman, professor of health policy and management. This represents a huge honor to the school and to Fitzhugh in recognition of his lifetime of commitment and impact in the areas of social justice, health equity and health workforce policies. Finally, I would be remiss if I did not mention the incredible ongoing work of the District of Columbia Center for AIDS Research (DC CFAR). Under the leadership of Alan Greenberg, professor and chair of the Department of Epidemiology, the DC CFAR will be getting new grants as a result of the current administration’s desire to end HIV in 10 years. This incredible work will be further supported by the NIH and will result in contributing to this audacious but achievable goal. Inspired by our success in addressing the HIV/AIDS and related epidemics, we have moved into new areas in infectious disease, namely stopping epidemics of vector-borne disease. Later in this issue you’ll read about our new laboratories headed by Professors Nirbhay Kumar and Christopher Mores, where we will study mosquito-borne diseases and develop methods to track and prevent them. So, at the end of the day, change is indeed inevitable. But it is also invigorating and stimulating. Let’s embrace it, celebrate it and use it to propel us further along our mutual goals of achieving health, safety and peace for people everywhere while contributing to the university’s vision of a preeminent, comprehensive global research university. Truly yours,

Lynn R. Goldman, MD, MS, MPH Michael and Lori Milken Dean

MILKEN INSTITUTE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

TARGETING AN ANCIENT KILLER

World-Class Milken Institute SPH Researchers Take Aim at Malaria and Other Vector-Borne Diseases

By Kathleen Fackelmann

As dusk falls over an African village in Zambia, a young girl is outside gathering firewood...

...when a mosquito lands on her arm.

By the time she is aware of the itch, the mosquito has already injected a microscopic parasite that causes malaria, a potentially lethal disease that affects millions of people around the world.

A week later, the girl suddenly wakes up with a fever, chills and vomiting. Soon, she and her mother are on their way to the nearest health clinic, a walk that may take several hours to days. By the time they reach the clinic, it may be too late.

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A Deadly Worldwide Toll Play this scene over tens of thousands of times in Africa and nearly 90 other developing countries, and you start to appreciate the public burden posed by malaria today. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that in 2018 there were 219 million cases of malaria, and 435,000 people died of this disease. Nirbhay Kumar, PhD, a professor of global health at Milken Institute SPH, has seen firsthand the devastation the disease can bring to African villages. There, a bite from a mosquito can represent much more than just an annoying itch. It can be a death sentence. Over the years of studying malaria, he has developed a passion aimed at stopping this disease. “My goal is to eliminate malaria—a disease that kills nearly half a million people a year, the majority of them children living in Africa,” he says. “If we are successful, we will have a long lasting, effective vaccine to combat this ancient disease.” Kumar, a survivor of malaria, grew up and was educated in India, began his quest to find a way to eliminate malaria back in 1982. He was a young postdoctoral scientist then working at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, MD, and looking for ways to connect basic science to the public health goal of saving lives. He started researching ways to combat the disease, first at NIH and then at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. In 2010, he left Baltimore and continued his malaria vaccine research at the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. In September 2018, Kumar joined the faculty at Milken Institute SPH and immediately began to establish his lab and build a secure insectary on the seventh floor of the stateof-the-art GW Science and Engineering Hall. Kumar has assembled a team, and now they are forging ahead on a $1.9 million NIH-funded study to develop a combination vaccine capable of eliminating malaria. Mosquitoes have been spreading the parasite that causes malaria since time immemorial.

Yet, in the modern world, developed countries have used recent scientific advances and strong public health systems to make great progress against this disease. Consider, if you will, a surge in malaria cases that occurred in Mexico in the 1990s. Milken Institute SPH Global Health Professor Carlos Santos-Burgoa was on the frontlines of the effort to tamp down that surge, first as the dean of the School of Public Health of Mexico and then as the director general of the Health Environment and Work Institute. SantosBurgoa helped spearhead a partnership in which public health officials, researchers and community members established an aggressive program that paired treatment with the elimination of the vector’s breeding grounds.

Nirbhay Kumar

“It was a public health success story,” he says, pointing out that the number of cases of malaria dropped after the intervention and remains low to this day.

The Quest to Find a Vaccine Yet, despite the advances against malaria in much of the developed world, progress has stalled in regions like Africa. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the African continent continues to shoulder a disproportionately high share of the world’s malaria burden. In 2017, the region accounted for 92 percent of all malaria cases and 93 percent of malaria deaths. Over the years, Kumar has developed a great appreciation for Plasmodium, a wily parasite that continues to evolve resistance to the most powerful anti-malarial drugs. Indeed, according to new reports published this summer in The Lancet, malaria drugs are now failing at an alarming rate in Southeast Asia, and the worry is that the resistance will spread. In addition, while insecticide spraying and treated bed nets can help reduce malaria transmission, mosquitoes are increasingly impervious to DDT and other pesticides. Kumar knew that in underdeveloped regions of the world like Africa, stamping

Carlos Santos-Burgoa

out the disease would require more than the usual array of weapons that were currently being used. At Hopkins and then later at Tulane, Kumar focused on developing extra firepower to deploy in this war. He started working on a transmission-blocking vaccine, or TBV, and created one aimed at stopping the transmission of the parasite from infected people to mosquitoes. But this vaccine does not directly protect people against malaria. Instead, it takes a community-based approach to malaria control. Healthy people would get the vaccine, and if they are bitten by an infected mosquito and develop malaria later on, the vaccine would prevent the parasites from being passed on to other mosquitoes. In turn, that block means that the disease is not passed on to other healthy people in the community. With this strategy, fewer and fewer mosquitoes are infected with malaria MILKEN INSTITUTE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

If TBVs were 100 percent effective in blocking the spread of malaria, the battle would be over. However, in some cases, TBVs do not work effectively, and when the parasites are transmitted, the deadly cycle of new infections continues.

A Promising ‘Cocktail’ Approach To close that gap, Kumar and his team are now adding another vaccine to the mix to create a combination approach—one that would prevent not just transmission from infected people to mosquitoes but the other way around as well.

organisms—and as time goes on, the hope is it would lead to an effective strategy to control the disease. Kumar and his team have shown that TBVs are about 90 percent effective when tested in mice and monkeys.

“Combining two vaccines in a cocktail could potentially stop the cycle that results in hundreds of millions of malaria cases every year,” Kumar says. He has already started testing this combination vaccine in mice and will know by the end of the year if it works.

Still the team is a long way off from the next step, an effective and safe combination vaccine that can be given to people. Once the testing in animals is complete, the researchers will seek a partnership with a company to produce a vaccine for testing in clinical trials—a process that can take years. The goal is to produce a safe and effective combination vaccine that can be ushered through the regulatory hurdles and on to the clinic, where it can provide some protection to the young girl in Zambia and many others in Africa, India and other parts of the world where malaria still poses a threat. “There are more than 200 million cases of malaria today in countries around the world,” he says. “We want to bring that number down to the point where elimination of malaria is within sight.”

Fighting Emerging Disease Threats From the Field to the Lab Professor of Global Health Christopher Mores has a bag packed in case he must fly out to help contain a disease threat like the Ebola outbreak that in August of this year began spreading in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). “When I’m not putting out fires, you can find me in the lab,” says Mores, who is on the frontlines of research to stop viruses that can cause epidemics like Ebola, chikungunya and Zika. Mores, who joined Milken Institute SPH in September 2018, previously served as a professor at the Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge and as department head of the Virology and Emerging Infections at the U.S. Naval Research Unit No. 6 in Lima, Peru. He responded to the 2014 Ebola crisis in Sierra Leone. Since arriving in DC, Mores has been setting up a state-of-the-art Biosafety Level 3 laboratory (BSL-3) on the seventh floor of the GW Science and Engineering

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Hall. It is the only such high-containment laboratory at GW, and once it goes hot, Mores will kick off a study aimed at supporting a vaccine for Chikungunya, a mosquito-borne viral disease that first emerged in Tanzania but now infects people in more than 60 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas. Mores and his team are part of a larger effort supported in part by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) to develop and bring to market a vaccine that would protect people against chikungunya. Under the partnership agreement lead by the biotech company Themis Bioscience, CEPI will provide up to $21 million for Phase 3 clinical testing of the vaccine. CEPI is targeting chikungunya and 11 other diseases, including Ebola, because they have the potential to trigger a worldwide pandemic. In the BSL-3, Mores and his team will give

Christopher Mores

antibodies from human volunteers that received the experimental chikungunya vaccine to mice to see if it will protect them from infection, a key step in proving a vaccine is effective. At press time, Mores is also monitoring the rapidly moving situation in the DRC. In response to CDC requests, he has been in touch with public health workers fighting to contain the deadly outbreak of Ebola, which has now been classified as a global emergency by the World Health Organization. “If they need more boots on the ground, I’m ready,” he says.

FIVE YEARS ON: Progress and Promise at the Redstone Global Center for Prevention and Wellness

William Dietz

By Kate Wolff A lot can happen in five years. Advances in medical treatment, new technologies, changes in political leadership—a multitude of factors can influence the field of public health and change the course of history—or at least research, policy and practice. In the five years since its inception at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health (Milken Institute SPH), the Sumner M. Redstone Global Center for Prevention and Wellness (Redstone Global Center) has supported new and innovative approaches to many of the world’s most complex public health challenges. Focused on nutrition, physical activity and obesity, the Redstone Global Center has made meaningful contributions to the field of public health through research, publications, and the application of evidencebased policy into real-world practice. Redstone Center Director William H. Dietz, MD, PhD, still remembers the call from Milken Institute SPH Dean Lynn Goldman to discuss the new organization and the director’s position. “It was a tremendous opportunity to accelerate the fight against the growing epidemic of obesity in our country and build a new academic center to address the gaps between research, policy and practice,” said Dietz, who had previously served as

the Director of the Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity in the Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta. “With the support of my family and colleagues, I said yes, moved to DC, and have enjoyed expanding the work of the Center over the past five years.” Flash forward to 2019, and the Redstone Global Center is making the kind of difference that is simply not possible by focusing solely on the clinical side. “Today’s complex health problems need to be addressed at the population level if we are going to make a real impact,” Dietz said. As part of Milken Institute SPH, the Redstone Global Center is located in the heart of the nation’s capital, just miles from the Halls of Congress and many federal health and science agencies. “Under Bill’s leadership, the Redstone Global Center has weighed in to help inform policymakers, federal officials and lawmakers as they grapple with some of the most difficult public health issues of the times,” Dean Goldman said. “Here, the Redstone Global Center can have an outsize role in informing local, state and federal policies that impact public health.”

A National Impact A cornerstone of the Redstone Global Center’s work is to promote innovative initiatives that can stave off unhealthy weight gain, poor nutrition and chronic diseases. “We know that inactivity and obesity can lead to diabetes and other chronic conditions that are difficult to treat after they are established,” said Dietz. To help carry out this mission, the Strategies to Overcome and Prevent Obesity Alliance (STOP Obesity Alliance), initially created at GW in 2007 joined the Redstone Global Center portfolio in 2014. Cristy Gallagher, Research Project Director with the STOP Obesity Alliance, has been with the organization since 2011. “Dr. Dietz was a founding member of the STOP Obesity Alliance in his role at the CDC, so it was a great opportunity to transition to the Redstone Global Center family when he joined GW in 2014,” she shared. “In the past five years STOP Obesity Alliance has focused on addressing the continuum of care for the prevention and treatment of obesity, from ensuring patients have access to appropriate care, to identifying opportunities for providers to have more training

MILKEN INSTITUTE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

Wendy Ellis

in the area of obesity.” These efforts have resulted in significant contributions to the field, including the creation and curation of Provider Competencies for the Prevention and Management of Obesity and an analysis of Obesity Coverage in Medicaid and State Employer Health Plans over a decade, featuring an interactive U.S. map documenting coverage. In 2018, STOP Obesity Alliance convened a series of roundtable meetings to answer the questions of who should provide obesity care, where obesity care should be delivered and what care should be provided by whom. The result was a practical, tangible, measurable and simple standard of care for the treatment of adult obesity, providing health professionals, payers, community organizations, policymakers and those affected by obesity with guidance on foundational components of evidence-based obesity care across care settings. As Gallagher puts it, “STOP Obesity Alliance is looking at all the factors that may prevent treatment for obesity from happening—why are patients reluctant to get treatment? What do providers need to start the conversation? What is covered by insurance?” By tackling these questions and building resources for the field, the STOP Obesity Alliance is poised to continue to advance strategies for obesity treatment and prevention. The Redstone Global Center also recognizes that the root causes of many chronic diseases such as obesity, heart disease, and diabetes stem from childhood and community adversity. In 2015, the Redstone Global Center became the academic home to the Building Community Resilience Network

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and Collaborative (BCR). BCR grew from a doctoral research project to an internationally recognized public health movement that seeks to prevent Adverse Childhood Experiences by addressing Adverse Community Environments (the “Pair of ACEs”). Using the BCR process and tools, communities work to align multiple sectors—such as health care, city and county government, and education—with community-based partners, including parenting support services and grassroots health advocates. Teams also develop strategies that bolster strengths, fill gaps, and ultimately build child, family, and community resilience. On a broader scale, BCR fosters the implementation of trauma-informed practices, data sharing, and advocacy for policy change. The national BCR team at Milken Institute SPH, led by Wendy Ellis, PhD, one of the school’s original Michael and Lori Milken Public Health Scholars, provides technical assistance, including strategic planning, facilitation of cross-sector information sharing, support for data and measurement, development of policy strategies, convening, and communications support. In discussing the success of the BCR process across nine states and DC, Ellis says that “BCR translates the science of the ‘Pair of ACEs’ into action in communities for long-lasting impact. Our work to build community resilience is not just an academic pursuit but really the beginning of a movement for change.” Going forward, BCR will continue to focus on the drivers of inequity in the systems that most influence a community’s access to the resources and supports necessary for early child development, health and well-being.

A Global Reach The Redstone Global Center is not just focused on moving the needle here in

the U.S. Dietz is co-chair of the Lancet Commission on Obesity, composed of an international group of commissioners and fellows. Following a series of convenings, including two hosted by Milken Institute SPH, The Lancet released the Commission’s seminal report, “The Global Syndemic of Obesity, Undernutrition and Climate Change,” in 2019. The report is the first to definitively place and critically examine obesity in a wider context of the global interactions of the pandemics of obesity, undernutrition, and climate change. “The notion of a Global Syndemic is novel. People have been receptive to our recognition of the intersection of climate change, undernutrition and obesity—which are driven by the underlying systems of agriculture, transport, land use, and urban design,” shares Dietz. The linkages between these three pandemics suggests double- or tripleduty solutions that simultaneously mitigate two or all three pandemics. Looking forward, Dietz is optimistic about the two complementary tracks of the Global Syndemic work. “Not only do we have a real possibility of engaging people in making individual changes that will mitigate climate change and have positive benefits for nutrition within the food system, but we are developing plans to leverage communications and policy strategies to bridge silos and address the common drivers of the Syndemic in the U.S.”

The Next Five Years The successes from the Redstone Global Center’s first five years provide a roadmap for future opportunities. Dietz and the entire team remain committed to improving nutrition, physical activity, and obesity and other activities to address health disparities. “With the ability to leverage the advantages and resources of Milken Institute SPH, the Redstone Global Center’s next five years and beyond will continue the drive to make our communities and others across the globe healthier and more equitable,” Dietz said.

Establishing a Legacy Fitzhugh Mullan Institute Represents Culmination of Milken Institute SPH Professor’s Illustrious Career By Mina Radman

Fitzhugh Mullan

On a cool spring evening, friends, family and colleagues gathered at a winery in Maryland to honor Fitzhugh Mullan, MD, a professor of health policy and management at Milken Institute School of Public Health (Milken Institute SPH). With wine glasses raised high, attendees toasted to Mullan’s long and distinguished career spent fighting to make health equity a focus of all health professions. At the celebratory dinner, Thomas J. LeBlanc, president of the George Washington University (GW), announced the Fitzhugh Mullan Institute for Health Workforce Equity (Mullan Institute). The Mullan Institute, originally named the GW Health Workforce Institute, was established in 2015 by Mullan and Patricia “Polly” Pittman, a professor of health policy and management, to research and address issues facing health professionals. The institute was renamed to honor Mullan’s lifetime commitment to public health, policy and medicine. Lynn Goldman, the Michael and Lori Milken Dean of Milken Institute SPH, has worked with Mullan for nearly a decade and attended the dinner. She

gave an emotional toast to highlight Mullan’s influence on the Milken Institute SPH community. “Fitzhugh has been a great mentor and teacher to many at our university, and I am honored to call him a colleague and a friend,” Goldman says. “In naming the Fitzhugh Mullan Institute for Health Workforce Equity, we commit to continuing his work toward creating an equitable health workforce for decades to come.” A trained pediatrician, Mullan’s distinguished 50-year career includes time as a civil rights worker, National Health Service Corps physician, federal administrator, state health secretary, assistant Surgeon General, researcher and teacher. At age 32, in the midst of his public service career, Mullan was diagnosed with cancer and underwent surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. He founded the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship, which continues to serve as the leading voice for addressing the needs of cancer survivors nationwide. Mullan, who is also a professor of pediatrics at GW’s School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS), first joined the university in 1998.

“It’s an enormous honor that GW would be generous enough to name the institute after me and allow us to slightly redirect its purpose to focus on equity,” Mullan says. In order to create an equitable health workforce, professionals, educators and policymakers must address the various elements that contribute to inequity in the health professions, Mullan says. The Mullan Institute works to further research and education in health workforce equity through three areas: data and research, convening and education. The first area, data and research, focuses on the improvements that can be made in efficiency, graduate medical education, workforce migration and policies, and other topic areas. The second area, convening, is explored through leadership summits and an annual conference that brings together health professionals from across the nation. The third area, education, is highlighted through two fellowship programs targeted at professionals and medical residents. The three focus areas of the Mullan Institute will be led into the future by three accomplished women: Pittman,

MILKEN INSTITUTE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

Polly Pittman

who now serves as director of the Mullan Institute; Candice Chen, MD, MPH, an associate professor of health policy and management at Milken Institute SPH; and Guenevere Burke, MD, MBA, an assistant professor of emergency medicine at SMHS.

research on emerging issues faced by those in the health professions, researchers can better understand how underserved communities access health care, the quality of the care available and any health disparities that may exist.

Data and Research

“It’s not just studying the workforce for the sake of studying the workforce; it’s really taking a position on how the workforce should be oriented,” Pittman says.

The Mullan Institute is home to two health workforce research centers funded by the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). One center is focused on establishing equity in health workforce training and education, and the second is focused on understanding emerging health workforce issues. Together, the centers provide topical research to strengthen understanding of challenges facing the health professions and to inform policy discussions at the national, state and local levels. The centers work on 10 HRSA-funded projects each year. Research is the basis of understanding the cultural problems related to diversity and inclusion, Mullan says. By conducting

“ Our university’s potential is so much greater than what’s within its walls,” Burke says. “As we watch residents learn and shape health policy, we see a reawakening of the foundational reason why they went into medicine, which is that deep sense of caring about others and the community.” 8

Candice Chen

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Pittman expects the Mullan Institute to grow tremendously over the coming months and, looking toward the future, is examining how research can delve into areas such as behavioral health, maternal and child health, reproductive health and care for aging populations. “We’re shifting from a profession-specific orientation to a focus on the health needs and developing the workforce to meet those needs,” Pittman says. “It’s a different way to slice the pie, so to speak.”

