Want to spend lots of time outside, meet new people, and see engineering and business processes from the inside out? Then consider studying industrial hygiene, says Sarah Gharib, who reminds us that environmental health sciences is not only an exciting field but one that empowers you to apply your science and engineering skills to help people.
Professor of Health Management and Policy Melissa Creary uses sickle cell disease as a lens to tell a broader story about policy development and attempts at achieving equity.
In eighth grade, Briana Nelson decided to improve her fitness. With personal initiative and family support, a lifetime passion for nutrition was born. “It was a total transformation,” Nelson says, and her ability to focus and move herself forward toward big goals is helping her achieve great things as a student-athlete and as an ambassador for health equity.
Team science requires a lot of grit, says epidemiologist Carl Marrs. Collaborators have to trust each other enough to be straightforward and honest about their projects. Straight truth isn’t always easy on our emotions, but it is good for science. Science is a challenging endeavor, and the incredible teamwork led by Marrs and others means better health for all of us.
Public health alum Caroline Mandel is director of performance nutrition for the University of Michigan athletic department. Since March 12, when all collegiate competition and practice ceased, she and her staff face a new challenge—keeping student-athletes healthy and well at home during a pandemic.
Judge Patrick Shannon looks forward to Mondays, when he sees firsthand the spectrum of problems that arise from the current national opioid epidemic. The stories he hears include abuse, neglect, and mental health. Instead of handing out jail sentences, Shannon has helped implement “the public health approach” in offering alternatives to jail time—prevention, intervention, and treatment.