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Category: commentary

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Commentary

How an NSF Report Set the Stage for Current Anti-DEI Policies

Something slipped by last October when America’s attention was focused on the election. The NSF Politicized Funding report, chaired by Texas’s Ted Cruz and released by the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation’s minority staff, asserted that the National Science Foundation (NSF) has increasingly allocated funding to research projects influenced by diversity, equity, […]

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Commentary

We Got Scammed: A Cautionary Tale About Research Recruitment Fraud

Online research recruitment is a powerful tool—until it backfires. We recently learned this the hard way when we and our colleagues over at Dawn Chorus posted a call for participants on Facebook for parents to share their experiences and perceptions of substance use patterns within a specific community. What happened next left us stunned, frustrated, […]

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Commentary

Data Integrity in a Divided World: The Smart Case for Inclusivity

The current socio-political climate has made it dangerous to engage in equity work. The federal government’s attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives have created an environment where organizations must rethink how they communicate about equity without compromising core values. While the language of fairness and justice is under siege, the principles behind equity—ensuring […]

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Commentary

Some Linguistics Suggestions for Continuing the Work

Update: March 25, 2025. We have a big, long-form update to this post that can be found here Public health research plays a crucial role in understanding and addressing disparities in healthcare, access, and outcomes. However, recent federal restrictions targeting diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) initiatives have placed new barriers on how researchers can […]

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Commentary

Next Week in Public Health, January 31, 2025

More testimony, more policy. AND MORE SCIENCE. Here’s what is coming up next week in public health. Don’t Miss Out – Subscribe Now! Public health needs your voice today. Join thousands of leaders already making a difference. Subscribe for free to This Week in Public Health and receive weekly updates packed with tools to drive […]

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Commentary

How Federal Employees Can Speak Out Against Misconduct

Recent reports of systemic misuse of power and unethical practices within agencies like the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) have sparked concern among public servants. If you’re a federal employee witnessing questionable actions, there are secure, anonymous ways to report these issues. Organizations like ProPublica, Reuters, and The Guardian provide platforms for whistleblowers to share […]

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Commentary

How Do We Move Ahead?

Recent executive changes in federal policy have reshaped the landscape for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, prompting public health organizations to reconsider how best to uphold these principles within the bounds of new directives. Executive orders now emphasize ending “illegal discrimination” and promoting a “merit-based” framework. For public health professionals, this raises the question: […]

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Commentary

A Clinical Trial is the Definition of Vaccine Skepticsm.

Next Week in Public Health, December 6, 2024 After a month of discouragement and avoiding the news, I’ve been back at monitoring what’s going on from a policy perspective in the US. Obviously, the big change is the incoming administration and what several, eh, sketchy picks for different agency heads might have for public health. […]

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Commentary

From Data-Driven to Data-Informed

In public health, data has become the cornerstone of our work. Whether it’s tracking disease outbreaks, measuring health disparities, or evaluating program outcomes, the demand for data has never been greater. Buzzwords like “data-driven decision-making” are often celebrated as the gold standard. But as public health professionals, we know the world isn’t as simple as […]

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Commentary

Next Week in Public Health, November 8, 2024

I am so freaking dissappointed. It’s not even with the candidates, it’s with this country. I mean really? Am I so out of touch that my values system is just so misaligned? What does that say about the work we try to do? What does that say about meaningful community engagement? I feel a type […]

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Commentary

Project 2025 is Coming. Here’s what to prepare for.

Well, here we are. In recent years, the intersection of policy and public health has been turbulent, to say the least. However, a seismic shift may be looming on the horizon that could reshape the very fabric of public health practice as we know it. A policy agenda outlined in the 2025 Mandate for Leadership […]

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Commentary

Best Practices for Meta-Analysis: The Key to Stronger, More Reliable Research

When we think about gathering scientific knowledge, many of us picture researchers conducting experiments, analyzing their results, and drawing conclusions. But what if we want to go beyond individual studies to understand the bigger picture? This is where meta-analysis comes in. A meta-analysis is a method that allows researchers to combine the results of multiple […]

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