Convening As the only public health school in the nation’s capital, GW provides unique opportunities to gather together academic scholars, health care experts and policymakers. The Mullan Institute utilizes the school’s location to enrich its work by hosting the annual Mullan Workforce Equity Summit, a daylong event hosted at Milken Institute SPH that convenes experts, scholars and the public on popular topics related to health disparities, equity and the workforce. The first summit, held in June, focused on how the health workforce could address and

Guenevere Burke

combat the growing reproductive health crisis in the nation. Experts from across the reproductive health field participated in panel discussions, and Leana Wen, MD, former president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, gave the keynote speech. She emphasized Mullan’s influence in her work as a health professional, sharing the story of how they’d met at a conference when she was 18 and how he had been a mentor to her throughout her career. Wen joined Milken Institute SPH in September as a distinguished fellow in the Mullan Institute and a visiting professor of health policy and management. “Dr. Mullan’s work and unmatched legacy have never been as important as they are right now,” she says, “when the stakes for public health in our country—including reproductive health care—are higher than they have been in decades.” The Mullan Institute also addresses the pillar of convening through the Beyond Flexner Conference, where health professionals and students committed to an equitable health workforce gather to learn new ways to integrate social justice into education and medical practice. Mullan organized the first conference in 2012, which was held in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Since then, the conference has grown, and the Beyond Flexner Alliance of individuals working toward health equity continues to grow each year. Chen, a pediatrician who worked under Mullan’s leadership and has built an illustrious career in health equity, including

time spent as the director of the Division of Medicine and Dentistry in the Bureau of Health Workforce at HRSA, leads the Beyond Flexner Alliance for the Mullan Institute. “Our basic idea is that in the space of health equity there are a lot of individuals and organizations engaged, but there is still not enough,” Chen says. “We must continue to partner and work together to support and highlight the good and innovative work in progress.” The next Beyond Flexner Conference will be held in Arizona in April 2020, and more than 500 individuals from universities and health professions are expected to attend.

Education It’s crucially important that the next generation of health professionals are trained to understand workforce equity, Mullan says. The Mullan Institute houses several educational programs that work to educate future leaders. Established in 2016 through an initial $6 million award from The Atlantic Philanthropies, the Atlantic Fellows for Health Equity is an international, multidisciplinary leadership program that brings together health professionals to work on issues related to health equity, says Burke, an emergency room physician who has also pioneered residency programs in health policy in Southern California. She worked with Mullan to develop the fellowship and now leads the Atlantic Fellows program. In 2018, the Mullan Institute received an additional $18 million from The Atlantic Philanthropies to expand the fellowship program and operate it through 2026. “I never envisioned I would be doing this work but Fitzhugh has encouraged me to take on opportunities I could not have imagined,” says Burke. “With the fellowship, he opened an opportunity to share the vision of what it could become, and it has been really special to see the program grow.” The yearlong program is one of seven global fellowship programs funded by Atlantic Philanthropies. It has successfully

recruited three cohorts of fellows from the United States and worldwide, including Uganda, the Philippines, Brazil, India, Argentina and Sierra Leone. Participants include health activists with expertise in law, economics and medicine. “I’ve seen our fellows sustain one another, and they’re the champions of causes that other people write off as hopeless,” Burke says. “As we grow, I hope to see our fellows continue to build connections among themselves and the broader group of Atlantic Fellows.” Aside from the Atlantic Fellows program, the Mullan Institute houses the Residency Fellowship in Health Policy and an elective class in health policy. The residency fellowship, started by Mullan more than 15 years ago, allows medical residents to learn outside the classroom and hospital walls by visiting with health care experts and policymakers from across Washington, DC. More than 400 medical residents have participated in the program. Its goal, Burke explains, is for medical residents to use their newfound knowledge of health policy to become better advocates for themselves and their patients. “Our university’s potential is so much greater than what’s within its walls,” Burke says. “As we watch residents learn and shape health policy, we see a reawakening of the foundational reason why they went into medicine, which is that deep sense of caring about others and the community.” Altogether, the three pillars of data and research, convening, and education guide the Mullan Institute toward its future. The Mullan Institute furthers its work by collaborating with other schools across the university, including the Schools of Nursing and Business, the Graduate School of Education & Human Development, and the Trachtenberg School of Policy and Public Administration. “The ideas of workforce and equity have turned out to be the north stars of my professional life,” Mullan says. “To have those two come together in an institution that will bare my name after I’m here is an honor and as gratifying a gesture that can be made to a person.”

Jonatan Konfino

Argentinian Physician Reflects on Experience in Altantic Fellows Program Jonatan Konfino, a physician and public health professional in Buenos Aires, Argentina, was one of 15 fellows in the 2018 cohort of the Atlantic Fellows for Health Equity fellowship program. Konfino was drawn to the fellowship program because it offered opportunities to improve his leadership skills and his understanding of health equity from a global perspective. “The fellowship was a great opportunity to connect with colleagues from the U.S. and countries who are also fighting for a more equitable health system from their own viewpoint but facing the same barriers and challenges,” he says. The fellowship program included three in-person meetings of the fellows and continued engagement through online learning. Konfino says many of the fellows in his cohort have become dear friends, and working with faculty like Fitzhugh Mullan and Polly Pittman helped him envision how he could help shape the health system in Argentina. The fellows also visited communities impacted by health workforce and equity issues and learned how public health leaders helped improve their quality of care. “I left more convinced that achieving health equity and social justice is possible,” Konfino says. “There is definitely a before and after in your personal life and professional career with this fellowship.” MILKEN INSTITUTE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

STATE OF THE SCHOOL 10

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Healthier and Safer Communities Powered by Public Health We are advancing population health, wellbeing and social justice locally, nationally and globally. With this vision and mission Milken Institute SPH has continued to be intentional about our efforts outlined in the plan towards making the GWSPH one of the best schools to receive a public health education in the country, equipping our students to face the evershifting landscape surrounding public health challenges. So far, our efforts are proving to show their returns as we recently unveiled our Public Health Rising campaign to acknowledge Milken Institute SPH’s climb to the No. 12 ranked school of public health in the country, according to U.S. News & World Report.

the mission of the school, including innovating our curriculum, expanding our interdisciplinary research portfolio, and positioning Milken Institute SPH as a premier school for applied public health education, scholarship and practice in the nation. Simultaneously, we’ve made headway toward achieving our facilitating goals— activities that support the achievement of our programmatic goals that include the creation of a diversity and inclusion action plan that will support the very foundation of our strategy, improving the student experience, deepening a culture of service that supports the academic mission of the school, strengthening our financing capacity at Milken Institute

SPH through investing in a restructure of the administration and finance entities, and continuing to develop and strengthen alumni relationships. In parallel Milken Institute SPH is working very closely with university leadership towards the institution’s newly launched strategic planning process, led by President Tom LeBlanc, with a focus on four key pillars: world-class faculty, undergraduate programs, graduate programs and research. Members of the Milken Institute SPH community are poised and eager to support this effort in helping to shape these pillars and paving a pathway for the university to achieve its goal of preeminence as a comprehensive global research university.

We’ve made tremendous progress towards achieving our programmatic goals—activities that directly advance

So far, our efforts are proving to show their returns as we recently unveiled our Public Health Rising campaign to acknowledge Milken Institute SPH’s climb to the No. 12 ranked school of public health in the country, according to U.S. News & World Report.

MILKEN INSTITUTE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

Leadership Lends Expertise to Milken Institute Conferences

As a panelist for a discussion on “How Drug Trafficking Is Fueling the Opioid Crisis,” Dean Goldman explored the various approaches public health officials are taking to reduce opioid misuse and save lives while drug trafficking and money laundering are fueling this crisis.

Dean Lynn Goldman

2019 Global Conference In May, Dean Lynn R. Goldman was among the innovative thinkers and leaders convened at the 2019 Milken Institute Global Conference to discuss collaborative solutions to some of the great challenges of our time. As a panelist for a discussion on “How Drug Trafficking Is Fueling the Opioid Crisis,” Dean Goldman explored the various approaches public health officials are taking to reduce opioid misuse and save lives while drug trafficking and money laundering are fueling this crisis. She also served as a panelist for a discussion on “Disaster Preparedness and the Role of Philanthropy,” exploring ways to coordinate and optimize resilient response to disasters.

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2018—Future of Health Summit Among the speakers at the 2018 Future of Health Summit in October were Dean Lynn R. Goldman and William Dietz, MD, chair of the Sumner M. Redstone Global Center for Prevention and Wellness at Milken Institute SPH.

William Dietz

Dean Goldman lent her expertise to a panel discussion that explored the health risks of social isolation as well as solutions, including new care models and technology to strengthen social connections and improve health outcomes. Meanwhile, Dietz served as the moderator for a panel discussion on what can be done differently to address the obesity and diabetes epidemics in the U.S. Dean Lynn Goldman

New Biostatistics and Bioinformatics Department to Expand School’s Quantitative Research and Education Milken Institute SPH expanded its academic portfolio this year with the creation of two new and distinct departments: the Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics and the Department of Epidemiology. The Department of Epidemiology, which formerly included the biostatistics curriculum, will continue its mission of advancing epidemiologic research and education. Alan Greenberg, MD, MPH, who was chair of the former Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, will serve as chair of the Department of Epidemiology. Meanwhile, the Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics will meld

the interdisciplinary science of analyzing complex biological data with statistical research and will put Milken Institute SPH at the forefront of a rapidly growing field that analyzes and manages big data with the aim of providing solutions to some of the world’s most pressing health problems. The new Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics elevates the school’s commitment to the quantitative sciences and supports GW’s university-wide focus on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), says Dean Lynn Goldman. “It is exciting new territory for us.” Scott Evans, PhD, MS, an internationally known expert in clinical trials, infectious diseases and biostatistics, was named

founding chair of the new department. Evans will continue in his role as the director of the Biostatistics Center at Milken Institute SPH, a center with a long history of leadership in coordinating practice-changing clinical trials and biostatistical research. The Computational Biology Institute will also be housed under the new department. “It is truly an exciting time as we embark on a new era of biostatistics and bioinformatics,” Evans says. “These critical sciences are foundational for public health research and decision-making and essential to the education of the next generation of leaders in public health and medicine.”

Biostatistics and Bioinformatics Founding Chair Spotlight Evans came to Milken Institute SPH in 2018 from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (HSPH), where he was a senior research scientist and a member of the Steering Committee for the Center for Biostatistics and AIDS Research. In addition, Evans served as the director of the Statistical and Data Management Center of the Antibacterial Resistance Leadership Group at HSPH, a group that he brought to Milken Institute SPH.

He has authored three books since 2015, including a textbook on clinical trials and two statistical methodology books. Evans is currently the editor-in-chief of Statistical Communications in Infectious Diseases and the co-editor of a new section of Clinical Infectious Diseases, entitled Innovations in Design, Education, and Analyses. He also serves as the executive editor of CHANCE, a publication of the American Statistical Association (ASA).

Evans’ scholarly contributions include applied and methodological research, published in top journals including The New England Journal of Medicine, The Journal of the American Medical Association, Clinical Infectious Diseases, Statistics in Medicine, and others. His methodological developments impact the design, analyses and interpretation of studies in infectious diseases and beyond by obtaining better benefit/ risk assessments of interventions and diagnostics.

His many honors include the Mosteller Statistician of the Year Award from the Boston Chapter of the ASA, the Robert Zackin Distinguished Collaborative Statistician Award for contributions of statistical expertise to HIV research in the AIDS Clinical Trials Group, a Recognition Award for contributions of statistical expertise to the HSPH Institutional Review Board, and elected Fellowship from the ASA and from the Society for Clinical Trials (SCT). Evans is a member of the Board of Directors for

Scott Evans

the ASA and SCT, and he is a member of the Steering Committee for the Clinical Trials Transformation Initiative (CTTI). He also is a member of an FDA advisory committee, the chair of the Trial of the Year Committee of SCT, a team leader on the Real World Evidence Project for the CTTI, and the chair of the Committee on Data Monitoring Committees and Benefit/ Risk Assessment for the Quantitative Sciences in the Pharmaceutical Industry. In addition, Evans serves on several data safety and monitoring boards for government and industry-sponsored clinical trials.

MILKEN INSTITUTE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

New Distinctive Degree Programs As part of its efforts to prepare students to enter the field of public health, Milken Institute SPH launched several new degree programs this year. The new offerings help expand the breadth and depth of the school’s training in public health knowledge.

PhD in Health Policy The PhD in Health Policy is designed to develop scholars who are skilled at critically assessing the political, economic, legal and social aspects of health policy and management. They will learn to apply innovative research tools to analyze processes and outcomes in the health care delivery and public health settings to inform policy decision-making. Special emphasis is placed on U.S. health policies, systems, and population health.

PhD in Environmental Health The mission of the PhD program in Environmental Health is to develop a new

cadre of public health researchers to address key environmental health challenges of the future. Environmental Health PhD students will develop very specific expertise with knowledge of quantitative or laboratorybased disciplines through an individualized program of study built on core knowledge and field specific electives. Research areas including environmental and occupational epidemiology, environmental exposure science, risk science and policy, climate change and public health, environmental microbiology, the role of the social and built environments on health and global environmental health science will be available to students.

MPH in Humanitarian Health The mission of the Humanitarian Health Program is to prepare a well-versed corps of global health professionals as humanitarian

practitioners to address health and related issues in humanitarian settings. This program will equip students with the necessary knowledge, attitudes and selfefficacy/skill sets to assess needs, design and implement programs, and contribute to better decision-making, performance efficiency, and sound policy-making . The main strength of this program is in its breadth in building a wide range of skill sets and to address the implementation challenges in humanitarian aid.

Undergraduate Minor in Bioinformatics Bioinformatics is an interdisciplinary minor offering focused training that integrates concepts in health, biology, statistics and computer science. The program develops and integrates skills across the core competency areas in bioinformatics, including computation, biology, statistics/mathematics, and foundational knowledge in bioinformatics.

For more information on these and other Milken Institute SPH programs, visit publichealth.gwu.edu/academics/programs.

New Summer Institute Engages Students and Professionals Across the Globe Striving to advance population health, well-being and social justice around the world, Milken Institute SPH launched a weeklong Summer Institute, offering two short graduate-level classes taught by leading research and global health faculty.

The institute offers working professionals and students from all over the world a chance to deepen their understanding and sharpen their skill set here in the nation’s capital, says Dean Lynn Goldman. “Such knowledge and skills will be essential for public health leaders who must tackle a wide variety of threats to the public health,” she adds.

determinants of health and responsible conduct of research. In the first course, taught by Assistant Research Professor Nino Paichadze, students looked at what public health professionals can do to control negative health impacts of commercially marketed products like tobacco, sugar and alcohol. The second course was taught by Paul Ndebele, research regulatory specialist, and covered ethics topics that are critical for anyone who does research with human subjects and was designed to promote a research culture based on high ethical and professional standards.

The inaugural institute featured two classes exploring the commercial

Participants could choose to take one class or both, making the institute accessible for

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working professionals in the Washington, DC, area. “We are trying to offer this academic institute in a way that can be very flexible for people trying to improve their knowledge and skill set,” says Adnan Hyder, senior associate dean for research and professor of global health, who led the school-wide initiative and hopes the program will continue to grow over the next few years as new courses are added. “If we offer different courses over the next several years, we hope some participants will continue coming back to build their knowledge and advance their skills in public health,” he says.

Dean Lynn Goldman Testifies Before Congress on Federal Disaster Response “ For many years, we have failed to adequately prepare for major disasters across the United States. We need to change from a culture of disaster and response to a culture of preparedness and resilience.” Several months after Milken Institute SPH researchers published a groundbreaking study on excess deaths in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria, Dean Lynn Goldman headed to Capitol Hill to testify before members of Congress about the report’s findings. The hearing by the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform was held to evaluate the federal government’s response to the 2017 hurricane season, including lessons learned and opportunities to improve the federal natural disaster response. “We did find that the communities in Puerto Rico were not adequately

prepared for a category 4 hurricane,” Dean Goldman told the committee and added that the Federal Emergency Management Agency had made preparations for only a category 1 or 2 storm. “Clearly Puerto Rico was vulnerable.”

not evolve overnight. “For many years, we have failed to adequately prepare for major disasters across the United States,” she said. “We need to change from a culture of disaster and response to a culture of preparedness and resilience.”

The Milken Institute SPH study, undertaken in collaboration with researchers from the University of Puerto Rico Graduate School of Public Health, estimated there were 2,975 lives lost in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria—with the poor and the elderly being hardest hit.

The independent report published by a team of Milken Institute SPH researchers, including Dean Goldman, included a set of recommendations aimed at helping Puerto Rico and other vulnerable coastal areas worldwide prepare for extreme weather like Hurricane Maria. To read more about the report, visit prstudy.publichealth.gwu.edu.

Goldman said that the problems with response and recovery in Puerto Rico, and the resulting increase in deaths, did

New Podcast Bridges the Gap Between Science and Everyday Health Decisions Milken Institute SPH’s new podcast, “Healthy You,” explores the public health landscape and how it impacts listeners’ personal health and well-being. Through interviews with school faculty, students and alumni, episodes explore research on environmental health, exercise techniques, nutrition decisions, community wellness, health legislation, global trends and more. Whether you’re looking to start a career in public health, make a change in your life, or just learn something new, take a listen to “Healthy You,” available on iTunes, Google Play and Stitcher!

MILKEN INSTITUTE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

Health Policy Expert Named New Senior Associate Dean for Academic, Student and Faculty Affairs

Jane Hyatt Thorpe

Jane Hyatt Thorpe, JD, first joined Milken Institute SPH as an adjunct lecturer in 2004 and became full-time faculty in 2009. Over the years, she served as interim chair of Milken Institute SPH’s Department of Health Policy and Management and vice chair for academic affairs. In July, Thorpe stepped into a new role at Milken Institute SPH: senior associate dean for academic, student, and faculty affairs, where she oversees the school’s educational mission and provides leadership and support to all faculty and students. “I am extremely pleased to see Jane step into this position,” says Dean Lynn R. Goldman. “Her astute insights, passion, attention to detail and warm heart have been a true gift to our school, and I know she will now be an invaluable resource to all of the students and faculty in our community.” Thorpe is an expert in health care law and policy, with expertise in Medicare, 16

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Medicaid, health care delivery systems and financing, health information exchange and technology, and corporate compliance. Her research focuses on legal and policy issues related to health reform implementation on health care quality, delivery and payment. She is the director of the Healthcare Corporate Compliance Program, which is a partnership with GW’s College of Professional Studies. Before she joined Milken Institute SPH, Thorpe was the deputy director of the Office of Policy for the Centers for

Medicare & Medicaid Services within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). She was also a senior adviser in the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology within HHS from July 2012 to July 2015. “I’m excited to work with our remarkable faculty and brilliant students to advance our school’s commitment to improving public health on a local, national and global level,” Thorpe says.

Distinguished Tobacco Control Expert Joins Milken Institute SPH Carla J. Berg, PhD, MBA, joined the George Washington University in August as the associate center director for population sciences and policy for the George Washington University Cancer Center (GWCC) and a professor of prevention and community health at Milken Institute SPH. A clinical psychologist, Berg’s research expertise is on multilevel determinants of health, with an emphasis on high-risk populations like teens and minorities. A recognized expert on implementation of tobacco control policies and health disparities, Berg has significantly contributed to research focused on reducing the international toll of tobacco, which is the world’s leading cause of preventable death, killing more than seven million people worldwide every year. Her research has also informed regulatory work in the United States on tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, hookah and small cigars. In 2013, Berg’s work as a U.S. Fulbright Scholar in the Republic of Georgia led to research funded by the National Institutes

of Health’s Fogarty International Center to conduct ongoing research in Georgia and Armenia. This work, conducted with Georgia’s National Center for Disease Control and Public Health and Armenia’s National Institute of Health, involved community-level strategies to promote smoke-free air policies and reduce secondhand smoke exposure. Berg has also worked internationally in China, India and other countries. Berg most recently served as an associate professor in the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Health Education at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University and as the associate director for population sciences at Emory University’s Winship Cancer Institute. Berg received her PhD in clinical health psychology from the University of Kansas and completed residency training at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School in behavioral medicine and completed postdoctoral training at the University of Minnesota. She earned an

Carla Berg

MBA from the Goizueta Business School at Emory University. “I am eager to join such an excellent community of engaged scholars,” Berg says. “I look forward to working alongside my colleagues at GW to truly make a difference in cancer prevention and control, and in public health more broadly, globally and in our immediate community.”

