Stay updated with the latest public health research, commentary, and field notes from our editorial team.
August 10, 2026 · 5 min read
For most of the last century, pasteurization has been one of public health’s quieter success stories. Milk is heated for a short period, disease-causing microorganisms are dramatically reduced, and the milk that reaches consumers retains essentially the same major nutrients. That arrangement did not generate much controversy for decades. Recently, however, raw milk has moved […]
In a bustling office in downtown Los Angeles, a data scientist named Lucy is hard at work developing an algorithm meant to improve loan approvals. She believes her efforts will lead to a fairer, more efficient system that can transcend human biases. However, Lucy soon faces a challenge many in the field are grappling with: […]
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This week’s public health headlines pull back the curtain on the tangled dance between innovation, policy, and the real-world impact on patients and caregivers. From a freshly proposed Medicare policy shakeup to the behind-the-scenes hurdles slowing cutting-edge diagnostics, and even practical help for seniors navigating medical equipment reuse, the news pulses with the tension between […]
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Here’s a number that should stop you in your tracks. By 2050, antimicrobial resistance is projected to kill more people than cancer. That’s not a fringe estimate from a sensationalist headline. That’s what leading scientists said in Davos in January 2026, in front of the world’s most powerful decision-makers. In 2026, the evidence is clear […]
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Here is a number worth sitting with. One in five deaths globally is attributable to poor diet, more than tobacco, more than high blood pressure, more than any other single risk factor. Not in low-income countries alone. Everywhere. And yet the dominant model of healthcare in the United States still treats food as something that […]
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Right now, 3.6 billion people live in areas highly vulnerable to climate impacts. Not in 2050. Not in projections. Now. Climate change health is one of those topics that still gets treated as a future problem, something for the next generation of public health professionals to sort out. That framing is wrong, and the evidence […]
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Here is where we are in 2026. Obesity affects more than 1 billion people worldwide and was associated with 3.7 million deaths globally in 2024. Without decisive action, that number is projected to double by 2030. And for the first time in decades, there is a class of medications that appears capable of meaningfully shifting […]
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On a sunny day in Texas, Maria, a mental health counselor, meets more clients than she anticipated. They all speak of a shared burden — heightened anxiety about the relentless heat waves and unpredictable storms. This isn’t just local weather; it’s climate change etching its effects into the psyche of a nation. As temperatures and […]
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We like clean stories in public health. If a program is well-designed and well-implemented, it should lead to better outcomes. That assumption sits quietly behind how we fund, evaluate, and scale interventions. It feels logical. And then reality gets messy. As part of an exploration of “rankings” for a class I’m teaching up at SUNY, […]
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Imagine a healthcare worker in a Kentucky hospital, witnessing the steady stream of COVID-19 patients filling wards. Despite equal insurance coverage under Medicaid, a disproportionate number of these patients hail from racial and ethnic minority groups, highlighting a critical public health dilemma: inequities in COVID-19 hospitalizations. Dissecting the Disparity The COVID-19 pandemic, which claimed countless […]
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