Policy Results

The weight of knowledge

How living with sickle cell shapes Melissa Creary’s mission for health justice

Melissa Creary, associate professor of Health Behavior & Health Equity and Global Public Health, turns a delayed childhood sickle cell diagnosis into two decades of science, policy and advocacy. From building CDC surveillance to researching racism and “bounded justice” in Brazil, she centers lived experience and community voices—insisting innovation like gene editing must deliver equity, not stigma.

Science rooted in community

How Jennifer Garner’s upbringing drives her nutrition research

Jennifer Garner, the John G. Searle Assistant Professor of Nutritional Sciences, reflects on growing up in rural Michigan, learning “strategically applied stubbornness” from her parents, and finding an unexpected path from dietetics to academia. Through mentorship and community-based research, she builds a career in food security, policy and science communication—grounded in care, curiosity and purpose.

Pandemic Response across Five Continents Helps Shape Health Policy

Michigan Public Health professors Scott Greer and Elizabeth King and colleagues in Brazil analyzed early government responses from 34 countries on five continents to the emerging COVID-19 pandemic and how those decisions impacted citizen health.

Aspiring Doctor Focuses on Disease Prevention

Reem Fawaz

Undergraduate public health student Reem Fawaz always wanted to make an impact in her community. She began her journey to medical school, then decided to include in her education a public health foundation, which she says is vital to achieving her goal of building healthier communities.

Public Health Diplomacy: Serving and Supporting Public Health in Rwanda

Robin Martz, MPH ’03

Ensuring public health works across policy and communities is no small task. With a host of skills honed at Michigan Public Health and beyond, Robin Martz, MPH ’03, serves populations in eastern Africa by understanding the art and science of communication, policy, and a range of other technical areas.

Systemic Racism, Policing, and Public Health Advocacy

It can take a long time to develop new policy, and some advocacy roads lead to dead ends. But good advocacy work always makes a difference. As racism, policing, and police reform were becoming the national public health story of the summer, student leaders led a remote advocacy initiative to continue bringing public health insights to the discourse.