Faculty Lend Expertise to Federal Advisory Committees Milken Institute SPH faculty serve on a number of federal advisory committees, offering expertise and advice to government agencies. NIH NIAID AIDS Research Advisory Council and the NIAID Council AIDS Subcommittee, Epidemiology Associate Professor Amanda Castel Healthy People 2020 Secretary of Health & Human Services Advisory Committee, Prevention and Community Health and Global Health Professor Doug Evans FDA Advisory Committee on Medical Devices and Radiological Health, Biostatistics and Bioinformatics Chair and Professor Scott Evans NIH National Advisory Environmental Health Sciences Council and External Scientific Advisory Board for the NIH Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO)

study (chair), Advisory Committee to the Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2012-2019) & FDA Science Board (2012-2018), Milken Institute SPH Dean Lynn Goldman National Institute of Mental Health National Advisory Mental Health Council (2017-present), Epidemiology Chair and Professor Alan Greenberg Board of Scientific Counselors of the National Toxicology Program, Environmental and Occupational Health Professor David Michaels NIH Advisory Committee on Research on Women’s Health, Health Policy and Management Policy Research Professor and Director of the Jacobs Institute of Women’s Health Susan F. Wood EPA FIFRA Scientific Advisory Panel, Epidemiology Professor and Vice Chair Heather Young

MILKEN INSTITUTE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

New Dean’s Office Leadership

Milken Institute SPH recently announced four new decanal positions that will ensure graduate and undergraduate programs align with the school’s strategic plan as well as university-wide initiatives to develop and foster distinctive and prominent programs.

Associate Dean of MPH Programs Since arriving at Milken Institute SPH in 2010, Professor and Vice Chair of the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health George Gray, PhD, MS, has been a great supporter of the school’s MPH program. He recently helped with the overhaul of the school’s core curriculum to enhance the education of the next generation of public health practitioners, and as the newly named Associate Dean for MPH Programs, Gray will work to ensure the program’s continued quality and effectiveness. “George will provide the leadership and coordination that will continue to propel Milken Institute SPH upward in the rankings by providing the best MPH education in the nation,” says Dean Goldman. Gray will serve as the senior academic leader of all online and residential MPH programs. In addition to his commitment to the MPH program, Gray has dedicated much time and expertise to the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, serving as the program adviser of the department’s DrPH program and leading

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the development of the newly approved PhD in environmental health. Prior to joining Milken Institute SPH, Gray served as assistant administrator for the EPA’s Office of Research and Development and as the science adviser to the EPA administrator. Prior to that, he was with the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis, where his scholarship focused on the application of risk analytic tools to public health problems, ranging from mad cow disease to pesticides in food to the risks and benefits of fish consumption.

“Dr. Migliaccio will provide the visionary leadership, as well as effective management, that will enhance the visibility and prominence of all of our professional education programs and the goals and objectives of the school’s strategic plan,” says Dean Goldman.

No stranger to Milken Institute SPH, Eugene Migliaccio, DrPH, MPH, who has taught at the school as an adjunct professor since 1995, was named associate dean for applied public health and global health professor this past August.

Before his appointment, Migliaccio retired from a decades-long career in public service in which he has served as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) and in the U.S. Air Force Medical Service Corps. He also served as executive director for Community Care Delivery Operations with the Veterans Health Administration, as director of the U.S. Health and Human Services Federal Occupational Health Service, as director of Immigration Health Services, and as chief of staff for the Office of the Surgeon General, where he worked on a transformation of the organization and on health priorities for the nation, including prevention, preparedness, and health disparities.

In this role, Migliaccio will coordinate with academic leadership and departmental practicum coordinators to represent Milken Institute SPH among local, state and national health leaders, developing opportunities for applied public health training, scholarship and experiences for members of our community.

Migliaccio has received numerous PHS, military and private-sector awards. He also received a Proclamation from the Mayor of Houston for his assistance with coordinating the federal health care response to over 200,000 Hurricane Katrina evacuees in the city.

Associate Dean for Applied Public Health

Associate Dean for PhD and MS Studies

Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Programs

In August, Prevention and Community Health Professor Lorien Abroms, ScD, MA, was announced as the Associate Dean for PhD and MS Studies, a new role that will lead a systematic process to make Milken Institute SPH a global leader in PhD and MS education for public health.

To help support the expansion, planning and coordination across the school’s three undergraduate programs, Sara Wilensky, JD, will serve as Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Programs. Wilensky previously served in the role in an interim capacity as well as special services faculty for undergraduate faculty.

Working in coordination with Senior Associate Dean for Research Adnan Hyder as well as PhD and MS program leaders, Abroms will ensure the school’s graduate programs align with university-wide efforts to develop distinctive and distinguished graduate studies as well as focus on highimpact doctoral education. Abroms is a behavioral scientist with expertise in applying communication technology to design scalable programs aimed at tobacco cessation. She is founder of the GW mHealth Collaborative and has been co-director of the MeTRIC center, a partnership of DC-based experts in tobacco control. During the last year, she served as interim associate center director for population science and policy at the GW Cancer Center.

As assistant dean, Wilkensky will work closely with school leadership and key program faculty and stakeholders, as well as the Office of Student Services, to ensure quality and effective efforts around enrollment management and retention for the BS programs in public health, nutrition science, and exercise science. During the upcoming year, Wilensky will specifically focus on the growth and development of the school’s undergraduate programs in the context of GW-wide efforts to improve the quality of undergraduate education, including science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education. Wilensky has a long tenure at GW, having arrived in 2002 as a faculty member in the Department of Health Policy and Management. She currently teaches undergraduate and graduate public health programs with a focus on financing, access and health care needs for the medically underserved, emphasizing issues relating to Medicaid.

Prior to joining Milken Institute SPH, Wilensky worked at the Children’s Defense Fund, as a fellow at Plan de Salud del Valle Community Health Center in Colorado, as a clerk for a federal judge, and as an attorney.

Assistant Dean of Student Services Heather Renault, who served as director of admissions at Milken Institute SPH since 2016, was named assistant dean of student services in December. Working with students is her passion, says Renault, who has 20 years of experience working in enrollment management with a focus on recruiting and retention. “Some believe admissions is just about welcoming students to the school, but to me it is about helping students reach their full potential, make the most of their educational experience, graduate and become leaders in their field,” says Renault. In this new role, Renault is working to unite the school’s student body, including on-campus students, online students and undergraduate students. “I want to connect with students to understand their needs and goals,” she says. “Together we will build and implement co-curricular activities to promote diversity and inclusion, enhance lessons in the classroom, and deepen relationships among students, faculty and leadership.”

MILKEN INSTITUTE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

Master Teaching Academy Supports Faculty in the Classroom

New Faculty Matthew Barberio, PhD Assistant Professor of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences Carla Berg, PhD, MBA Professor of Prevention and Community Health & Assistant Director of GW Cancer Center Robert Bonar, DrHA Gordon A. Friesen Professor of Healthcare Administration & Director of Master of Health Administration program Nicole Butera, PhD Assistant Research Professor of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics

Seven Milken Institute SPH faculty participated in the Master Teaching Academy Fellowship program this past year to help further their pedagogical skills. The annual program supports new, innovative and game-changing teaching projects designed to solve specific pedagogical issues that fellows have observed in their own courses. Proposed projects are designed to improve, modernize, and/or expand public health teaching practices. “The Master Teaching Academy Fellowship program has allowed me to explore a new educational initiative to bring hands-on genomic research to the classroom,” says Epidemiology and Biostatistics Assistant Professor Marcos Pérez-Losada, a 2018-2019 fellow. “Their support to new faculty like me has been instrumental.” Fellows receive both financial support and one-on-one mentorship provided by a member of the school’s Academy of Master Teachers. These fellowships are intended to challenge faculty to identify specific issues that they have encountered in the teaching and learning process and over the course of the fellowship, develop skills and innovate solutions aimed at solving those issues. Fellows also attend seminars and workshops on the latest pedagogical tools to improve and innovate teaching and learning. 20

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The 2018-2019 teaching fellows and their projects included: Do Students Learn More From Their Mistakes? Comparing Student Performance and Student Preference in an Error-Free Versus an Error-Full SAS Programming Environment, presented by Biostatistics Associate Professors Heather Hoffman and Angelo Elmi Developing Online, Interactive Case Studies for Introductory Epidemiology students, presented by Epidemiology and Biostatistics Teaching Assistant Professor Scott Quinlan Undergraduate Public Health Learning is not a Spectator Sport: Integrating Active Learning Techniques in the Classroom, presented by Health Policy and Management Adjunct Professor J. Zoe Beckerman Testing the ‘Grandma Hypothesis’: Using Microbiome Research to Teach Hands-On Genomics, presented by Epidemiology and Biostatistics Assistant Professor Marcos Pérez-Losada Developing Problem-Based Learning Modules for Undergraduate Environmental Health Curriculum, presented by Environmental and Occupational Health Associate Professor Matias Attene Ramos and Environmental and Occupational Health Assistant Professor Amanda Northcross

Alokananda Ghosh, MD, PhD Assistant Research Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics Sally Lahm, PhD Assistant Research Professor of Global Health Kyle Levers, PhD Assistant Professor of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences Patricia MacTaggart, MBA Teaching Instructor in Health Policy and Management & Program Director of HealthInformatics@GW Ali Moghtaderi, PhD Assistant Professor of Health Policy and Management Nino Paichadze, MD, MPH Assistant Research Professor of Global Health Gholamali Rahnavard, PhD Assistant Professor of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics Diane Uschner, PhD Assistant Research Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics

New Emeriti Faculty James Cawley, PA-C, MPH Professor Emeritus of Prevention and Community Health Caroline Sparks, PhD Associate Emeritus Professor of Prevention and Community Health

Brand Guidelines.

Faculty Voices Lynn Goldman @drlynngoldman • July 19, 2019 via @NYTimes: This is a major setback for children’s health protection & shows complete disregard of the science and the law by @EPA ... a clear message to the world that a US pesticide registration is no longer an assurance of safety. #banchloropyrifo

Dean Lynn R. Goldman

Adnan Hyder @ahyder1 • June 11, 2019 Excited to be @pahowho for launch of #RoadSafety regional report! Glad to represent @GWpublichealth here with @NPaichadze to showcase our support of @WHO efforts & our partnership

Senior Associate Dean for Research and Global Health Professor Adnan Hyder

Ami Zota @amizota • February 10, 2019 NY Times’ Editorial Board makes the case for cosmetic safety reform AND they reference our work on the disproportionate impacts of beauty product chemicals on women of color. #environmentalinjusticeofbeauty

Environmental and Occupational Health Assistant Professor Ami Zota

David Michaels @drdavidmichaels • June 10, 2019 The damage currently being done to our system of public health protections is enormous. Let’s start a national conversation about how not just to repair but to rebuild & re-imagine this system to be more effective. @AMJPublicHealth

Uriyoán Colón-Ramos @uricora • May 2, 2019 Yikes! Junk food companies arguing that sugar content in whole fruit = added sugar content in their empty calories products.

Global Health and Exercise and Nutrition Sciences Associate Professor Uriyoán Colón-Ramos

Wendy Ellis @wendyruns • April 14, 2019 It’s all coming together... as @ResilNation networks and partners from around the country come together today in #DC for Building Community Resilience Week!

Building Community Resilience Project Director Wendy Ellis

Susan Anenberg @SusanAnenberg • April 18, 2019 Ploy Achakulwisut and I did a podcast with @GWpublichealth. I talk about how my kids will be living with the repercussions of our failure to act on climate change. @_aploy talks about the importance of scientists communicating outside the ivory tower

Environmental and Occupational Health and Global Health Associate Professor Susan Anenberg

To hear Susan Anenberg talk more about this study, tune in to the Healthy You podcast, Season 2, Episode 7!

Environmental and Occupational Health and Epidemiology Professor David Michaels

MILKEN INSTITUTE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

At Milken Institute SPH, research plays a key role in supporting the school’s mission to advance the world’s health. Our faculty are passionate about finding solutions to today’s most critical public health problems and training the next generation of public health researchers. Over the last year, the school’s total research spending reached almost $95 million, a five percent increase from last year. Milken Institute SPH faculty engaged in and led studies along a broad spectrum of public health issues, including the fight against obesity, asthma cases related to traffic-related pollution, the potential dangers resulting from herbicide exposure, the role of nurses in addressing unmet health care needs, and so much more. The newly created Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics also highlights the school’s commitment to the quantitative sciences and the GW-wide focus on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

RESEARCH

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Ensuring a World-Class PhD Education World-class PhD programs are fast becoming even more of an integral part of academic life at Milken Institute SPH. PhD education is not only critical for producing the next generation of researchers and research leaders; it is also vital to support the school’s research enterprise. Consistent with the school’s strategic plan as well as GW-wide efforts to advance the university’s research progress, Milken Institute SPH will focus on PhD program growth in the coming years by enhancing research opportunities, training programs, academic offerings and program reputation. Milken Institute SPH will also launch new PhD programs in key areas of public health, including nutrition and global health, in addition to its current programs in epidemiology, prevention

and community health, health policy and management, and a new program in environmental and occupational health. Faculty and staff will enhance the processes around the PhD degrees in the areas of recruitment, financing, and student support. The school will emphasize greater collaboration across all PhD programs, as well as standardization of policies and requirements, curricular innovation, supportive research experiences, greater faculty exposure, and special training in key skills such as communications and ethics. “PhD programs and students are essential for our growth at Milken Institute SPH and critical for the vision of a researchintensive GW,” says Adnan A. Hyder, MD, MPH, PhD, senior associate dean for research and professor of global health.

MILKEN INSTITUTE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

Senior Associate Dean for Research Speaks Up on Safety Since joining Milken Institute SPH in 2018, Senior Associate Dean for Research and Global Health Professor Adnan Hyder, MD, MPH, has been leading by example to further global public health research and advocacy in the areas of road safety and children’s health.

Road Safety Summit Keynote Speech Hyder was the keynote speaker at the Safe Travel and Tourism Summit, held on Capitol Hill in May. The summit was hosted by the Association for Safe International Road Travel, a nonprofit dedicated to improving road safety worldwide, and aimed to increase attention on the need to improve road safety worldwide. “Measurement is not enough; implementation is key for road safety,” Hyder said in his presentation. “I stood at the UN 20 years ago and said more than one million people die from road injuries, and today I stand in the U.S. Capitol and repeat that. This is a serious wake-up call for the global community.”

Hyder has written about the public health implications of road safety and leads the school’s research on the topic. Milken Institute SPH recently became a full member of the United Nations Road Safety Collaboration.

Lancet Commentary on Road Safety More than one million people die from traffic accidents every year on the world’s roadways, and many of these deaths are preventable, Hyder wrote in a commentary published by The Lancet Public Health in December 2018. He says that governments, public health groups and other sectors must act to make roadways safer in all countries, including those that are popular with tourists and students. “While we see bright spots where road injuries have been reduced, the widespread change needed to prevent these deaths across the world has not happened so far,” Hyder writes. He goes on to say that the new 2018 Global Status Report on Road Safety from the World Health Organization serves as a valuable tool for monitoring the risks, outcomes and progress related to road safety, but such measurements alone do not bring down the death toll. In his commentary, Hyder outlines five steps to greater road safety, calling on governments, health organizations and industries to prioritize and support road safety measures in countries around the world. “Safe roads are of critical importance for people around the world,” Hyder writes. “Accepting our lack of progress is the first step to developing a strong and sustainable set of actions for changing the status quo on global road safety.” To read Hyder’s full commentary, visit thelancet.com/journals/lanpub/home.

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C. Everett Koop Medal of Distinction For his work to prevent childhood injuries, Hyder received the C. Everett Koop Medal of Distinction from the global organization Safe Kids Worldwide in July. The award, named after Safe Kids Worldwide founding chairman and former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, is the organization’s highest honor and recognizes a professional who embodies Koop’s legacy of working to protect all families and children. For over 20 years, Hyder has worked to improve global health, road safety and children’s health in low- and middle-income countries around the world. He has co-authored over 300 scientific papers and numerous reports on road safety, children’s health and ethics. “I am honored to receive this recognition from Safe Kids Worldwide, who are pioneers in the global effort to protect children from preventable injuries around the world,” Hyder said at the Safe Kids Worldwide International Childhood Injury Prevention Convention, where he was presented with the award. “We’ve made great progress as a community to make roadways and homes safer for all, including children, but we must continue to push forward and enact worldwide change to prevent unnecessary injuries and deaths.”

Milken Institute SPH Establishes Center on Commercial Determinants of Health

Not all disease is rooted in biological or hereditary factors. Some of it stems from things people consume every day—alcohol, tobacco, foods high in sugar, salt and trans fat. The strategies that industries use to market and sell these products are often referred to as the “commercial determinants of health” (CDH), and many in the public health field see this kind of activity as a growing threat. To help address the global health burden around these commercial drivers of disease, faculty of the Department of Global Health at Milken Institute SPH recently initiated a Center on Commercial Determinants of Health. It is one of the first research centers in a school of public health to focus on issues of health

and safety in relation to private-sector determinants in public health. “Addressing the growing burden of noncommunicable diseases and injuries stemming from corporate products and practices requires refocus of traditional programs, research and practice,” says Nino Paichadze, MD, MPH, associate director of the center and an assistant research professor at Milken Institute SPH. “The development of the Center on Commercial Determinants of Health, which brings transdisciplinary perspectives, scientific rigor and evidenceinformed approaches to studying CDH, is critically important for responding to this global public health challenge.”

The center, which has been initiated and is directed by Senior Associate Dean for Research and Global Health Professor Adnan A. Hyder, MD, MPH, PhD, will help shift public health attention toward prevention strategies that work to address CDH. The center will conduct multidisciplinary, rigorous research to increase global understanding of CDH and its effects. Through advocacy, the center will also promote greater awareness around CDH to influence the creation of sound policies and regulations. “We hope to enhance and strengthen the scholarship and evidence around commercial determinants of health here in the U.S. and globally,” Hyder says.

MILKEN INSTITUTE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

CENTERS & INSTITUTES

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With Redstone Center Support, New Legislation Passes to Increase Physical Activity for DC Students Efforts by the Sumner M. Redstone Global Center for Prevention and Wellness at Milken Institute SPH played a key role in the passage of legislation by the DC Council to increase physical activity for DC students, signifying a local public health victory. This legislation provides students in DC public schools with more time for play and physical activity, which supports academic, social and emotional learning and healthy development. William Dietz, chair of the Redstone Global Center and professor of prevention and community health, serves as the chair of the Healthy Youth and Schools Commission (HYSC) Subcommittee on Physical Activity. The role of the HYSC, created by the 2010 Healthy Schools Act, is to advise the DC Council on student health and wellness. Dietz and staff from the Redstone Global Center were central to subcommittee efforts related

William Dietz testifies before DC Council

to the Healthy Students Amendment Act (HSAA), which makes a number of improvements related to school-time physical activity that were identified since the passage of the 2010 Healthy Schools Act.

