Sharing Connection and Community

Public health pioneer Paul Farmer once wrote, “With rare exceptions, all of your most important achievements on this planet will come from working with others—or, in a word, partnership.” I’ve found this to be true in my personal life. I also witness this at Rollins every day as faculty, staff, and students work together to advance our mission.

Our teams are continuing to innovate across education, research, and practice and how we are partnering to build the future of public health here and across the globe, with a particular affection for the health of the South. It’s through our trust in each other—and our commitment to public health—that we continue to operate in difficult times. When challenges or uncertainty may be prevalent, we stay anchored in our sense of purpose and go to work. In this issue of Rollins magazine, we explore some of this work.

Maternal health remains a critical focus area for our nation, and for our researchers here at Rollins. Our cover story, “Putting Community Back in Birth,” examines the role of doulas in improving maternal mortality rates in the United States and highlights the research of our maternal health faculty. Our recently funded research accelerator projects are working to advance critical research in novel ways, including within the field of maternal health, as well as aging, digital health and wearable technology, the exposome, nutrition, and mental health. I invite you to read about some of these projects in greater detail.

Advances in HIV prevention and treatment have revolutionized people’s lives. However, disparities in access to care remain. The newly revamped PrEP Locator tool is working to make it easier for people to find PrEP so they can stay on a life-changing prevention regimen. Likewise, GLP-1s have shown tremendous opportunities for health, but cost and prescribing restrictions make their distribution inequitable. Writer Shelby Crosier identifies a few of the reasons why this is occurring and what our researchers propose as solutions in the story, “Who Gets to Benefit from GLP-1s?”

I’m thrilled for you to read about some of the amazing people we have working and learning at Rollins. We highlight several of our new faculty hires and recent promotions in an article of the same name. Public health leader and Rollins adjunct faculty Debra Houry shares her path to public health leadership in “A Person of Principle.” I’m also eager for you to read about how student Spencer Freeman and alumna Trish Miller are channeling former traumas into critical advocacy work in our student and alumni profiles.

Members of the Rollins community are incredible because of who they are, not just what they do. And our people do a lot. In addition to public health research and practice, many within our community excel—and find fulfillment—in passions outside of the workplace. In “Work: Life,” you’ll read how community members support their mental health and find connection through outside pursuits—from professional jump roping to competitive bag piping. 

It’s stories like these that remind me why we do what we do, and why I feel fortunate to be where I am. As always, I’m glad we find a common purpose in our work here at Rollins. I hope you enjoy this issue as much as I do and that it serves as a source of pride and inspiration as you think about the work we do here—and the people doing that work.