Fall 2021 Dean’s Message
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The past two years have been a challenge for everyone, as we faced the most deadly pandemic in more than a century. Those of us in the field of public health have worked so hard to confront the reality of this crisis, which has not only taken the lives of millions of people worldwide, but has had devastating impacts on physical and mental well-being. While we are seeing millions get vaccinated, virus variants continue to threaten the public’s safety. Here at the UIC School of Public Health, we are still very much involved in research and community engagement around the pandemic, learning as much as we can about vaccine hesitancy, health disparities and a path forward.
In this issue of Healthviews, our goal is to provide you with a sampling of the incredible work of the UIC SPH community. The cover story displays the ingenuity, flexibility and determination of UIC’s faculty, staff and students who are leading the UIC Partnerships for Anti-Racist Campus Transformation (PACT). UIC PACT is working to combat COVID-19 in our communities, aligning with and supporting community partnerships and igniting a renewed commitment to racial equity within the university.
I am thrilled to announce that UIC SPH is now home to the Chicago Health Atlas, a free community health data resource that anyone can use to easily search, analyze and download neighborhood-level health data. Policies that impact public health are only as good as data that informs them, and the Chicago Health Atlas is among our greatest assets in Chicago for understanding the needs of our communities. To learn more about this, please see the Community Partnerships section.
I hope you’ll take a moment to check out the Advancing Health section to learn about how private philanthropy is driving innovation and discovery at UIC. A new grant from the MacArthur Foundation is helping us extend our work building public health capacity at the neighborhood level in Chicago, in the wake of health inequities exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Also, learn about an alum whose career as a statistician has inspired a new scholarship fund.
Lastly, you’ll find updates on the accomplishments of alumni, faculty, students and staff in the Class Acts section. Announcements about our new Delta Omega inductees, faculty retirements and information about the new UIC Connected networking platform are also included.
While we hoped we might be on the other side of the pandemic by now, we know that public health professionals continue to be called upon to lead our country through these challenging times. We remain committed to working with you to see progress in 2022 and beyond.
In good health,
Wayne H. Giles, MD, MS
Dean of the UIC School of Public Health