Redstone Global Center recommendations contributed to the strong physical activity provisions in the HSAA, such as mandates for daily recess for all students, age-appropriate daily physical activity guidelines, support and professional development for teachers and staff to incorporate physical activity into the classroom and a new minimum requirement for physical education (PE) class minutes. Dietz believes the amendment will improve the public health of the DC community and can be used as a model for cities nationwide. “The increased physical activity that will result from these efforts represent a huge step forward for DC students in terms of healthy development and academic success,” Dietz says. “Our efforts brought together a number of diverse stakeholders, demonstrating that this process can and should be replicated across the country. It will be essential to ensure the strong provisions in the Healthy Students Amendments Act are implemented to benefit the students of the District.”

To learn more about the latest research and work from the Redstone Center, visit publichealth.gwu.edu/redstone-center. MILKEN INSTITUTE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

New Research and Interactive Tools Will Assist in the Fight Against Obesity With adult obesity rates on the rise across the U.S., states could be doing more to remove barriers to effective obesity treatments, according to new research from the STOP Obesity Alliance (STOP) at Milken Institute SPH. As part of the study, which was published in the journal Obesity, researchers found that coverage for three recommended types of obesity treatment—nutritional counseling, medication and bariatric surgery—generally increased between 2009 and 2017 in state Medicaid and state employee health plans. However, researchers also found that state coverage is often piecemeal and inconsistent, and barriers exist within plans that prevent people with obesity from accessing evidence-based, effective treatments. Additionally, for each of the three treatment types reviewed, a handful of states that indicated coverage in 2009 specifically excluded that coverage in 2017, and among the seven states with the highest obesity rates, four have reduced coverage for obesity treatment. “Approximately 93 million U.S. adults have obesity and 7.4 million are more than 100 pounds overweight; the gulf between the need for treatment and its availability will not be narrowed if states fail to address gaps in coverage and barriers along a continuum of obesity care,” says William Dietz, director of the STOP Obesity Alliance and chair of the Sumner M. Redstone Global Center for Prevention and Wellness at Milken Institute SPH. In addition to the published findings, STOP developed an interactive map to enable easy state-to-state comparisons. The map includes state adult obesity and diabetes rates, coverage specifics in Medicaid and state employee health plans, and printable state fact sheets. Based on the research findings, STOP also provided key recommendations

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OBESITY prevalence of adults (aged 18+ years) with BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2 (BRFSS, 2016)

DIABETES prevalence of adults (aged 18+ years) diagnosed with diabetes (BRFSS, 2016)

state’s Medicaid program has taken the My Healthy Weight Pledge

To read more about the research findings and STOP’s recommendations, visit stop.publichealth.gwu.edu. for state-funded coverage plans. These recommendations include states providing comprehensive coverage for treatments as recommended by evidence-based clinical practice guidelines as well as improving the consistency of Medicaid and state employer plans so that providers can best advise treatment. “Our research identifies opportunities for states to reduce the costly burden of obesity and other related diseases,” Dietz adds. “These state coverage changes,

paired with the explicit recognition of obesity as a disease—and the broader elimination of bias and stigma toward people with obesity—will be necessary to make real headway in reversing the obesity epidemic.”

You can read more about the Redstone Center, which is celebrating its fifth anniversary this year, on page 5.

DC CFAR Supports Research Aimed at Ending HIV Epidemic In his 2019 State of the Union address, President Trump announced the launch of an initiative to stop HIV transmission in the United States by 2030, a goal that will require aggressive public health action but may be within reach. The District of Columbia Center for AIDS Research (DC CFAR) is working toward ending the HIV epidemic in Washington, DC, and is based at Milken Institute SPH. The DC CFAR is one of 19 centers located across the country funded by the National Institutes of Health to provide scientific leadership and infrastructure for HIV/ AIDS research. DC CFAR is a multiinstitutional partnership that includes the George Washington University, American University, Children’s National Health System, DC Department of Health, Georgetown University, Howard University, Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Whitman-Walker Health.

more than 70 percent since 2007, it has remained level for the past several years. The DC CFAR is working to further reduce the rate of new cases by promoting and supporting HIV research that can be categorized into three scientific focus areas: HIV prevention; immunology, virology and pathogenesis; and optimization of HIV care and treatment. Greenberg says he thinks it is possible to make substantial progress towards ending the HIV epidemic. Other Milken Institute SPH faculty who play a significant role in this work include Amanda Castel, MD, MPH, associate professor of epidemiology,

who directs the HIV epidemic Scientific Work Group, Rupali Doshi, MD, MS, assistant research professor of epidemiology; and Carlos RodriguezDiaz, PhD, MPH, associate professor of prevention and community health, who retains close ties with colleagues in Puerto Rico on research related to HIV/AIDS. “I’m hopeful, and we’re going to work hard to make it happen by working in partnership with the government and community,” Greenberg says. “We have the tools available to make a concerted effort to impact the lives of more people.”

The consortium, which represents 227 investigators from the eight institutions, is headquartered at Milken Institute SPH. Alan Greenberg, MD, MPH, professor and chair of the Department of Epidemiology at Milken Institute SPH, is the director of DC CFAR, and Gary Simon, MD, PhD, director of the Division of Infectious Diseases in the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences, is the co-director. “All of our institutions are united for a common cause, with a mission to intensify our efforts to support research that will end the HIV epidemic in DC and beyond,” Greenberg says. Approximately 1.1 million people in the United States are living with HIV, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 13,000 people in DC are living with HIV, according to the DC Department of Health. Although the number of new cases diagnosed annually in DC has dropped

MILKEN INSTITUTE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

Biostatistics is the science of designing, conducting, analyzing and interpreting studies aimed at improving public health and medicine. Bioinformatics is the science of developing and applying computational algorithms and analysis methodologies to big biological data such as genetic sequences.

Scott Evans, Chair

BIOSTATISTICS & BIOINFORMATICS SEASON 2, EPISODE 6

What Does Public Health Mean to You? “ Epidemiology and biostatistics are really cornerstone disciplines in public health research and education. Upon these disciplines depends the applications of other disciplines and is really essential for all research, policy, and education in public health.” — Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics Chair and Professor and Director of the Biostatistics Center Scott Evans

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New Genomics Core Brings Next-Generation DNA Sequencing to GW

From left: Keith Crandall, Robert Miller, Lynn Goldman, Mike Milken, Thomas LeBlanc

Milken Institute SPH launched a Genomics Core last fall that will allow researchers from across the university to develop genomic approaches that could lead to solutions for some of the world’s most pressing problems, such as impacts of climate change or HIV infection. Core facilities will allow scientists to fully explore the latest scientific techniques and methods that will yield powerful and impactful results, George Washington University President Thomas LeBlanc said at a ribbon-cutting ceremony. “Our new Genomics Core brings nextgeneration DNA sequencing to the entire GW community and beyond by providing the equipment and expertise to facilitate genomic research. Instead of having multiple sequencers scattered throughout the university under a desk, this core allows for a central service by trained individuals to produce high-quality data in a centralized environment,” he said. “Data analytics, more specifically genomic sequencing, continue to be an area of growth in terms of education and employment opportunities.”

Centralized, In-House Facility The Genomics Core Center provides a centralized facility for nucleic acid extraction, genomic sequencing and other services, along with the technical expertise to assist GW researchers and others who are trying to advance a scientific project that would benefit from genomics analysis. The center is based at Milken Institute SPH’s Computational Biology Institute and is led by CBI Director Keith Crandall. Before the Genomics Core launch, researchers had to send out DNA samples for sequencing. This meant they had to plan out exactly what they wanted to do and had less flexibility to adapt their research as it developed. With the core service, researchers will be able to do this work in-house, and faculty will be able to help one another push the boundaries of genomics by developing new approaches and provide hands-on educational opportunities for students.

“The Genomics Core has the capacity to analyze large sets of genetic data, advancing scientific understanding of genomes, gene succession and genetic mutation,” Milken Institute SPH Dean Lynn Goldman said at the ribbon-cutting event. “With this core, the Computational Biology Institute can assist crossdisciplinary researchers to apply this approach to solve complex problems that affect all of us.” The Genomics Core will also provide practical experience for student researchers, President LeBlanc said. GW students will gain knowledge and experience working with genomic sequencing and will be much better positioned for making an impact in public health, medicine and technology. While the Genomics Core will primarily be used by GW faculty, researchers and students, it will also accommodate outside work when possible, especially from collaborators at other institutions.

MILKEN INSTITUTE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

Milken Institute SPH Researcher Part of Global Project to Sequence DNA from At least 24 scientists and 17 institutions from around the world Earth’s Species

are collaborating on a global effort to sequence the DNA from all eukaryotic species on Earth. One of those researchers is Milken Institute SPH Professor and Director of the Computational Biology Institute and Genomics Core Center Keith Crandall. The Earth BioGenome Project was inspired by the Human Genome Project, which sequenced the entire human genome. The findings of the Human Genome Project has had an impact on human medicine, veterinary medicine, biotechnology, environmental science, renewable energy, industrial biotechnology and forensics. “This is a really exciting concept bringing the challenge of the Human Genome Project to every species on Earth,” Crandall said previously about the project. “Like the Human Genome Project, we anticipate the Earth BioGenome Project will accelerate sequencing technologies and generate a plethora of biotechnology and pharmaceutical discoveries.”

Keith Crandall

The project, which will take about 10 years to complete, could reframe the way we understand life and lead to discoveries in technology, medicine and genomics. It may also unveil 10 to 15 million previously unknown species.

Biostatistics Center’s New Website Showcases Practice-Changing Research The Biostatistics Center (BSC) at Milken Institute SPH recently launched a new website to showcase its world-class research, mission and vision for the future. The new website highlights research projects conducted by the BSC, including projects on diabetes, maternal-fetal medicine and infectious diseases. The BSC often serves as the coordinating center for clinical trials, observational studies and diagnostic studies, collaborating with the clinical investigators on the study design, monitoring, analysis and reporting. Also featured is information about the BSC’s education and training initiatives, statistical methodology research, and current research on patient-focused outcomes. The BSC, founded in 1972, has long been a globally renowned leader in

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Explore the new website at biostatcenter.gwu.edu practice-changing clinical trials and biostatistical research. Research studies conducted by the BSC have been recognized in reports to the White House and U.S. Congress as well as featured in national media stories. Additionally, the BSC was named the No. 1 advance in

medicine by the Harvard Health Letter, received the Trial of the Year Award, and it has had more than 60 publications in the New England Journal of Medicine. The BSC has a staff of approximately 120, including more than 40 biostatisticians and epidemiologists.

Computational Biology Research Assistant Receives National Science Foundation Fellowship

Rebecca Clement, a graduate research assistant at Milken Institute SPH’s Computational Biology Institute and a PhD student in biological sciences at GW, received a 2019 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship to study termite diversity in Australia. Although termites are best known as pests that eat away at people’s homes, they actually play an important role in tropical ecosystems because of their ability to break down wood and other materials, Clement says. In fact, termites are critical components of tropical systems, where they may decompose up to 50 percent of plant organic material in litter, wood and soil. Clement will conduct her research in Northern Queensland, Australia, where there is a termite diversity anomaly, with greater variety occurring in savanna areas rather than rainforest areas. This is different from most tropical areas, where termite diversity and abundance is greatest in places with the most annual rainfall, Clement says. Specifically, Clement’s project will look at how precipitation affects termite communities and the gut microbes that help them break down rotting wood. And by measuring these factors across moisture gradients, Clement will identify key features driving increased termite diversity in the savanna.

Rebecca Clement

“As Australia continues to be confronted by drought, and as ecosystems shift, there will undoubtedly be an effect on the termites and, thus, decomposition in general,” she says. “This study documents termite diversity across a rainfall gradient to determine what the role of these small, but significant, animals are in different habitats.”

larger study that is aiming to model the effects of termites, fungi and decomposing microbes on the climate. And last, Clement hopes that this work will add to her professional experience and development. “This project will help me to develop as a scientist and educator as I learn and help others learn about these amazing animals,” she says.

Clement hopes that her research project will help local Australian land managers to better understand this type of insect group and thus, better manage their property. She also hopes the research will add to a

NSF’s fellowship program recognizes and provides funding to students early in their graduate training in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields.

MILKEN INSTITUTE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

Environmental and occupational health looks at how environmental and occupational exposures impact human health. It explores the underlying science and policy for issues such as sustainable cities and food systems, climate change mitigation, workplace safety and risk management.

Melissa Perry, Chair

ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH SEASON 1, EPISODE 5

The Dangers of Antibiotic Resistance “ I think it’s important to think about where these super bugs come from. Any time we use antibiotics, we’re potentially selecting for these—or encouraging the growth of these drug-resistant bacteria.” — Environmental and Occupational Health Professor Lance Price

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First-of-a-Kind Study Links Traffic-Related Air Pollution to Millions of Pediatric Asthma Cases

Susan Anenberg

About 4 million children worldwide develop asthma each year because of inhaling nitrogen dioxide (NO2) air pollution, according to a recent study by Milken Institute SPH researchers. The study, based on data from 2010 to 2015, estimates that 64 percent of these new cases of asthma occur in urban areas. The research is the first to quantify the worldwide burden of new pediatric asthma cases linked to traffic-related NO2 by using a method that takes into account high exposures to this pollutant that occur near busy roads.

“Our findings suggest that millions of new cases of pediatric asthma could be prevented in cities around the world by reducing air pollution,” says Susan Anenberg, senior author of the study and an associate professor in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health. “Improving access to cleaner forms of transportation, like electrified public transport and active commuting by cycling and walking, would not only bring down NO2 levels, but would also reduce asthma, enhance physical fitness, and cut greenhouse gas emissions.” The researchers linked global data sets of NO2 concentrations, pediatric population distributions, and asthma incidence rates with epidemiological evidence relating traffic-derived NO2 pollution with asthma development in kids. They were then able to estimate the number of new pediatric asthma cases attributable to NO2 pollution in 194 countries and 125 major cities worldwide. The World Health Organization calls air pollution “a major environmental risk to health” and has established Air

Quality Guidelines for NO2 and other air pollutants. According to the study, most children lived in areas below the current WHO guideline for annual average NO2. The study also found that about 92 percent of the new pediatric asthma cases that were attributable to NO2 occurred in areas that already meet the WHO guideline. “That finding suggests that the WHO guideline for NO2 may need to be re-evaluated to make sure it is sufficiently protective of children’s health,” says Pattanun Achakulwisut, PhD, lead author of the paper and a former postdoctoral scientist at Milken Institute SPH. Additionally, the researchers found that in general, cities with high NO2 concentrations also had high levels of greenhouse gas emissions. This suggests that many of the solutions aimed at cleaning up the air would not only prevent new cases of asthma and other serious health problems, but they would also help abate global warming.

‘Safe’ Levels of Exposure to Herbicides May Affect Endocrine Systems, Study Finds The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency considers it safe for people to be exposed to glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup and the world’s most widely applied herbicide, up to predetermined levels. However, a study published in the journal Environmental Health and co-authored by Melissa Perry, SciD, MHS, chair of the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health at Milken Institute SPH, found glyphosate did affect the endocrine systems of male and female rats when applied at these “safe” levels of exposure. The study, by the Ramazzini Institute in

Italy, exposed pregnant Sprague Dawley rats to glyphosate and Roundup at levels considered to be safe. The team found that the exposure to Roundup and glyphosate altered reproductive developmental parameters in male and female rats and affected the rats’ androgen systems. Few human studies assessing the effects of exposure to glyphosate have been conducted, and the evidence is too limited to draw conclusions. Two court cases have found that exposure to Roundup played a substantial role in causing non-Hodgkin lymphoma in two different men. Last August, a California judge awarded a

former school groundskeeper $78 million because of his illness linked to the exposure. Thousands of similar cases are pending at the federal and state levels. “The possible effects of exposure to glyphosate-based herbicides, which include Roundup, on human health have been the subject of intense public debate,” Perry says. She is a Collegium Ramazzini fellow and collaborates with researchers at the Ramazzini Institute. “This was a pilot study, and the developmental impacts on rats were notable.”

MILKEN INSTITUTE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

David Michaels Testifies on Capitol Hill on the Dangers of Public Health Disinformation Campaigns As the only public health school in the nation’s capital, Milken Institute SPH faculty are often called upon to testify as experts before members of Congress. In February, David Michaels, PhD, a professor of environmental and occupational health, testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Natural Resources Committee, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations about how industries mislead the public about health and environmental risks. The event was part of a month-long series of hearings on climate change held by several congressional committees. Michaels spoke about how the fossil fuel industry employs various tactics used by the tobacco industry and others to misinform the public about dangers associated with climate change. In his testimony, he provided examples of previous cases of disinformation campaigns, including those related to opioid use, brain injuries in professional athletes and tobacco use. “These disinformation campaigns are public relations disguised as science,”

Michaels said in his testimony. “The scientific process is designed to encourage disagreement and debate—but it requires that participants contribute to those debates in good faith. Instead, each industry’s hired guns deliberately manufacture and magnify doubt in order to misinform policymakers and the public—with disastrous consequences for our collective well-being.” Before he joined Milken Institute SPH, Michaels was the assistant secretary of labor for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) during the Obama Administration. He is considered one of the top experts on campaigns to mislead the American public. In 2008, he published a book titled “Doubt Is Their Product: How Industry’s Assault on Science Threatens Your Health” on how various industries use similar tactics to manufacture uncertainty about scientific evidence. He is expecting a second book on the subject, “The Triumph of Doubt: Dark Money and the Science of Deception,” to be published in early 2020.

Alumna Celeste Monforton Named APHA Advocate of the Year Celeste Monforton, DrPH ’08, MPH ’04, was named the American Public Health Association (APHA)’s 2019 Advocate of the Year. She received the award at the organization’s annual convention, held this year in San Diego. Monforton received both her master’s and doctoral degrees at Milken Institute SPH and now serves as a professional lecturer in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health. She received the award in recognition of her work with APHA on various regulatory issues, including efforts to protect workers from workplace injuries, efforts to protect 36

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workers and the public from exposure to asbestos and other dangerous toxic chemicals, and efforts to ensure proper reporting by business of workplace injuries and illness. Monforton was previously an assistant research professor of environmental and occupational health at Milken Institute SPH. During her time as full-time faculty, she authored several studies published in APHA’s flagship publication, the American Journal of Public Health, including her dissertation and a case study on the impacts of diesel particulate matter on underground miners. She and

APHA Executive Director Georges Benjamin and Celeste Monforton, DrPH ‘08, MPH ‘04

David Michaels, PhD, MPH, professor of environmental and occupational health, co-authored a widely cited paper on mercenary science and the manufacture of scientific uncertainty.

Professors Share Environmental and Occupational Health Expertise in ‘Toxic Beauty’ Documentary From left, Ami Zota, Phyllis Ellis and David Michaels

Public Health Experts Reflect on TSCA Reform Leading health policy experts gathered at Milken Institute SPH on June 24 to reflect on the accomplishments and challenges since the implementation of the 2016 Lautenberg Amendments and the current state of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).

A new documentary exploring the environmental and health impacts of the beauty industry features two professors from the Milken Institute SPH Department of Environmental and Occupational Health. “Toxic Beauty” features observations by Assistant Professor Ami Zota, ScD, MS, about the public health risks of the beauty products that many people use daily. Drawing from her research into the toxic chemicals found in cosmetics, she provides details about skin care as well as hair and feminine products that have been associated with mercury poisoning and reproductive problems including ovarian cancer, preterm birth and endocrine disruption.

