Cheryl Petersen-Kroeber

PUBH 7227 Section 101 Class #87278
May 15 (9 am – 12 pm)
May 16, 17, 19 (8 am – 12pm)
1 Credit or 15 CE contact hours
S/N only

Almost any disruption to a community impacts the public’s health. This course is designed to provide public health professionals with the knowledge and skills necessary to effectively manage personnel and resources in an emergency incident. This course will provide an overview of how the standardized ICS system is applied within the context of public health. During disasters, public health has a responsibility not only to respond to specific public health threats but also to ensure that essential public health services are maintained for the affected community. The incident management system provides a formalized and common method of management practices applicable in virtually any setting. By understanding incident management systems, public health professionals will be better prepared to lead their agency’s response in crisis situations where interaction with other local, state, tribal, and federal partners is crucial. The health professional’s ability to understand and apply incident management system techniques is a core competency for public health leaders. This course is not a substitute for required National Incident Management System training courses, it is intended to demonstrate how the use of the incident command system can be used by public health partners.

Melanie Firestone
Musheng Alishahi

PUBH 7200 Section 101 Class #87276
May 15 (9 am – 12 pm)
May 16, 17, 19 (8 am – 12pm)
1 Credit or 15 CE contact hours
S/N only

This course focuses on the principles and practice of epidemiology to investigate urgent public health problems. The focus is on application of critical tools to identify, prevent, and respond to disease outbreaks, including roles and responsibilities. Modeled after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Field Epidemiology Training Programs, the focus will include disease surveillance, descriptive epidemiology, outbreak investigations, and applied analytic methods. The course focuses on the use of sound judgement and discusses considerations for when epidemiologic theory and practical considerations conflict.

John Amuasi

PUBH 7230 Section 101 Class #87297
May 15 (9 am – 12 pm)
May 16, 17, 19 (8 am – 12pm)
1 Credit or 15 CE contact hours

Neglected Tropical Diseases are among the “hot issues” in Global Health today and are included on high-level agendas, including that of the G7. In this course students will examine what Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) are and interrogate what informs the neglect. The role of NTD control and treatment in Global Health, and the concepts of Blue Marble Health and One Health will be explored.

Carolyn Porta

PUBH 7257 Section 101 Class #87280
May 15 (9 am – 12 pm)
May 16, 17, 19 (8 am – 12pm)
1 Credit or 15 CE contact hours

You’ve conducted key informant interviews, or a series of focus groups. Now what? How do you reflect the participants’ individual opinions and perspectives in your analysis while at the same time draw some collective conclusions? Is it possible to analyze qualitative data objectively? Do you need to use qualitative software? What is the best way to present qualitative data to different audiences? How can you collaboratively analyze qualitative data with community partners? This course will provide discourse and some answers to the questions above, for currently employed professionals and students completing an advanced degree. The course is intended for students who plan to collect and analyze qualitative data, including those employed in public health, private, and non-profit agencies. Whether the data are collected to describe a problem, evaluate a program, or inform an intervention, the principles and challenges of analysis remain the same. This course will provide an opportunity for analyzing and working with qualitative data from a variety of data collection methods and using multiple analysis approaches. Students are encouraged to bring any existing data they have as there may be opportunities in class to discuss and work with the data.

Shekinah Fashaw-Walters

PUBH 7200 Section 111 Class #87293
May 15 (9am – 12 pm)
May 16, 17, 19 (8 am – 12 pm)
1 Credit or 15 CE contact hours

The healthcare disparities that are pervasive across our health system today can be exacerbated, attenuated, or unchanged by the healthcare policies and practices that we implement as public health leaders. Achieving health equity requires the dismantling of institutional norms that structure inequities and the uplifting of policies and practices that allowfor all people to reach their full potential. In order to do this, a clear understanding of racism’s role in policymaking is necessary. This course is designed to introduce participants to the historical issues, theories, and empirical data related to racism and its impacts on health inequities through the existence of inequitable policies and practices. With brief background lectures on racism and empirical evidence of the impacts of colorblind/race- neutral policies, class sessions will challenge students to consider how we can design more race conscious policies and practices that will advance health equity for all.

Ruby Nguyen

PUBH 7200 Section 102 Class #87277
May 15 (9 am – 12 pm)
May 16, 17, 19 (8 am – 12pm)
1 Credit or 15 CE contact hours

Culturally-specific knowledge assists in generating effective prevention and intervention strategies. The health of Asians in America is often overlooked and understudied. In this course the epidemiology of the leading causes of disease – and their relevant exposures– among Asians in the U.S. will be introduced, with specific emphasis on Asians in Minnesota. We will discuss the need for, and barriers related to, disaggregated ethnic epidemiologic data. Community-based interventions and programs that may reduce the rates of prevalent diseases will be incorporated. Local Asian community leaders will be guest discussants in class. Specific health topics will include: Hepatitis B virus, cigarette smoking, cervical cancer, mental health, and violence against women. Assignments will include short written assignments, creation of a fact sheet on a topic chosen by the student, and a class presentation. No letter grades will be given. All students are welcome, however this course is most relevant to those in public health or related health disciplines, public policy, and social services.

