Volume 1, Issue 1

May 2022

Public Health in the News

There were 63 mass shootings in the United States during the month of May and 213 since 2022 began. Among them was a racist attack at a Buffalo, New York, supermarket on May 14th that killed 10 people and left three injured. Ten days later, a gunman targeted a 4th-grade class at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, killing 21 people, the majority of which were children. It's the deadliest school shooting in America since the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting. Below are a few resources that can be utilized during these tragic times.

Gun Safety Petition

"How to Prevent Gun Violence"

Donate to the Children's Defense Fund

APHA's Gun Violence Prevention Legislation

Alumni Spotlight

Jenna Faltas (she/her), MPH

Jenna Faltas is a member of Cohort 5 in the MPH program at Simmons University and completed the program in July 2021. She recently began a new role working as a Project Specialist at Mass General Brigham as part of the Primary Care Navigation and Experience team in the Quality and Patient Experience Department. In this role, she is helping to implement and support primary care screening programs across the many primary care sites in the Mass General Brigham network. These screening programs help providers gain a more comprehensive understanding of their patients, which allows them to develop stronger care plans and connect patients to community resources as needed.

Congratulations, Jenna! We, the Simmons community, are so proud of your accomplishments!

MPH Awards

On May 16th, multiple MPH alumni were honored with awards that celebrate their work towards health equity!

Nicole Taikeff, 2022 Recipient of the Academic Accomplishment Award.

This award recognizes students' academic growth, dedication, and commitment across the MPH program, and students' demonstration of a deepened health equity analysis.

Patrice Lauture, 2022 Recipient of the Transformative Health Equity Change Champion Award.

This award recognizes student performance in advancing health equity and structural change through deep community partnership, including through the Health Equity Change Project and other community-embedded experiences.

Jennifer Ware, 2022 Recipient of the Leadership for Social Justice Award.

This award recognizes student leadership in advancing social justice and racial justice during their tenure as an MPH student, through MPH program engagement, and beyond.

Congratulations Nicole, Patrice, and Jennifer! We, the Simmons community, are so proud of your accomplishments!

Arizona Immersion Reflections

During the Arizona immersion, students have the opportunity to learn from local community partners, examine innovative models, and engage in a hands-on service project. Students apply a root-cause analysis to examine the impacts of poverty on health and consider the importance of community-driven models of development and social justice. They engage in a targeted curriculum on leadership for social change.

Professor Verma-Agrawal attended this immersion for the first time as a facilitator and she shared some thoughts!

"On April 1, 2022, after 2 years of postponed trips, I boarded a flight for Arizona. In the last 2 years, I thought COVID-19 brought the public health systems to a point of critical change, yet I was unaware how the land impacted it all. Once I landed in Tucson, Prof. White and Chris Tse greeted us at the airport. The air was hot and dry, unlike Boston, still familiar somehow. As we drove in 2- 18 seater vans through Tucson to Patagonia, Chris shared the history of the land with our group. The mountains told their own stories, each valley, each peak, filled with the narratives of those who traveled before us. From the day we saw the wall in Nogales to the day we met the Border Patrol, many of us wept, either openly or internally as to how our public health system was complicit. From the day we met Dora Rodriguez of Salvavision to the day we met Baltazar Garcia from Mexicayotl, many of us felt inspired, knowing their stories and work were connected with our own. Each day was filled with poetry, tears, laughter, music, dance, and mountain views, each more stunning than the last. As I flew out 10 days later, I wondered how much of our stories were lodged in these mountains, awaiting our connections, actions, and radical system change."