Professor David Michaels, PhD, MPH, whose research includes a focus on protecting the integrity of the science underpinning public health and environmental protections, was interviewed about his thoughts on how industry scientists can cloud data on health concerns related to cosmetics products. “Chemicals are not like people. They’re not innocent until they’re proven guilty,” says Michaels. Both Zota and Michaels attended the documentary’s premier screening at the Hot Docs film festival in Toronto at the invitation of the film’s director, Phyllis Ellis.

Dean Lynn Goldman, who is the former assistant administrator for Toxic Substances in the EPA under the Clinton Administration, provided welcome remarks to attendees and those who watched via a webinar. Goldman kicked off the event by presenting a history of TSCA, what led to its creation, and an overview of its current state. She noted more than 45,000 chemicals are no longer manufactured due to the law. Panelists included George M. Gray, PhD, professor of environmental and occupational health and director of the Center for Risk Science and Public Health at Milken Institute SPH; Jeffery Morris, director of the Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; and Britt L. McAtee, PhD, toxicology manager of PPG Industries. “I don’t know if we’ll find in 20 years that everything has been done and people are happy, or if we’re going to need to take a look at how to overhaul the statute again,” Goldman said in her remarks. “It’s much too soon to predict that.”

MILKEN INSTITUTE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

Epidemiology explores how diseases affect populations and communities and allows us to understand the social and medical determinants of health, driving an understanding of how infectious diseases, like Ebola or HIV/AIDS, spread and which communities are most vulnerable so we can better treat and prevent future outbreaks.

Alan Greenberg, Chair

EPIDEMIOLOGY SEASON 2, EPISODE 3

Zoonotic Diseases Emergence and Transmission “ If we can start to understand emergence and transmission, then we can look for clues as to when the next emerging disease might pop up. I think for me the challenge is that if we don’t do something soon, we are going to keep facing things like wide-scale ebola pandemic or really scary MERS coronavirus outbreaks that go from one country to another with travelers.” — Global Health Assistant Professor Amira Roess

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Sean Cleary

First-of-Its-Kind Class Brings Together Young Adults With Autism and Milken Institute SPH Students to Share Experiences For Sean Cleary, associate professor in the Department of Epidemiology, crunching numbers and writing reports is not enough when it comes to research. With his background in community-based research, he also believes it’s essential for academics and the populations they study to work together to identify where needs are and where solutions should come from.

to the voices of their peers with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

That’s exactly the kind of classroom experience he created with “The Autism Experience: A Public Health Perspective.” A key component of this class is integrating the voices of the population under discussion, young adults with autism, along with their families, who participate in the class alongside GW students.

In designing the class, Cleary spoke directly to college-aged young people with ASD to see what they wanted to learn about and what they wanted their neurotypical peers to learn about them. “They really wanted to hear lectures about the science of autism and the statistics around it, to be able to learn from and respond to that,” he says.

Cleary’s goals for the class are twofold: to introduce GW students to the basics of community research and to expose them

Cleary hopes that this experience will stick with his students, who come from

“There are misperceptions about this population regarding their cognitive abilities, whether they have an intellectual deficit or not,” he says. “Once our students hear from these young adults, they realize very quickly how much they contribute to the discussion.”

a range of study areas both graduate and undergraduate. “Whether they approach this class from a clinical perspective, a counseling perspective, research, whatever, they can draw on that experience,” he says. Not only does this first-of-a-kind class highlight the real-world experience of young adults with autism, but it also expands upon the interdisciplinary knowledge of autism experts drawn from the GW campus and the greater DC area. “One of the reasons for doing this class is to identify areas that need more attention,” says Cleary. “It’s been invaluable to have these young adults come to the course. Afterwards, I’ll continue to meet with them, to learn what works, what didn’t work, what they’d like to see, and we’ll start really figuring out how to engage them in the research.”

MILKEN INSTITUTE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

Researchers Identify Genetic Sequencing Workflow to Track and Stop Drug-Resistant HIV A new genetic sequencing workflow approach holds great promise for monitoring drug-resistance mutations in HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, according to a study led by Milken Institute SPH researchers. “Our study validates easy-to-use software for analyzing sequencing data to follow HIV drug resistance as it spreads through a community,” says Jeanne Jordan, PhD, a professor of epidemiology and biostatistics. “Such a method could be used to prevent the spread of HIV, including hard-to-treat resistant strains of the virus.” To better understand the potential for transmission of drug-resistant HIV virus among certain groups, Jordan and her colleagues recruited 79 people living with HIV in DC. The researchers drew blood from people who had given consent and extracted genetic material to sequence the HIV in each sample. Combining this newer sequencing method with free, publicly available software, the team found they could detect HIV drug-resistant mutations, including those that conventional sequencing tests have trouble detecting. In addition, the team identified potential transmission clusters of related viruses. Health departments can use such information to assist communities in the monitoring and prevention of drugresistant HIV. The messaging could help encourage safe sex or other methods to prevent the spread of HIV. If these findings are verified, this approach might have implications for other communities with drug-resistant HIV, Jordan says. The study was published in the journal PLOS ONE.

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Combining this newer sequencing method with free, publicly available software, the team found they could detect HIV drug-resistant mutations, including those that conventional sequencing tests have trouble detecting.

MPH Student Works to Improve Substance Use Programming in Chicago’s Public Health Department Gretchen Bauermeister, MPH ’20, a secondyear graduate student in epidemiology, has always been interested in substance use and other behavioral health topics. This past summer she was able to combine that interest with her work in public health as a graduate research assistant at Milken Institute SPH and as a substance use program archivist with the city of Chicago. As part of her graduate research assistant position with Epidemiology Associate Professor Debra Bernat, Bauermeister examined the relationship between smoking and health in DC public housing. She says that gaining such hands-on experience really solidified her passion for the subject and that getting involved with a different type of health organization provided her with a unique perspective on how various stakeholders can work together to promote health.

“This experience taught me the importance of curiosity and of asking for help when you need it,” Bauermeister says. “Throughout our careers as public health practitioners, most of us will spend time in new environments with individuals or populations we are not familiar with. It can be intimidating to ask questions you feel like you should know the answer to, especially when you’re new on the job. By stepping out of my comfort zone, I’ve really strengthened my knowledge.”

Bauermeister describes the experience as eye-opening and fulfilling as she was able to help move a project from start to finish and to see its impact on the health outcomes of people in the community.

This research experience influenced Bauermeister’s decision to then intern as a substance use program archivist with the Office of Violence Prevention and Behavioral Health within the Chicago Department of Public Health. In this position, Bauermeister helped evaluate and archive past substance use programs implemented in the city. She also recommended strategies for future interventions. Bauermeister describes the experience as eye-opening and fulfilling as she was able to help move a project from start to finish and to see its impact on the health outcomes of people in the community. The internship also provided Bauermeister an opportunity to work with a variety of public health professionals, including emergency preparedness experts and field epidemiologists, as they collaborated to promote behavioral health and reduce substance use throughout Chicago. It also proved to be an invaluable experience for personal growth and self-knowledge.

Gretchen Bauermeister

MILKEN INSTITUTE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

Exercise and Nutrition Sciences is the scientific study of how lifestyle-related factors, like physical activity and nutrition, affect the individual as well as the health and function of communities at large.

Jennifer Sacheck, Chair

EXERCISE & NUTRITION SCIENCES

SEASON 2, EPISODE 1

Tackling Weight Loss “ We hate that term eating healthy because people think that healthy eating is making food choices, picking specific foods, rather than focusing on how much they should be eating first of all. The single most important factor when it comes to fat loss is are you eating in a calorie deficit.” — E xercise and Nutrition Sciences Associate Professor and Director of the Weight Management and Human Performance Lab Todd Miller

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Increasing Physical Activity Among DC Schoolchildren

Jennifer Sacheck, PhD, the Sanofi Professor of Prevention and Wellness and chair of the Department of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, focuses her research on keeping children fit and healthy. A nationally recognized expert in nutrition and physical activity, Sacheck’s research is currently assessing physical activity among underserved schoolchildren in Washington, DC and more broadly, how to improve children’s physical literacy across multiple

states. One study, funded by a grant from the National Institutes of Health, is looking at how enhancing children’s motivation and confidence for movement at a young age can increase physical activity and reduce health disparities regardless of their gender, weight status or race/ethnicity. Sacheck and researchers are currently working to message the importance of children’s physical activity to parents. Sacheck notes it’s particularly important to appropriately tailor the message to parents balancing numerous responsibilities at home. “In general, we’re helping children develop fundamental movement skills so they feel

confident to engage in various physical activities as they grow up,” Sacheck says. Sacheck’s past research includes conducting large intervention trials to determine the impact of innovative physical activity programs on increasing activity and academic achievement among lower-income schoolchildren, and the impact of diet and specific nutrients on cardiometabolic risk and other health outcomes in at-risk children and youth. Her research on the intersection of nutrition, physical activity and health promotion has been widely published in academic journals and reports.

Move More, Sit Less: Staving Off Mobility Loss in Aging Populations The combination of excess weight/obesity and an inactive lifestyle represents a powerful joint risk factor for developing mobility loss after age 60, according to recent research from Milken Institute SPH.

volunteer’s body weight, levels of physical activity and lifestyle factors, and followed up over a period of about 20 years to see how many had developed mobility loss by the end of the study.

Other studies have suggested that obesity and lack of physical activity both contribute to mobility loss; however, this is the first study to follow participants over time and examine the twin contributions of weight and physical activity on the risk of developing a walking disability. It is also the first study to consider varying intensities of physical activity, as well as other lifestyle factors, such as TV viewing, smoking, and caloric intake.

Researchers concluded that the risk of developing a walking disability rose with increasing weight status at all levels of physical activity. Additionally, people who were of normal weight but physically inactive did not escape the risk of developing a walking disability, suggesting the importance of an active lifestyle across the body weight spectrum.

“We found that even for healthy older people, prevention of obesity and an active lifestyle were very important in maintaining health and function as time goes on,” says Loretta DiPietro, professor of exercise and nutrition sciences and lead author of the study. DiPietro and colleagues analyzed data from participants ages 50 to 71, noting each

The findings, which were published in the International Journal of Obesity, suggest that there are potent ways to stave off mobility loss at older ages. The key takeaway? Move more and sit less. Older adults should aim for the minimum physical activity standards of 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity activity, incorporate strength training and maintain a healthy weight in order to help lower the risk of mobility disability.

Loretta DiPietro

“Given the aging U.S. population, the findings could lead to a powerful public health strategy that would keep older adults healthy and functionally fit far into older age,” says DiPietro, who adds that becoming more physically active doesn’t require a gym membership. Getting up and moving in any way is beneficial for your health, she says. “It can be accomplished at home, in the yard, or anywhere: Just do it!

MILKEN INSTITUTE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

Exercise and Nutrition Sciences Laboratory Designated GW Core Facilities Previously unknown to most, the basement level of Milken Institute SPH contains a laboratory with state-of-the art equipment that allows Milken Institute SPH researchers and students to do nutrition assessments, fitness and metabolic testing, and DEXA body composition scans. This extraordinary space, tentatively named the Applied Metabolism and Physiology (AMP) Laboratory, will soon be designated a GW core facility, a term given to spaces across campus that are available

for use by all GW investigators, often for a fee-for-service charge. The space will also accept external customers from researchers and centers nationwide who want to use the top-notch equipment to assist their research projects. Individuals from both the GW and greater Washington, DC, communities can also visit the lab as customers and pay to undergo various exercise and nutrition tests, such as body composition and stress tests, that provide insight into their physical health.

“It’s great that more people can use these extraordinary spaces that we have available,” says Jennifer Sacheck, PhD, the Sanofi Professor of Prevention and Wellness and chair of the Department of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences. “We’ve been using these spaces to educate our students, and we’ll continue doing so but also now can leverage our resources to make it accessible for the greater community.”

Sugary Sodas Vs. Diet Drinks? Two Sides of the Same Coin Diet or low-calorie sweetened beverages might not be the best alternative to sugary beverages, according to recent research funded by the Sumner M. Redstone Global Center for Prevention and Wellness at Milken Institute SPH. In fact, the study found that U.S. children and teens who consumed low-calorie or zero-calorie sweetened beverages, such as diet soda, took in about 200 extra calories on a given day compared to those who drank water, and they took in about the same number of calories as youth who consumed sugary beverages. “These results challenge the utility of diet or low-calorie sweetened beverages when it comes to cutting calories and weight management,” says Allison Sylvetsky, assistant professor of exercise and nutrition sciences and lead author of the study. The findings suggest a link between consuming sweetened beverages—containing sugar and/or low-calorie sweeteners—and higher intakes of both calories and sugar. A previous study by Sylvetsky and colleagues found that children and teens 44

PROGRESS REPORT

Allison Sylvetsky

frequently consume low-calorie sweeteners in a variety of different diet sodas and reduced calorie drinks, as well as in food and snack items. This 2017 study also found a significant rise in the consumption of low-calorie sweeteners in children and teens over the years. To find out more on the topic, the researchers looked at reports from kids and teens who enrolled in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2011 to 2016. They examined what the kids and teens ate and drank during a 24-hour period and zeroed in on the reported consumption of sweetened beverages, both those with low-calorie sweeteners and those with sugar.

The highest calorie intakes were reported in children and teens who consumed both low-calorie sweetened beverages and sugary beverages, compared to water consumers, and no differences in calorie intake were observed between consumers of diet/low-calorie sweetened drinks vs. sugary ones. This study has significant implications because nearly one in three kids in the United States is now overweight or has obesity, which puts them at increased risk of Type 2 diabetes and other serious health conditions. The study shows that diet or low-calorie sweetened beverages might not be as helpful for weight management in children and teens as they are intended to be. Therefore, the researchers advise against the prolonged consumption of low-calorie sweetened beverages and recommend water as the best choice for teens and kids.

MPH Alumna and Triathlete Looks at International Development Through a Lens of Physical Activity Last summer, Melissa Otterbein, MPH ’19, was able to combine her passions for public health and physical fitness—she’s a certified USA Triathlon Coach and USA Swimming Coach—while completing her practicum at the Girls Gotta Run Foundation (GGRF) in Bekoji, Ethiopia. Otterbein, who recently graduated from the Physical Activity in Public Health program, worked as a monitoring and evaluation intern and says that she gained skills in the design, implementation and evaluation of sport for development programs at GGRF, which is dedicated to empowering women and their communities through running and education.

Melissa Otterbein

More than one million girls in Ethiopia are not in school, according to UNESCO. This can often be attributed to factors such as childhood marriage, financial barriers, family disapproval and increasing domestic duties, says Otterbein, who notes the importance of empowering these women through education, economic development, and physical activity. “GGRF provides such pathways for girls by running workout sessions along with weekly life skills curriculum focused on healthy relationships, leadership development, economic empowerment and health education,” she says. “The girls’ mothers also meet weekly for a savings and entrepreneurship group meeting in which the women use the capital created through the business development workshops to support their own businesses and families.” In addition to transformative personal experiences, Otterbein’s internship provided her with valuable research and field experience. As part of her practicum, she created a strategic plan detailing how GGRF addressed 11 out of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as defined by the United Nations General Assembly. She later presented her research

“ GGRF provides such pathways for girls by running workout sessions along with weekly life skills curriculum focused on healthy relationships, leadership development, economic empowerment and health education.” and findings at the Milken Institute SPH-sponsored Global Health MiniUniversity in fall 2018. While in East Africa, Otterbein was also able to conduct site visits with Public Health Ambassadors Uganda, which focuses on sexual health education through play, drama, dance, flash mobs and health education, to help further her understanding of how organizations are addressing SDGs globally.

She credits both that experience as well as the privilege of working and running alongside GGRF’s young female leaders for an unforgettable summer. “I returned to Washington, DC, inspired by the youth of Bekoji, Ethiopia, and Wakiso, Uganda, and ready to address sexual and reproductive health and development through sport in my future career.”

MILKEN INSTITUTE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

Global health focuses on improving the health and health equity of all people worldwide by collaborating across country boundaries to research and implement multi-sector policies and programs. James Tielsch, Chair

GLOBAL HEALTH SEASON 2, EPISODE 8

The Hurricane Maria Study “ We saw the devastation clearly. That is where I realized that everybody, every corner of Puerto Rico was affected. We went to the towns, we went to the cities, everybody was affected. I can tell you from the highest level, governor and wealthy areas, to the poorest—all of them were affected.” — Global Health Professor Carlos Santos-Burgoa

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Study Reveals Urgent Need for More Data on Performance Measurement and Management Strategies The United Nations recently created a set of Sustainable Development Goals, including one to achieve good health and well-being for all by the year 2030. Previous research has shown that an effective primary health care system is crucial to the achievement of that goal, especially for low- and middle-income countries. Yet a new study suggests that attempts to transform or redesign primary health care systems often deploy unproven strategies that lack the underlying scientific evidence of effectiveness. Wolfgang Munar, MD, an associate professor of global health systems at Milken Institute SPH, and his colleagues, began their study by mapping the available evidence on performance measurement and management strategies for primary health care systems in low- and middle-income countries. The team conducted a literature search and looked at 38,088 publications— selecting 155 studies that met the inclusion criteria for the final analysis. The researchers found that studies typically focused on two types of strategies: implementation strategies such as in-service training of health care professionals, or continuing education, and performance-based financing. With this strategy, health care providers are given financial incentives to provide highquality, cost-effective care.

Yet this study found that most of the studies were conducted on relatively simple interventions—those unlikely to achieve transformation of a primary health care system. “Our study suggests that most performance and management strategies are implemented without sufficient knowledge of their impact,” says Munar. “Future efforts to redesign primary health care systems must be undertaken armed with the knowledge of what works and what doesn’t.” Munar says that such evidence is urgently needed in order to help low- and middle-income countries effectively prepare for climate change, environmental disasters, pandemics of infectious diseases and other serious threats to the public health. The study, “Evidence gap map of performance measurement and management in primary health care systems in low-income and middle-income countries,” was part of a series of articles published in a special issue of BMJ Global Health. The special issue culminates a two-year collaborative effort led by Ariadne Labs, a joint center of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation funded the project.

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Global Project Seeks to Understand Adolescent Well-Being

Adolescence is a critical time when people develop healthy habits, behaviors and relationships that will impact the course of their lives. Sarah Baird, PhD, MS, an associate professor of global health at Milken Institute SPH, is working on the largest global study on adolescents, following 18,000 youth in developing countries to understand what enhances adolescent empowerment and capabilities. The study, called the Gender and Adolescence: Global Evidence (GAGE) project, is funded by UK AID Direct, a Department for International Development fund of the UK government. Over 35 organizations around the world are participating in the consortium project, which is researching what enables adolescent girls and boys to emerge from poverty and create positive change for their families and communities.

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Baird serves as the study’s impact evaluation lead, where she oversees randomized control trials in Ethiopia, Rwanda and Bangladesh, and an experimental study in Jordan. GAGE, she explains, explores the gendered experiences of adolescents as they progress through this critical period of their lives into early adulthood. The GAGE project focuses on the three C’s—capabilities, change strategies and context—to understand how each plays a role in helping boys and girls reach their full potential. The framework of the GAGE project is based on six capacity sets that explain adolescent well-being: education and learning, bodily integrity (including freedom from sexual and gender-based violence and child marriage), physical and reproductive health and nutrition, psychosocial wellbeing, voice and agency, and economic empowerment.

