OU Public Health Magazine Fall 2022

Message from the Dean

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The Paradox

The headline of this issue —“The Pandemic Paradox”— refers to the paradox of increased public health awareness and financial support during the pandemic, while at the same time experiencing decreased trust in public health and a declining public health workforce. Needless to say, we learned a lot over the last two years. We came together as a global community to develop testing and vaccines with unprecedented speed and collaboration. Within our college, we quickly pivoted to remote learning and recognized the potential of this new platform to expand our reach. As the chief COVID-19 officer for the University of Oklahoma, I am proud of the exceptional work that we have accomplished across all three campuses throughout the pandemic.

At the Hudson College of Public Health, our faculty and researchers are on the cutting edge of transmission modeling, data collection, and disease surveillance. Yet, many of us witnessed firsthand the misinformation that infected our communities and the resulting backlash against public health measures—like masking and vaccinations—in our state and throughout the nation. This was tough, and at times it felt like an uphill battle. However, we learned from our experiences. I’m a firm believer that we will recover public trust in our field and rebuild the public health workforce through education, innovation, and leadership.

A Word of Thanks

As we look to the future, I would like to thank you all for helping us continue to provide exemplary public health education to our undergraduate students in Norman and graduate students in Oklahoma City and Tulsa. We are grateful for the generosity of our current and past donors who realize investing in these talented students is an investment in the future of public health. Our college looks forward to continuing to provide enhanced training and exceptional research opportunities to students as we grow and strengthen the public health workforce. Read More...

Bratzler Signature

Dale W. Bratzler, D.O., M.P.H., MACOI, FIDSA
Interim Dean
Hudson College of Public Health

Articles from Fall 2022

Remembering Julie A Stoner

Remembering Julie A. Stoner

Always in our thoughts. Forever in our hearts.

Laying the Foundation for Healthier Oklahoma

PUBLIC HEALTH PRACTICE
GARY COX AND NEIL HANN

Achieving a Healthy Oklahoma Initiative: to better understand how our state, as a whole, responded to COVID-19 and how that information could be used to improve the overall health of Oklahomans.

Katrin Kuhn

Fascinating Feces: Searching for COVID-19 in community wastewater

EPIDEMIOLOGY
DR. KATRIN KUHN

Most people don’t think much about poop, but for epidemiology professor, Katrin Kuhn, poop is her passion.

Bridging Public Health Across Sectors

EPIDEMIOLOGY
DR. AARON WENDELBOE

As a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) trained epidemiologist, Wendelboe has been preparing for a pandemic like this for his entire career.

Particular Particles

Particular Particles: Studying the movement of COVID-19 particles in the air

OCCUPATIONAL AND ENIRONMENTAL HEALTH
DR. CHANGJIE CAI

As an aerosol scientist, most of Cai’s work involves studying suspended solid and/or liquid particles in the air.

A Beacon of Hope: Leading OU’s pandemic response

DR. DALE BRATZLER

As the Chief COVID-19 Officer at the University of Oklahoma, Bratzler has been a trusted leader throughout the pandemic.

Championing Community Health Workers

Championing Community Health Workers in Oklahoma

HEALTH PROMOTION SCIENCES
DR. KERSTIN REINSCHMIDT

As a trained medical anthropologist, Reinschmidt is passionate about working with community health workers to improve health locally.

Oklahoma Pride

The Key to Public Health: Interdisciplinary Collaboration

Oklahoma Pride: Working Together for the Well-Being of All Oklahomans