Reconsidering Population Health Science in the Post-War Era

Department of Epidemiology Seminar Series

Speaker:

Sandro Galea, MD, MPH, DrPH
Dean and Robert A. Knox Professor
Boston University School of Public Health

Brief abstract: Emerging from the COVID-pandemic, the worst global health shock in a century, it is worth asking: why do we do the work of population health science? How do we conduct population health science that has learned from the past few years?  The tragedy of the pandemic calls for a reevaluation of first principles that should shape our research priorities and practices in the years ahead. I focus here on three potential aspects of re-evaluation. First, we have now been reminded that health is subordinate to our shared humanity. This means that we need to be judicious in what we are willing to do to create health and understand that the determination of health needs to extend to well beyond the absence of disease. Second, we need to accept that people have the autonomy to live how they wish to live. We are not promoting health so that people can always make healthy choices. We are promoting health so people can live how they want to, have the opportunities and access to healthy choices.  Third, what we do needs to be centered on the multiplicity of human expressions and prioritize creating opportunities for people living with disease so they can realize their potential. This requires an acknowledgment of our limits in generating health.  These points have implications for the population health science we pursue, the questions we ask, and the approaches we take.

Open to the public (Visitor’s pass required to enter building if not HUID holder)