The GAGE project focuses on the three C’s—capabilities, change strategies and context—to understand how each plays a role in helping boys and girls reach their full potential. “We are interested in seeing how an adolescent’s location and the context in which he or she lives affects how these outcomes change over time,” Baird says. Baird, a development economist, focuses on the microeconomics of health and education in low- and middle-income countries with an emphasis on gender and youth. She also serves as program director for the Global Health Program Design, Monitoring, and Evaluation MPH Program at Milken Institute SPH.

Global Health Student Amplifies Health Policy Knowledge With Field Experience Second-year global health policy student Alex Dobek, MPH ’20, knew he wanted to gain field experience to complement his policy education when he stumbled upon Uganda Village Project (UVP) through a Global Health Department newsletter.

Alex Dobek

Having never before done global health fieldwork, Dobek stepped outside his comfort zone when he accepted a summer internship with UVP. But that’s exactly the kind of challenge he knew he needed in order to make the most of his time at Milken Institute SPH. “I knew that only getting policy experience would not be enough,” he says. “It is one thing to know how to research, understand and write policy, but it is something else entirely to know how health policies and interventions affect real people.” Dobek’s internship with UVP involves working with a team in the rural Ugandan village of Namunkanaga, which is close to the town of Iganga, to conduct health surveys and promote healthy behaviors in the community. On a typical day, UVP team members either split up into pairs to perform baseline surveys throughout the village or visit with local schools, health centers and other local partners to discuss the various health interventions UVP is attempting to implement. The team also holds meetings with community members to build relationships and teach healthy behaviors. Dobek says his internship has provided him with important practical skills and has expanded upon the knowledge he has gained from the global health policy curriculum. He is seeing firsthand his Milken Institute SPH experiences being put into practice. “I am able to see global health interventions at work on a daily basis,” he says. “I believe that this experience has really given me the personal connection that I needed to understand the policies and interventions

that I will be researching and creating in my future career in global health policy.” For anyone interested in a similar experience, Dobek says to just go for it. While he was nervous going into his first global health field experience, “all of that doubt went away immediately upon arrival,” he says. “There is nothing more rewarding to me than the work that I am doing here. The people that we are helping, the practical skills that I am learning, even the things that I am discovering about myself—these things make it all worth it and have made it one of the best experiences of my life.”

MILKEN INSTITUTE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

Health policy involves the decisions, plans and actions undertaken by public and private organizations and governmental bodies to influence and improve individual and public health and health care through the achievement of specific goals. Health administration is focused on leadership and management of health care organizations and systems.

Jane Hyatt Thorpe, Interim Chair

HEALTH POLICY & MANAGEMENT SEASON 2, EPISODE 6

What Does Public Health Mean to You? “ I can’t imagine a better place to be than Washington, DC for health policy. In part because there are so many people interested in the policy process. There is a culture of talking with each other and thinking together and interacting in all of the institutions in Washington, DC and GW is a great platform for doing that.” — Health Policy and Management Professor and Director of the Fitzhugh Mullan Institute for Health Workforce Equity Polly Pittman

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New MHA Program Director Practices What He Preaches Before joining Milken Institute SPH as Director of the residential Master of Health Administration (MHA) program and Professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management, Robert Bonar, Dr.HA, spent 40-plus years as a health care administrator, creating the kinds of highly functional workplaces where physicians, administrators and medical staff feel cared about and valued. Now he is investing his considerable energies in showing students how to create such workplaces. “When I worked at hospitals, my opportunity to interact with families and the community was one of the most enjoyable aspects of my job,” says Bonar, who brings the same disarming charm that endeared him to patients and colleagues alike as an administrator to his interactions with his GW students. He is also generous with sharing his connections, which benefits both the program’s students and the many institutions where he has worked that take on administrative fellows each year.

Design program, the highest level of certification possible. Over the course of his career, Bonar also taught health care administration at schools nearby or affiliated with the hospitals where he served as an administrator. His most recent position prior to coming to GW was at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. He also taught at Old Dominion University/Eastern Virginia Medical School, the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and the University of South Carolina. “I’m just delighted to be here,” says Bonar, who, since coming to Milken Institute SPH, has been working to implement improvements likely to further ratchet up the MHA program’s steadily rising national rank—which just jumped to #12 from #16. He is also finding opportunities to conduct the kind of research that he always wished to have more time to focus on during his career as an administrator.

“Dr. Bonar’s extensive background as a successful health care administrator was a key qualification that led us to select him to be our residential MHA program director,” says Jane Hyatt Thorpe, JD, interim chair of the Milken Institute SPH Department of Health Policy and Management. Bonar most recently served as CEO of Children’s Hospital and Clinics of Minnesota from 2014 to 2017, and before that, he served as CEO of Seton Family of Hospitals and Dell Children’s Medical Center in Austin, Texas, from 2003 to 2014. There, his accomplishments include overseeing the design, construction and opening, in 2007, of the first-ever hospital to receive a Platinum certification by the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental

Robert Bonar

MILKEN INSTITUTE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

Leader in Health IT Named New Director of HealthInformatics@GW A leader in the field of health information technology, Patricia MacTaggart, MBA, was named program director of HealthInformatics@GW this past fall. She also took on a new role as Teaching Instructor in Health Policy and Management. Before her official appointment, MacTaggart was a key member of the Health Policy and Management Department, developing, leading and teaching health IT courses in the MHA residential program as well as the MHA@GW and HealthInformatics@GW for many years. She has over 35 years of executive management experience in the health care field and more than 25 years working in state and federal government, overseeing strategic and operational planning and implementation support for health care delivery and payment reform through a range of initiatives, including information technology optimization. MacTaggart also served as the Minnesota Medicaid Director and has supported numerous federally approved health-IT initiatives. For the last several years, in addition to teaching a range of health IT courses at GW, MacTaggart worked with the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the VA in senior advisory roles, driving culture change through innovative use of information

Patricia MacTaggart

technology. She also provided health IT technical assistance to the state governments of Oregon, Alabama, California, Wisconsin and DC as they transformed their acute, behavioral and longterm care health systems to be health IT-optimized, which includes policy, technical, legal, operational, governance and financing considerations. “Patricia brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to this new role, a high level of connectivity to the world of health IT management, a firm commitment to students and a strong capacity for leadership,” says Dean Lynn Goldman. “We greatly appreciate her dedication to the Health Policy and Management Department and to the field of health IT as she continues to be a leader in the field and educate future health IT leaders.”

New AHRQ Grant Allows Milken Institute SPH Researchers to Study Economics of Community Health Centers Milken Institute SPH recently received a $1.1 million grant from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to analyze the economic costs and sustainability of community health centers. “The nation’s more than 1,300 community health centers play an essential role in the U.S. health care system by delivering primary care to a medically underserved population of approximately 26 million, regardless of patients’ ability to pay,” says Avi Dor, PhD, principal investigator of the project and a professor of health policy and management at Milken Institute SPH. 52

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“The long-term viability of our community health centers is dependent upon their sustained financial health.” AHRQ aims to develop the knowledge, tools and data needed to improve the health care system and help Americans, health care professionals and policymakers make informed health care decisions. The four-year grant will fund the first effort to analyze the financial health of the nation’s community health centers by estimating the economic cost of the services the centers provide. Researchers will assess the cost savings that community health centers

produce through their pioneering and widespread integration of primary care and mental health services. Dor, an expert in health economics, will use an econometric approach to generate and analyze the data. “Conventional accounting methods are unable to assess the qualityadjusted costs of the services offered by community health centers,” Dor says. “Our econometric analysis will explore the tradeoffs that community health centers will have to consider as financial pressures grow.” Data generated from the project could also influence policymakers’ decisions to allocate funding for community health centers, says Dor. “A better understanding of community health centers’ costs and how they are allocated among the various services that centers offer will help to inform the policy debate on the adequacy of public support for the centers’ mission.”

Nurses ‘Uniquely Positioned’ to Address Unmet Health Care Needs of 21st Century

“ Nurses are uniquely positioned to coordinate partnerships and provide the kind of holistic, patientcentered care that can address the current rise in substance abuse and other diseases of despair.”

—Patricia Pittman

Faced with a surge in “diseases of despair,” policymakers and leaders in the health care sector are beginning to see the limitations of the current highly centralized, medicalized system of providing health care. Patricia Pittman, professor of health policy and management and co-director of the Fitzhugh Mullan Institute for Health Workforce Equity at Milken Institute SPH, recently authored a report that highlights the opportunity of the nursing profession to address this public health crisis of the 21st century. “There is growing recognition that medical care alone is insufficient to address growing health problems of today’s world,” says Pittman. “Nurses are uniquely positioned to coordinate partnerships and provide the kind of holistic, patient-centered care that can address the current rise in substance abuse and other diseases of despair.” Pittman conducted a literature analysis and interviewed nursing leaders, policymakers and others to produce the comprehensive report in which she identifies today’s most innovative nurse-led or nursing models that have evidence of impact. The report, which was commissioned by the Robert

Wood Johnson Foundation, also analyzes solutions to current health care needs. Nurses today have the potential to help transform the health care system to address growing health problems that are deeply rooted in social and economic conditions. To do this, Pittman says nursing leaders must strengthen a core set of nursing functions, embrace the idea of working at the intersection of other professions, and bolster nursing education with a stronger focus on population health, health equity and programs to ensure diversity in the nursing workforce. Educators, employers and policymakers must also be willing to work with nursing leaders to create jobs with roles that allow them to build trust, establish partnerships and provide holistic care that can help individual patients, families and entire communities stay healthy. Government officials and policymakers must align payment and regulatory policies with the goal of transforming the health care system. Pittman also calls for a robust research agenda aimed at spurring the process of change.

MILKEN INSTITUTE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

Milken Institute SPH Experts Weigh in on Trending Health Policy Issues

This year, faculty members in the Department of Health Policy and Management have been on the forefront of trending health policy issues here in the nation’s capital and in states around the country. Some examples include the move by the Trump administration and certain states to impose work requirements on Medicaid beneficiaries, a Title X rule that threatens to harm the public health and a policy aimed at preventing future outbreaks of measles, a deadly childhood disease that is on the rise.

California Law Boosts Childhood Vaccination Rates In a first-of-a-kind analysis published in May 2019, Health Policy Professor Avi Dor found that a 2016 California vaccine law boosted protective coverage against measles. At the same time, the research revealed a sharp increase in medical exemptions to the vaccine mandate for school entry. “The rise in medical exemptions strongly suggests parents who are reluctant to vaccinate their children are shopping for doctors,” said Dor. The United States had all but eliminated measles in the year 2000 due to robust vaccination coverage. Since then, however, small but growing groups of parents are seeking waivers to the vaccines—leading to dangerous pockets of unvaccinated children. “People forget that measles was and still is a deadly disease, one that could surge again,” Dor said. “State lawmakers who want to protect the public should take a hard look at the lessons learned from California’s experience and tighten educational and certification requirements so that medical exemptions are granted only when appropriate.”

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Medicaid Work Requirements: Hundreds of Thousands Would Lose Coverage A new analysis by Milken Institute SPH researchers suggests that up 811,000 people would lose the protection of Medicaid coverage in just one year if nine states fully implement plans to impose Medicaid work requirements on beneficiaries. Those losses are likely an underestimate because they do not account for monthly premiums or new paperwork requirements that may trigger additional losses, said Professor Leighton Ku, who is the senior author of the analysis. Many of the people who would lose coverage are working already or are trying to work but are unable to comply with the rules because they cannot find a steady job or they have trouble navigating the procedural requirements, said Ku. That analysis and other research were cited in two recent friend-of-the-court briefs filed in court by 63 public health scholars from across the nation, including Sara Rosenbaum, JD, the Harold and Jane Hirsh Professor of Health Law and Policy at Milken Institute SPH. The scholars are urging the court to block Medicaid work requirements, saying they run counter to Medicaid’s core purpose and would cause harm to many beneficiaries. “These demonstrations were intended to support experiments that promote Medicaid’s core objective of providing medical assistance to those who need it,” said Rosenbaum. “These experiments do the opposite—they threaten to strip hundreds of thousands of beneficiaries of Medicaid coverage while endangering health care on a community-wide basis.”

Title X “Gag” Rule Threatens Health Care Access for Millions Health policy and public health scholars from Milken Institute SPH and other universities, along with the American Public Health Association, have filed several amicus or friend-of-the-court briefs in the ongoing battle to block implementation of the Title X so-called “gag” rule. In an amicus brief filed on July 3, 178 public health scholars, including Professor Sara Rosenbaum, urged the courts to block the Title X rule because of the severe impact it would have on access to family planning and preventive health services. Under the rule, physicians are barred from giving patients, including pregnant patients, full and accurate counseling, including information about abortions. In addition, the rule would withhold federal funding from comprehensive health care clinics. “Title X clinics are a lifeline for low-income women with significant health risks, for whom unintended pregnancy is an especially serious health threat,” said Milken Institute SPH Dean Lynn R. Goldman, one of the scholars on the brief. “If the administration’s rule is allowed to stand, the public health consequences will be enormous.” The brief points out that Title X clinics not only provide affordable family planning services, but they also offer care that can prevent and protect patients from serious health problems like cancer and sexually transmitted diseases.

For more health policy analysis, check out gwhpmmatters.com.

HPM Alumna Works to Amplify the Voices of Veterans When Addressing Health Concerns Milken Institute SPH Alumna Tammy Barlet, MPH ’19, was ready to put her knowledge and skills to the test as soon as she graduated. Barlet began her work at the American Legion DC office as a health policy coordinator shortly after she received her MPH in health policy this past May. As a veteran herself, Barlet wanted to help amplify the voices of other veterans as well as active duty members when dealing with the Department of Veterans Affairs and when dealing with health issues that are a concern to this population. In terms of what an average workday looks like for Barlet? Well, it depends. “Honestly, the focus of my day depends on the Hill and which bills are being marked up or need testimony and prep work for upcoming projects,” she says. “I may also be out of the office at a roundtable representing the American Legion.” She says her time at Milken Institute SPH taking classes in federal policymaking and advocacy helped prepare her for many

aspects of her role, including how to design an advocacy plan and a grassroots campaign. For students looking to find the cause or population they are passionate about, Barlet advises networking and following their interests. “When I wasn’t working on my classwork, I was attending events, hearings, or pretty much anything I thought I might find exciting. Then I reached out to new contacts, followed up with them and kept in touch. By doing so, you’ll soon find your niche,” she says.

Leonard Friedman

Leonard Friedman Named Faculty of the Year by the Association of University Programs in Health Administration Health Policy and Management Professor Leonard Friedman, PhD, MPH, was named faculty of the year by the Association of University Programs in Health Administration. Friedman directs the school’s online Master of Health Services Administration (MHA@GW) program and is also a professor in the residential Master of Health Administration program. “Receiving this award from the organization that fosters excellence in health management and policy education and scholarship is such a great honor,” says Friedman. His recent achievements include successfully shepherding the MHA@ GW program through the Commission on Accreditation for Healthcare Management Education’s (CAHME) accreditation process.

Tammy Barlet

For Friedman, the most gratifying part of being a health administration instructor is seeing what his students are able to achieve. “My goal as an instructor is to impress upon my students the critical role they play as health care leaders to create and sustain the systems that allow clinicians to do their best work and deliver care that is safe, effective and of the highest possible quality,” he says. MILKEN INSTITUTE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

The goal of prevention is to help individuals avoid contracting diseases or experiencing adverse health issues through clinical or community services such as immunizations, health screenings, educational programs or health policies. Community health involves the implementation of these strategies within a particular geographic area or demographic of the population.

Karen McDonnell, Interim Chair

PREVENTION & COMMUNITY HEALTH SEASON 1, EPISODE 4

Adverse Effects Recent U.S. Immigration Policy Changes Have on Latino Communities “ We weren’t surprised to find of course that many parents in the United States in this study appear to be having both mental health problems and experiencing very adverse responses to the changes around immigration policy that have gone on since the election of this president.” — Prevention and Community Health Associate Professor Katy Roche

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Milken Institute SPH Joins Forces in the Fight for Women’s Economic Empowerment in India Milken Institute SPH has joined forces with the U.S. Department of State, Georgetown University, U.S. Agency of International Development and the U.S.-India Strategic Partnership Forum to create the U.S.-India Alliance for Women’s Economic Empowerment. The alliance is a platform that will enable the private sector, academia and civil society in the United States and India to work together to accelerate the growth of women-owned or -operated businesses and women’s workforce participation in India by increasing women’s access to finance, mentoring and technical assistance. The alliance will take a comprehensive approach and will also focus on addressing key factors associated with meaningful and sustainable economic empowerment of women, including women’s health, education, safety and gender equity. Milken Institute SPH, and specifically Associate Professor of Prevention and Community Health Amita Vyas, PhD, MHS, will lead the initiative to address these upstream factors through its commitment to building interdisciplinary teams of faculty and students across the university to be part of specific activities under this component of the alliance. “I believe this is a great time to engage, as women in India are transforming their life possibilities. We are excited about the opportunity to play a role in this important bilateral effort to support that transformation as it gets off the ground,” says Vyas.

MILKEN INSTITUTE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

Milken Institute SPH-Led Research Shows Storytelling Can Impact Gender Attitudes Among Adolescents in India Milken Institute SPH researchers recently published a study that analyzes gender attitudes among adolescents in India, where women and girls frequently face gender-based discrimination that can lead to adverse health outcomes including malnutrition, maternal death, suicide and gender-based violence. It’s during adolescence that boys and girls begin to develop lifelong attitudes about gender. The study, published in the International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, evaluated the effectiveness of the Girl Rising Gender-Sensitization Program, a comprehensive 24-week curriculum that

aims to support adolescent boys and girls in India to identify and share their genderrelated experiences through activities and stories. The program is built around the “Girl Rising” feature film, which is part of the global Girl Rising initiative that uses storytelling to change cultural and social attitudes toward women and girls worldwide so they can lead better, healthier lives. Milken Institute SPH is the official academic partner of Girl Rising, and the studies were conducted as part of the partnership. Associate Professor of Prevention and Community Health Amita Vyas, PhD,

MHS, helped develop the program and served as the lead author of the study. To examine the effectiveness of the program, researchers administered two comprehensive tests to participants, one before and one after completing the curriculum. Each test examined boys’ and girls’ attitudes toward gender as well as the gender norms they believed and whether the program changed their perception of the issue. Researchers found that after completing the curriculum, both adolescent boys and girls had more positive gender-based attitudes and a greater understanding of gender-based discrimination. “The notion that interventions that incorporate inspirational storytelling may effectively impact gender attitudes is so promising if we want to achieve long-term sustained change in gender norms, which will ultimately lead to significant changes for girls’ and women’s health and wellbeing,” says Vyas.

Students and Alumna Promote Awareness Around Gender-Based Violence in India Two Milken Institute SPH students and one alumna traveled within India this past spring to learn more about local NGO efforts to address and prevent gender-based violence (GBV). The Milken Institute SPH group, led by Prevention and Community Health Associate Professor Amita Vyas, PhD, MHS, worked to pilot GBV prevention workshops at colleges and universities around the country to better understand and address the problem of GBV among this age group. The workshops were conducted by local professionals trained by Girl Rising, an organization that campaigns for girls’

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education and empowerment and seeks to change the way that the world values girls. The first day of the workshop focused on providing clear definitions of GBV and various forms of violence. Students had the opportunity to share their perspectives on social norms around gender roles as well as the consequences of not conforming to those roles. The second day was focused on using the power of storytelling as a platform to create change. Videos from the feature film “Girl Rising” were screened to help students feel empowered to share their

personal stories of violence in front of their peers. Many expressed that this was the first time they could talk freely about their encounters with violence. Students were comforted to hear that others had similar experiences and that they are not alone. By the end of the workshops, participants were motivated and equipped with the tools to make strides towards preventing GBV within their local communities and, more specifically, on their college and university campuses. Through these GBV workshops, the hope is to spark the next generation of India’s youth to stand up, speak up, and stop the violence.

Researchers Awarded Grant to Lower Vaccination Barriers in Nepal Milken Institute researchers are seeking to increase vaccination rates in Nepal thanks to a $100,000 Grand Challenges Explorations grant—an initiative funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Rajiv N. Rimal, PhD, MA, former chair of the Department of Prevention and Community Health and now professor and chair of the Department of Health, Behavior and Society at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, is the principal investigator of the award. He will pursue an innovative global health and development research project titled “Rejoice Architecture Meets Social Norms to Accelerate Vaccination in Nepal.” In Nepal, essential health services like vaccinations are often provided in clinics with long waiting lines, usually in a noisy, stressful environment, according to Rimal. Restroom facilities are usually either in

need of repair or do not exist. In addition, clinic staff are rushed, overworked and may seem disrespectful to patients, he points out. That unwelcoming environment might erect a barrier for new mothers in terms of follow-up visits for their baby. The end result? Newborns may not get the full complement of vaccines, thus putting them at risk of developing serious diseases like measles, Rimal says. The new project seeks to create a welcoming environment in these health clinics with the hope that vaccination rates will increase and caregivers will regularly seek essential health care services for their children and families. “We observed that clinic settings were very stressful and unappealing,” Rimal says. “A busy new mother would often leave and not bring her baby back for the full immunization cycles if she felt unwelcome at the clinic.”

Rimal and his team will work in the Makwanpur District in Nepal, where the vaccination rate is 83 percent. The two-pronged study will involve 10 government-owned health clinics. Five will receive updates, including fresh paint to the walls, bathrooms equipped with proper cleaning materials like toilet paper and hand soap, and chairs in the waiting area. These five clinics will also be enhanced to provide visitors with additional services, such as the ability to do laundry or purchase groceries while waiting for vaccinations to be completed. The other five clinics in the study will not be changed. Through surveys and medical records, Rimal and his team will observe if the vaccination rate increases among those who visit the upgraded clinics. “For many people in this region, traveling to the health clinic can be an all-day task. They often travel long distances and are balancing a million other life priorities,” Rimal says. “If we make it an appealing and productive trip, they will be more likely to return for follow-up visits.”

After Hurricane Maria, Researchers Investigate the Natural Disaster’s Toll on Community Pharmacies After a natural disaster occurs, community pharmacists can help patients access crucial health care services, including filling medications that treat illnesses and chronic conditions. However, an analysis by Prevention and Community Health Associate Professor Carlos Rodríguez-Díaz found that after Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico in 2017, the island’s pharmacists were challenged to adequately respond to patients’ needs due to various structural and individual barriers. Rodríguez-Díaz, in collaboration with his mentee, Kyle Melin, an assistant professor at the University of Puerto Rico School of Pharmacy, argued that pharmacists could not properly respond to patients’ needs after Hurricane Maria because of medication shortages, extended

loss of power on the island, and limited telecommunications for contacting prescribers, disaster relief agencies, and insurance companies. “This put pharmacists in the difficult position of needing to dispense maintenance medications without prescriptions, authorized refills, or an emergency protocol to guide practice,” Rodríguez-Díaz and Melin wrote in the analysis. “As the vast majority of community pharmacies in Puerto Rico are independent small businesses, the necessity of dispensing much-needed medications to patients without any guarantee of reimbursement further led to significant concerns of financial survival.”

of natural disasters through research and evaluation after what Puerto Rico experienced in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. The authors call for further research to understand the individual, interpersonal, and environmental factors that affect community pharmacies after natural disasters so officials can develop policies and emergency protocols that better help pharmacists serve patients in future disasters. Their paper, titled “Community pharmacy response in the aftermath of natural disasters: Time-sensitive opportunity for research and evaluation,” was published online in the Journal of Primary Care and Community Health.

Rodríguez-Díaz and Melin are working together to reduce the negative impact MILKEN INSTITUTE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

Milken Institute SPH Researcher Studies Social Marketing Campaign on Female Genital Cutting in Africa A study conducted by Milken Institute SPH researchers finds that a campaign in Sudan to change the social norms around female genital cutting (FGM) is a promising way to protect girls from this harmful practice. W. Douglas Evans, PhD, professor of prevention and community health, and his colleagues studied the Saleema Initiative in Sudan, a public health campaign to raise awareness of the harm caused by FGM and to change the way the public thinks about this practice.

When a social norm such as FGM is in place, families and individuals engage in the practice because they view it as a common and expected of them, Evans says. The Saleema Initiative aims to change that norm by providing messages aimed at getting people in Sudan, a country in Northeast Africa, to view girls who have not been circumcised as whole, healthy and intact. The Saleema Initiative was launched in 2008 by the National Council for Child Welfare in collaboration with UNICEF Sudan.

In this study, researchers found people who were exposed more to Saleema Initiative’s messages were more likely to view FGM as unacceptable. Evans says further research is needed to see if the campaign will change the social norm enough to help eradicate FGM in Sudan. “This study demonstrated that Saleema’s social marketing strategy is effective in changing the belief that FGM is an accepted practice in Sudan,” Evans says. “Viewing FGM as outside of the social norm is the first step towards eliminating the practice.”

Milken Institute SPH Researcher Finds Parents of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Kids Struggle more likely to disapprove or adopt negative behaviors that can, in turn, put youth at risk of serious health problems. “Two years is a very long time in the life of a child who is faced with the stress of a disapproving or rejecting parent,” Huebner says.

David Huebner

Parents may take up to two years to adjust to the news that their child identifies as gay, lesbian or bisexual, according to a recent study by David Huebner, PhD, MPH, a professor of prevention and community health. It’s an important finding because previous studies suggest parents who have trouble adjusting to the news of their child’s sexual orientation are

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This study is one of the first and largest to survey parents themselves and includes data from parents who only learned their child identifies as lesbian, gay or bisexual in the past month. Huebner and his colleagues studied more than 1,200 parents of lesbian, gay and bisexual youth who are between the ages of 10 and 25. The researchers asked parents who visited a website with resources to fill out a questionnaire. The researchers found parents who had learned about their child’s sexual orientation two years ago reported struggling just as much as parents who had been told very recently; African-American

and Latino parents reported greater trouble adjusting compared to white parents; and fathers and mothers reported similar levels of difficulty, as did parents of boys and girls. Huebner says parents who have trouble accepting the news may worry that their child might face a more difficult life, one that includes bullying or harassment. Others may need time to adjust because they imagined a heterosexual future for their child, he elaborates. Still, Huebner says most parents, even those in shock when first learning the news, care deeply about their children and eventually do adjust. “Our results suggest interventions to speed up the adjustment process would help not only the parents but also their children,” Huebner said. “LGB youth with accepting families are more likely to thrive as they enter adulthood.”

MPH Alumna Awarded for Community-Based Research on Youth Sports Injuries

Colleen Packard

Colleen Packard, BSPH ’17, MPH ’19, was awarded the Nashman Prize during GW’s 2019 Research Days for her study looking at parent and student perceptions of youth sports injuries. The Nashman Prize recognizes excellence in community-based participatory research. For her study, Packard worked with Beacon House, a community-based nonprofit organization located in Washington, DC’s Ward 5. Beacon House strives toward eliminating the education achievement gap of area kids, and its athletics program is a signature offering, with the tackle football program the largest and most successful of the sports offered. However, given increased awareness around concussion risk for youth sports, especially within tackle football, Beacon House wanted to learn more about parents’ knowledge of and attitudes toward youth sports injuries. The organization called on Packard, who was working as an evaluation intern as part of her practicum experience, for help.

For Packard, who has always been interested in the intersection of clinical medicine and public health, the study provided her with an opportunity to put her research training into practice. “As a community-oriented primary care student, I understood the importance of community input in research, and I hoped to be able to encapsulate the community’s experience with this issue so that we could create both a community-based and an evidence-based solution,” she says. To conduct the study, Packard used surveys and focus groups to assess parents’ decision processes for getting their children involved in sports as well as their awareness of concussion risks and their opinions on expanding Beacon House’s athletics programming. Study results indicate that Beacon House parents’ knowledge and attitudes toward concussion are similar to other parents’ across the country, but Beacon House parents reported that they want to keep the football program while focusing on increased safety. “Football was found to be integral to the identity

and sense of community within the organization, and there was very low acceptability of expanding other athletic programs if it meant getting rid of the football program,” Packard says. She adds that data collection for youth athletes is currently underway, and it will also measure concussion knowledge and attitudes as well as interest in other athletics programming. Ultimately, Packard hopes Beacon House will be able to use the data from her research to help inform its future sports programming. She also hopes studies like this help demonstrate the importance of incorporating community voices in research. “Beacon House athletes have been shown to have high levels of resilience and social-emotional well-being,” Packard says. “These positive effects, arguably a result of the community identity tied to football, cannot be ignored just because external stakeholders, including researchers, believe that they know what is best for the community.”

MILKEN INSTITUTE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

Alumni Reception at APHA in San Diego Milken Institute SPH alumni, students, faculty, staff and friends gathered to catch up, network and unwind at the 2018 APHA Annual Meeting in beautiful San Diego.

DEVELOPMENT

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Healthcare Executives Meeting in Chicago Milken Institute SPH alumni, faculty, students and staff gathered in Chicago for the 2019 American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) Congress on Healthcare in March.

Photos by Stephen J. Serio

MILKEN INSTITUTE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

950 Awards Honor Outstanding Alumni Milken Institute SPH’s annual 950 Awards honor alumni who have made significant impacts in the field of public health and who demonstrate outstanding commitment to the school’s community. Dean Goldman presented four outstanding alumni with 950 Awards in a special reception during Colonials Weekend in October.

Sonia Nath, JD, MPH ’06 Associate Chief Counsel for Enforcement, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Sonia Nath earned her MPH in health policy concurrently with her JD from the George Washington University Law School, committing her career to law and public health. Nath is generous with her time, actively mentoring students in a program held at the FDA each summer, as well as serving as an online mentor.

Deneen Richmond, MHA ’92 Vice President, Population Health & Clinical Improvement, Anne Arundel Medical Center Deneen Richmond earned her MHA from Milken Institute SPH while working full-time as a nurse at GW Hospital—the same hospital where she was born—and caring for patients with HIV/AIDS at a time when little information existed regarding the disease. In addition to her responsibilities at Anne Arundel Medical Center, Richmond teaches in the school’s MHA@GW program, coaches MHA students and recent alumni, and stays involved through MHA alumni events.

SEASON 1, EPISODE 8

Careers in Public Health “ At first, I was exploring the MPH program, but then I decided what I was really interested in was how to leverage my industry experience from more of a business perspective, to integrate with public health. So, I decided the MHA program would be a good fit for me.” — Alumna Nancy Edwards, MHA ’18

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Nisha Sachdev, MPH ’06, DrPh ’12, MPsy ’14, PsyD ’16 Director of School Mental Health, Bainum Family Foundation Nisha Sachdev holds an impressive four degrees from GW, but even more impressive is Nisha’s dedication to the youth of DC. She has developed and led countless initiatives and programs across DC to improve the social, emotional and behavioral wellness of youth. As Director of School Mental Health at the Bainum Family Foundation, Sachdev works to holistically improve wellness for children and families in DC.

Joseph L. Wright, MPH ’94 Senior Vice President & Chief Medical Officer, University of Maryland Capital Region Health Joseph Wright has not only used his career to make trailblazing efforts to improve health outcomes in the District of Columbia, but he has also leveraged his experience and leadership roles to make significant contributions to the health care landscape regionally and nationally. Wright’s contributions to Milken Institute SPH as an alumnus include serving as an inaugural member of GW chapter of the public health honors society, Delta Omega, and serving as a member of the External Advisory Group of the Sumner M. Redstone Global Center for Prevention and Wellness.

Outstanding Faculty Recognition In honor of her 25 years of service to the school, Caroline Sparks, associate professor emerita for prevention and community health, was also presented with the Outstanding Faculty Achievement Award at last year’s Colonials Weekend celebration.

Caroline Sparks, PhD, MA Professor Emerita, Prevention and Community Health A licensed psychologist with expertise in behavioral health and adolescent psychology, Sparks taught graduate-level courses in program design and evaluation, behavior change, and public health advocacy. In both her teaching and research, Sparks promoted the value of community-level interventions to address public health challenges. For 25 years, Sparks academically challenged and trained Milken Institute SPH students in what many described as some of their most challenging yet rewarding classes. She retired in December 2018. MILKEN INSTITUTE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

Students Band Together to Support One Another’s Professional Growth In January, the Public Health Student Association identified an urgent need for additional funding to the Capital Connection Fund (CCF). This fund provides financial assistance to Milken Institute SPH students so they can access transformative opportunities—practicums, internships, conferences and other professional development—that would otherwise be unaffordable. Upon learning that the funding requested by students last year far exceeded the resources available through CCF, the Public Health Student Association banded together to raise money to support their peers. In collaboration with the school’s development team, the Public Health Student Association lead the “I Heart GW Public Health” student fundraiser, asking their peers to make a sustaining annual gift to support CCF. Student volunteers staffed a table in the school’s lobby decorated with

hearts and a poster that asked, “Why do you <3 GWSPH?” The student volunteers explained to those who stopped by the table that with a sustaining gift of less than $1 per month, the student body could join together to make a real impact on the amount of grant assistance available to peers. The “I Heart GW Public Health” student fundraiser successfully engaged 54 donors and raised a total of $2,287 for the CCF as well as other school causes.

Last year, the school was able to grant 15 students with funding to cover their professional development costs. Uses of the grants included subsidized airfare to Guatemala to work in a rural health clinic and to Vietnam to intern with Population Services International. Grant money also covered a conference registration fee, allowing a student to present on LGBTQ health equity.

Alumna Shares Passion for Public Health With Current Students Keri Apostle, MPH ’10, first caught “Potomac fever” when she interned at the White House her junior year of college. After she graduated with bachelor’s degrees in biology and political science from Hope College in Holland, Michigan, she couldn’t shake the pull of the DC region. When she started looking at master’s programs in epidemiology, she says, “Milken Institute SPH was my top choice because the school had a rigorous Department of Epidemiology and was well positioned to provide me with world-class experiences since it’s in the heart of the nation’s capital.” Apostle’s experience as a student at Milken Institute SPH was shaped by professors who she says “went above and beyond to provide real-life

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problems and showed me how to use public health principles to tackle these problems.” Graduation wasn’t the end of Apostle’s story at Milken Institute SPH. Over the past eight years, she has taught hundreds of students in intro epidemiology and biostatistics classes as an adjunct faculty member. “I like public health because it is multidisciplinary and applies disciplines from math, science and social sciences to solve serious health problems at the population level,” she says. “I find that it is a powerful way to make an impact in the world. I’m proud to teach epidemiology and biostatistics to others and, hopefully, inspire my students as they navigate their own career paths and make their own impact in the world.”

Beyond teaching students, Apostle has become a vital resource to recent alumni as an inaugural member of the Recent Alumni Advisory Council, whose purpose is to enhance the alumni experience for current and future alumni of the school. “The best thing about volunteering with the Recent Alumni Advisory Council is meeting others from Milken Institute SPH, sharing my experiences, and learning from others,” she says. “We all have something to teach each other, and spending time developing these relationships allows us to grow together.” Apostle serves as deputy director for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, leading a team that is using data to respond to the opioid epidemic through prevention and treatment efforts.

Alumna Gives Back to International Student Community

Gina Joseph

Gina Joseph, MPH ’18, graduated with a degree in health communications and marketing ready to accelerate her career focused on creating greater public health impact. After earning both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English at the University of the West Indies, Gina began working as a communications officer for the Trinidad North West Regional Health Authority, where her passion for public health began to grow as she worked on research projects focused on children suffering from health inequities. It was during a yearlong study abroad opportunity in the United States as a Hubert H. Humphrey Fellow that Gina started looking to merge her love of language, communication and health equity into an MPH. As a student at Milken Institute SPH, Gina excelled academically but also made a mark on the school through her encouragement of programs and services that support international public health students.

Working with the Office of Student Affairs, Gina helped found the Global Health Network, which is comprised of international students and supporters with the goal of promoting academic success and professional impact for international students. “In my perspective,” she says, “pursuing my education at Milken Institute SPH was the best decision I made. I feel very equipped to address public health issues, and I believe as a result of its experiential learning format, I have become a better public health practitioner.” After graduation, Gina started working as an intern at the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). She now serves as a marketing and publications consultant for PAHO and continues to give back to Milken Institute SPH and invest in the public health community through volunteering, mentoring current international students, and donating to support her department.

I feel very equipped to address public health issues, and I believe as a result of its experiential learning format, I have become a better public health practitioner.” —Gina Joseph

“I had a very positive and transformative experience, personally and professionally,” Joseph says. “I love giving back to the school because of the impact it continues to have on my life.”

MILKEN INSTITUTE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

2018-19 Philanthropic Partners Milken Institute SPH is honored to recognize the individuals and organizations who supported our mission during the fiscal year 2018-2019 (July 1, 2018 through June 30, 2019). The generosity of philanthropic partners enables our school to educate future public health leaders, conduct impactful research and improve health outcomes locally, nationally, and globally. Anonymous (8)

Chantal N. Berry MPH ’18

Kenneth Clark MA ’75 and Janet Clark

Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics

Tracy A. Bettencourt BS ’19

Molly C. Clarke BS ’14

Dr. Carlos and Magaly Acevedo

Dr. Jeffrey B. Bingenheimer

Elyssa S. Clauson BS ’18

Adams Cowan Foundation

Martin Blanco

Dr. Sean D. Cleary

Aileen Adams and Geoffrey Cowan

Sudha Bommaraju

Courtney A. Coffey MPH ’12

Ghazala Afaq Kazi MPH ’90

Dr. Bob Bonar

Elliot G. Cohen MBA ’70

Annette M. Aldous MPH ’15

Elizabeth A. Borkowski MPH ’13

James G. Coller MHSA ’72

Brian Allyn MHA ’16

Sanchita R. Bose MPH ’17

Molly Collins Offner MHSA ’90

Elizabeth M. Almendarez MPH ’19

Erin R. Boudreau BS ’17

Kyle J. Colonna BS ’16

American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy

Harry Bradley MA ’74 and Mary Bradley

The Commonwealth Fund

Barbara H. Braffett PhD ’13

Robert B. Conaty MHSA ’73

LCDR Elyse M. Braxton, NC, USN

Rebecca S. Cooper MPH ’19

Alan L. Brechbill MS ’82

Gene Corapi MHSA ’88

Karly K. Brinkman

Melinda L. Cordasco MPH ’19

Susan M. Andrews

Emily Briton MHSA ’12 and Zachary Briton MPF ’13

Megan Couillard MPH ’17

Laura K. Annetta BS ’07, MPH ’12

Roslyn M. Brock MS ’89

Keri Apostle MPH ’10

Cecile K. Brown

Lt. Col. Brian J. Cramer MHSA ’93 and Col. Michelle Cramer

Dr. Hannah Arem

Frederick L. Brown MBA ’66 and Shirley Fiille Brown

John S. Cramer MBA ’69 and Ellen E. Cramer

Morgan S. Brown MPH ’17

Meghan E. Culhane BS ’16

Elisse Brunori BBA ’84 and David Brunori BA ’84, MA ’95

Dianne Culpepper-McRae

American College of Radiology Dorota Amin Dr. Douglas G. Anderson Gabriella Andreotti MPH ’98, PhD ’07

Ilse R. Argueta MPH ’18 Janet L. Aronson MHSA ’81 Dr. Ramin Asgary The Atlantic Philanthropies Leslie M. Atley

John J. Buckley Jr. MBA ’69 and Sarah Buckley

Allan Atzrott MHSA ’74

Dr. Guenevere V. Burke

Victoria Aysola MPH ’19

Charles I. Busack MS ’96

Dr. Sarah Baird

Lisa O. Busumbru

Dominic Henry Balzano MHSA ’75

Keisha Byam MPH ’03

Jacqueline K. Banos BS ’19

Cattleya Wongkongkatap MBA ’11

Dr. Matthew Barberio

Shaina Cales MPH ’18

Julia Barrett MPH ’92

The California Endowment

Dr. Abbas Bashir-Elahi MPH ’90 and Irma Bashir-Elahi

California Physicians’ Service Foundation

Sonal Batra MD ’14 Vidya R. Battu MHA ’15, CERT ’15 Kelly A. Bea MS ’80 Ellen Beck Kelsey Benz MPH ’19 Scott Berlucchi MHSA ’81 and Aileen Pagan-Berlucchi 68

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Haley D. Campbell Alana Casciello BA ’07 Jana Checa Chong BA ’06 Caitlin M. Christman MPH ’16 Yeoryia Christoforides MPH ’17 Mary Cianciara Adara Beamesderfer Citron MPH ’15

Sharon A. and C. William Crain

Ellen Dalina Sabina Dankwa Dr. Ashley E. Darcy-Mahoney Peter and Katharine Darrow Dr. James M. DeCarli and Andrea Zometa Shaun A. Dela Cruz MHA ’17 Stacie DeRamus MHSA ’98 Rishika S. Desai MPH ’17 Sweta R. Dhari MPH ’09 Stacey M. DiLorenzo Diane and Lowell Dodge Steven J. Doherty Elliott Donnelley Margaret L. Dorr MPH ’16 Jennifer D. Dorsey Rupali Doshi Laura Doyle MHSA ’85 and Kenneth Doyle

Brian Duke MHSA ’82

Robert Stone Goldstein MS ’83

Dr. Katherine Louise Hunting

Dr. Bernadette Dunham

Lindsay Goodman BS ’17, MPH ’18

Sean A. Hurd BS ’16

Heather Young Durick MPH ’98, PhD ’03 and James Durick MFS ’10

Ladonyia L. Graham MPH ’19

Dr. Adnan Hyder

Dr. George M. Gray

ImpactAssets

Alan E. Greenberg MD ’82

Kimberly Irby MPH ’05

Cynthia R. Greenlee MPH ’97

Rev. Hans Irmer MHSA ’81 and Rev. Marsha Irmer

EDF Nancy V. Edwards MHA ’18 Kathleen R. Elliott MPH ’18 Robert Elster MHSA ’72 and Elizabeth Elster Emily V. Emamzadeh BS ’19 Nicole M. Engle MPH ’06 Meredith Enish Episcopal Health Foundation Michael S. Eppehimer MHSA ’10 Clese E. Erikson Dr. Guy-Fernand Essengue-Behl MPH ’07 Librada Estrada MPH ’99 and Cy Tamanaha Victoria E. Eudy MPH ’19 Adrianna M. Evans MPH ’17 Dr. Scott R. Evans Dr. W. Douglas Evans John B. Farnharm MBA ’70 and Deborah Farnham

Stanley M. Grube FACHE, MBA ’66 Rachel L. Gunsalus MPH ’18 Julien Guttman MPH ’13 Robert Hacker Stephanie A. Haddad BS ’19 Luke H. Hall-Jordan MPH ’11 Lt. Col. Brad J. Halvorsen (Ret.) MA ’78 Shannon Hammerlund MPH ’18 Leshia Hansen MPH ’14 and Matthew Sidney Bruneel Stephanie J. Hanson MPH ’18 Ava R. Hardin BS ’19 Richard P. Harland MPhil ’78 Robert Harman MBA ’64 and Jo Harman Brandon Harper Katja Harper Leon Harris MHSA ’10, CERT ’11

Donald Isley BS ’78, BS ’79 and Wynett Isley BS ’81 Sheryl A. Jacobs and Kenneth Jacobs Odav M. Jallah MPH ’13 Raja N. Jani MHA ’14 Beverly L. G. Jansheski MS ’86 Shakira W. Jarvis The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Janay C. Johnson MPH ’15 Kera J. Johnson Kenneth Jones Gina Joseph MPH ’18 Mark W. Justice Dennis J. Kain MHSA ’75 Thomas Joseph Kane CERT ’02, MPH ’03 Parisa Karimi DrPH ’18 Dr. L. William Katz and Betsy Katz

Margaret L. Farrell MPH ’05

Adam Hartheimer MS ’19, MPH ’19

Kathy Fasanella BA ’78, MHA ’83

Leslie A. Hawkins MA ’78

Hamid Ferdosi MPH ’17

Sophia Heard MPH ’00 and Raleigh Heard

Jeffrey A. Flaks MHSA ’96

Dr. Lorens Helmchen

Natasha Kazeem MBA ’18

Caitlin E. Flouton

Donald Henderson MHSA ’82 and Dinah Henderson

W.K. Kellogg Foundation Col. Robert Kenschaft

Mr. and Mrs. Daniel R. Herlinger

Jasna B. Keys MPH ’99

Alexandra A. Hermann

Ghada A. Khan DrPH ’18

Dr. Leonard H. Friedman

Thomas and Deanna Herrity

A. Paul Kidd MHSA ’73

Christina Fu

Ryann D. Hill MPH ’14

Lewis Kim MPH ’12

Gerda D. Gallop-Goodman MPH ’10

Charles Hoeppner MHA ’83 and Kathy Hoeppner

Maureen Kivney MS ’73

Forsythia Foundation Dr. Seble L. Frehywot MHSA ’94 and Asrat Alemu

Kimberly Gamble-Payne Col. William Garner CERT ’83, PhD ’91 and Evelyn Ling Moy

Sarah Hofman-Graham and Ian Graham Rex Holloway MHSA ’88

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Larry Holman BS ’74 and Debbie Holman

Michael J. Geraldo MPH ’18

Katherine B. Horton

Dana M. Gill MS ’05, CERT ’12

Cheng-Chieh Hsu MHSA ’99 and Hsiang-Hua Chang

Dr. Susan D. Gillmor and Dwayne Gamble

Dr. William Huang MPH ’12

David Gitch MBA ’64 and Susan Gitch

Dr. David Huebner

Global Finance Strategies, New York

Maegan Hughes CERT ’07, MPH ’07

Lynn R. Goldman M.D.

Roger S. Hunt MBA ’68

Meghna Kaul Amandeep Kaur MPH ’18

Dr. Daniel Kohn Anna G. Koskinen MPH ’18 The Kresge Foundation Charles E. Kuebler MBA ’70 Justin O. Kuprevich MHA ’16 Anne LaFond Dr. Peter T. LaPuma Nancy L. LaVerda DrPH ’13 Dr. Jon K. Andrus and Susan B. Leavitt Young Lee MPH ’97 Dr. Megan Lehnerd BS ’08 MILKEN INSTITUTE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

Dr. Jeffrey Levi and Dr. Lawrence Deyton

Ty Miranda BA ’14, MPH ’19

Monica McMurray Partsch MA ’99

Virginia Levin MPH ’95 and Bruce Levin

Elizabeth B. Molina MPH ’17

Matthew E. Levy PhD ’18

Montana Healthcare Foundation

Jean Johnson PhD ’93 and Dr. L. Gregory Pawlson

Dr. Marsha Lillie-Blanton

William G. Montgomery

Linda R. Lipson MHSA ’81

Lindsay Jean Michel MPH ’13

J. Zoe Beckerman JD ’05, CERT ’05 and Peter Loge

Mary C. Morcos

Frank E. Loiacono MHSA ’79 Lauren N. Lombardo Angela G. Long MPH ’16 Dr. Michael W. Long Kelly Lorah BBA ’03, MHA ’06 and Dr. Christopher Lorah Lucy and Peter Lowenthal Lown Institute Dr. Michael Lu Olivia J. Lucanie Elena C. Lumby SPH ’10, DrPH ’16 Cesar and Isabel Madrid Geoffrey Maina Jennifer L. Maizel MPH ’18 ACT for NIH, Advancing Cures Today at The National Institutes of Health

Hanna S. Morrow Sara H. Mostafa BS ’12, MPH ’14 Aubrey K. Moulton BS ’19 Allison C. Muir Marie-josee K. Mulowayi Dr. Wolfgang Munar Jennifer Muz Dr. Melissa A. Napolitano Dr. Scott Nass Claire & Jack Nath Charitable Foundation Sonia W. Nath MPH ’06, JD ’06 National Business Group on Health Kelly Nelson MPH ’13 Nemours Foundation Alyssa N. Neumann

Alison F. Manson MPH ’11

Lisa S. Nichols MPH ’02

Stephanie A. Marble BS ’14

Alexander Andrews Nikas MPH ’97

Anne Markus PhD ’00

Michael W. Nolen, Jr. MHA ’19

Nicole A. Martin BS ’16, MPH ’17

Jennifer N. Northway MPH ’19

William R. Martin MPH ’16

Novo Nordisk, Inc.

Scott A. Mason DPA ’81

Dr. Michael Nowicki MHSA ’77 and Tracey Nowicki

Lauren McCarter MHA ’17 Philip H. McCorkle Jr. MHSA ’73* Mara McDermott MPH ’07, JD ’07 Carol Jean McFadden MHSA ’82 Michael McGarvey Dr. Aims C. McGuinness Jr. MBA ’70 Colin J. McMillan MHA ’19 Pilar G. Mendez MPH ’17 Yury Metelski MBA ’18 Donald Metz David Michaels and Gail Dratch Kyle L. Mickalowski MPH ’10 Michael Milken The Milken Family Foundation The Milken Institute Amy M. Miller MPH ’05

RADM Kenneth P. Moritsugu USN MD ’71

PROGRESS REPORT

Rhett K. Nuenighoff BA’ 17 Safiya Nyamekye Regan O’Marra BS ’19 Christopher Oechsli Dane Oehlert MHSA ’15 Ohio State University Madeleine Oranges BS ’04 Maria Ortega Thomas Mumford Osborn MS ’75 Overseas Development Institute Catherine L. Pak MPH ’19 Darshana Y. Panchal MPH ’18 Terry Y. Pang MPH ’19 Shaakira R. Parker MPH ’19 Estella Catherine Parrott MPH ’91

Haley E. Payne Brittany Perrotte BA ’10, MPH ’16 Dr. Venessa Perry Andrew N. Pete MHSA ’12 Flannery Peterson MPH ’13 Todd L. Peterson MS ’74 James Phalen MBA ’70 and Rhonda Phalen Patti Plaza Nicole C. Podesta MPH ’17 C. Hope Miller Poindexter MHSA ’80 Karla Pollick MHSA ’81, CERT ’13 and Marc Pollick Dr. Sujata Prasad Dr. Lance B. Price and Dr. Cindy Liu Dr. Wayne Psek Raechel S. Puglisi Hanna Rabanes BS ’19 Laura Raab MPH ’04 Danielle M. Rainis Ashwathi Raj Sarika Ran MPH ’04 RCHN Community Health Foundation, Inc. Sumner Redstone HON ’06 Sumner M. Redstone Charitable Foundation Marsha Joan Regenstein PhD ’99 Beth Polisky Reisig DBA ’90 Heather Renault William Rice MHSA ’75 and Frances Rice Deneen Michelle Richmond MHSA ’92 Katrina Ricker-Kiefert Richard K. Riegelman RESD ’78 and Linda Reigelman Dr. Rajiv Rimal Cokie and Steve Roberts Drs. Kim and Mark Robien Dr. Howard Michael Robinson MHSA ’79 Jesus Rodriguez MHA ’19 Dr. Carlos Rodriguez-Diaz James L. Roeder MBA ’63 James Hollis Rogers MHSA ’83 and Lisa Orth Rogers MHSA ’83 Michael J. Romano MHSA ’92 and Kimberly Lawless

Raymon Rosen MHSA ’74 and Deborah Rosen

Curtis Smith BA ’64 and Barbara Smith

Daniel Tutein

Elizabeth Smith

Anya Vanecek MPH ’19

Robert Smith MHSA ’74 and Joyce Smith

Dante A. Verme MS ’83, PhD ’90

Hooramack Sobhany BS ’99

Mary Vincent CERT ’98, MPH ’99

David Solomon BA’ 08 and Patrick Sanders

Laura Tardiff Violand MA ’82, EdD ’98

Jessica Ruble MS ’17

Dr. Richard F. Southby and Dr. Janet R. Southby

Cara Vivarelli-O’Neill MPH ’99 and Todd O’Neill

Kaitlyn Rush MHA ’17

Capt. H.H. Sowers, Jr. USN (Ret.), MBA ’70

Tanya Vogel BS ’96, MS ’99, MBA ’06

Samantha Ruth MPH ’19

Anne Spivack MPH ’18

Bethany Saad MPH ’19

Leslie Stapleton MHA ’19

Marc Voyvodich MHSA ’75 and Linda Voyvodich

Nisha A. Sachdev

Constance Urciolo Battle MD ’67

Russell Sage Foundation

Nancy R. Stegon MPH ’03

Sarah Salinger BA ’19

Erika Steinmetz

Dr. Carlos Santos-Burgoa

Alexander & Margaret Stewart Trust

Meridith Polymeropoulos BA ’12

Suzanne Stiner

Miyoko Sawamura MHSA ’88 and Michael Sawamura

Melissa Stires

Sara Rosenbaum Esq. Dara Rosenberg MPH ’18 Christina Rosenthal Julia H. Rowland

Carol Scanlon MHSA ’84 Kelly A. Scanlon DrPh ’13 James B. Scarborough BBA ’81, MBA ’83, MPH ’09 Steven Scheinman Ingrid Schneider and David Reiger SECA Corporation Dr. Arthur M. Seigel and Ellen M. Seigel Sara Selig Ronald Sellers Howard D. Sesso MPH ’95 Misbah Shafi BA ’12, MPH ’15 Joshua Sharfstein Bonnie Sherman AA ’60, BA ’62 and Neil Sherman Mark Shimamoto MPH ’15 Sofia Shoaib MPH 17 Azeem Siddiqui BS ’11 Marjorie Silberman MHSA ’79 Hannah Silverman BS ’18, MPH ’19 Dr. Samuel J. Simmens and Edwina Smith MEd ’02 Patti Simon Smith’s Detection

Brittany Wagner MPH ’18 Jeffrey Wagoner MHA ’15 Dr. Ronald Waldman Flora Wang Michael S. Wasserman Water Research Foundation

Emily Strickler

Faith Weber

April Stubbs-Smith MPH ’96 and Jack Smith

Weight Watchers Steven Weiner MHSA ’77

William Alfred Suk PhD ’77 and Perry Suk

Madison Wempe BS ’18

Megan Jacobs Swain MPH ’10

Dr. Leana Wen and Sebastian Neil Walker

Kate Taft MPH ’11

Earl and Sandra West

Madiha Tariq MPH ’11

Sharon Wildberger MPH ’18

April M. Taylor BS ’02

Gail Wilensky

Joel Teitelbaum LLM ’98

Sara Wilensky MPP ’05, PhD ’10

Marinella G. Temprosa MS ’97, PhD ’12

Jennifer Weiss Wilkerson MHSA ’00

Natalie Terens BS ’13, MPH ’13

Arianna Ames BS ’11 and Drew L. Williams BA ’10

Julia Thayer BS ’17 William Thomas Tara Thomas-Gale MPH ’06 Victoria Thompson MPH ’18 Jane Thorpe Dr. James M. Tielsch and Dr. Ellen MacKenzie Dr. Dennis Tihansky Edwin Torrey Thao-chi Tran MPH ’17 Karlea Trautman MPH ’17 Robert James Trefry MA ’74

Alexis Wing BS ’19 Robert W. Woodruff Foundation David Woodrum MBA ’66 and Betsy Woodrum Jenna Woodward BS ’19 Abbey Woolverton MS ’16 Juan and Sara Zavala Amy Zelaya Robert Zentmyer MHSA ’67 and Donna Zentmyer Burton L. Ziskind CERT ’78, PhD ’84

Po-ying Tseng

*Deceased Although great care has been taken to list all names accurately, please advise Milken Institute SPH of any errors or omissions by contacting gwsphgiving@gwu.edu. MILKEN INSTITUTE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

Financial Report

FISCAL YEAR

2019

REVENUE (m)

EXPENDITURES (m)

Research

29.5

16.3%

Salaries

$ 43.4

24.3%

Research — BSC

55.1

30.5%

Salaries — Research

25.5

14.3%

Research — Indirect

10.6

5.9%

Other Research Expenses

57.0

31.9%

Graduate Tuition & Fees

65.4

36.2%

Operations

$ 30.3

16.9%

UG Revenue

11.8

6.3%

Occupancy

$ 5.6

3.1%

Gifts & Pledges

3.9

2.2%

Student Support

6.8

3.8%

0.8%

Student Support — Research

0.6

0.3%

1.8%

Allocations — Net

9.6

5.4%

TOTAL

$ 178.8

2400 2200 2000 STUDENT FTE (AS OF OCTOBER) 1800 1600 1400 1200 1000 800 600 400 200 0 Other Revenue

1.4

Endowments

$ 3.2

TOTAL

$ 180.9

1600

Undergraduate FTE

1400

Graduate FTE

1200

1000 800

600

400 200 0

FY10

FY11

FY12

FY10

FY11

FY12

FY13

FY14

FY15

FY16

FY17

FY18

FY19

Undergraduate FTE

141

139

160

181

173

176

181

210

258

308

Graduate FTE

666

737

784

768

738

893

1082

1263

1355

1389

Fiscal Year

PROGRESS REPORT

FY13

FY14

FY15

FY16

FY17

FY18

FY19

140 120 RESEARCH REVENUE TREND 100

$100.0 m Indirect Cost

Direct Expense

$80.0 m

Total

$60.0 m

$40.0 m

20.0 m

$0 m

FY10

Fiscal Year

FY11

FY12

FY13

FY14

FY15

FY16

FY17

FY18

FY19

FY10

FY11

FY12

FY13

FY14

FY15

FY16

FY17

FY18

FY19

$3.8

$4.1

$4.6

$3.5

$5.2

$6.6

$6.2

$9.8

$10.6

Direct Expense

$28.9

$31

$36.2

$37.4

$33.5

$36.5

$28.9

$80.7

$79.9

$84.6

Total

$32.7

$35.1

$40.8

$40.9

$38.7

$43.1

$35.1

$89.7

$95.2

300

Indirect Cost

250

REVENUE TREND

200

$200.0 m Total Tuition

150

$150.0 m

Research

100

$100.0 m

$50.0 m

$0 m

FY10

FY11

FY12

FY13

FY14

FY15

FY16

FY17

FY18

FY19

Fiscal Year

FY10

FY11

FY12

FY13

FY14

FY15

FY16

FY17

FY18

FY19

Tuition

$30.6

$32.5

$34.7

$35.3

$39.0

$52.1

$56.3

$74.7

$81.4

$77.2

Research

$32.7

$35.1

$40.8

$38.6

$38.7

$43.1

$35.1

$89.7

$95.4

Total

$63.3

$67.6

$75.5

$73.9

$77.7

$95.2

$91.4

$164.4

$171.1

$172.4

publichealth.gwu.edu gwsphadmit@gwu.edu Printed on recycled paper September 2019

@GWpublichealth 202.994.2160