Marta Shore

PUBH 7264 Section 101 Class #85975
May 15, 16, 17 (1pm – 5 pm)
May 19 (1pm – 4pm)
1 Credit or 15 CE contact hours

In this course, you will learn how to manipulate data and prepare basic visualizations using the statistical software R. While the tools and techniques taught will be generic, many of the examples will be drawn from biomedicine and public health.

Sarah Gollust

PUBH 7200 Section 103 Class #87279
May 15, 16, 17 (1pm – 5 pm)
May 19 (1pm – 4pm)
1 Credit or 15 CE contact hours

Mass media has a large influence on the public’s health, not only in terms of the public’s health behaviors (such as health promotion campaigns), but also in terms of their attitudes — how the public thinks about which public health issues are important and which ones should be garnering policymakers’ attention. This course will focus on the latter: understanding the roles of the media in shaping public opinion and thus the political avenues for health policy action. We will discuss the major ways in which the media shape the public’s attitudes and beliefs, and analyze the application of these themes to the experiences in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic since 2020. We will also discuss ways public health professionals can use the media to more effectively communicate, by better understanding what the news media value. Finally, we will review emerging evidence on the best ways to combat misinformation in a complex and dynamic information environment. Throughout the course, we will apply a health equity lens to ways of understanding media institutions, public opinion, and promising practices in messaging.

Anne M. Barry
Joel Wu

PUBH 6711 Section 101 Class #85831
May 15, 16, 17 (1pm – 5 pm)
May 19 (1pm – 4pm)
2 Credit or 30 CE contact hours

This course provides the student with a basic understanding of public health law and how to apply this understanding to practical public health situations and issues.

Megan Schossow

PUBH 7200 Section 104 Class #87281
May 15, 16, 17 (1pm – 5 pm)
May 19 (1pm – 4pm)
1 Credit or 15 CE contact hours
S/N only

Health care access and health promotion in rural health areas is an important and emerging issue in the U.S. This is exemplified with recent hospital closures, the extent and severity of the opioid crisis, and limited health care access to rural residents. One particular population deeply affected by these issues is our agricultural community including farmers, farm workers, and their families. Acutely, this is demonstrated by the reported increased suicides and calls to mental health crisis centers. This course will summarize efforts to reach rural communities and address mental health issues summarizing recent efforts. This includes identifying resources, synergizing coordinated efforts, and creating outreach to vulnerable populations in rural areas. Students will help identify populations at risk, create potential solutions, and consider how to obtain funding to support these efforts. This course is intended for public health, policy administrators, health care professionals, veterinarians, and agricultural industry professionals interested in mental health issues affecting rural communities.

Kirk Smith

PUBH 7231 Section 101 Class #87282
May 15, 16, 17 (1pm – 5 pm)
May 19 (1pm – 4pm)
1 Credit or 15 CE contact hours

This course will focus on principles and methods for the surveillance of foodborne diseases and investigation of outbreaks, and their application for the assessment of food safety hazards. The integration of epidemiologic and laboratory methods for surveillance of human populations will be emphasized.

Melinda Wilkins

PUBH 7200 Section 105 Class #87283
May 15, 16, 17 (1pm – 5 pm)
May 19 (1pm – 4pm)
1 Credit or 15 CE contact hours

This course will provide the student with a basic understanding of systems, systems thinking, and how to use a systems thinking mindset and tools to support problem solving in a One Health context. Students will learn how to engage stakeholders, recognize systems, clearly define complex problems, and visualize/diagram systems. In addition, students will practice identifying leverage points within a system and anticipate intended and unintended consequences to changes within a system. Tools and examples will be used to explain each step and students will have a chance to practice using several common systems thinking tools before student teams apply these tools to address a more complex One Health problem.

Craig Hedberg
Stephanie Meyer

PUBH 7210 Section 101 Class #87263
May 17 (6 pm – 8 pm)
May 18 (7:30 am – 5 pm)
0.5 Credit or 7.5 CE contact hours
S/N only

The global food system for dairy products will be reviewed, beginning with milk production on the farm. Participants will visit a commercial dairy farm to see the care and handling of cattle, and the collection and storage of milk, and they will discuss animal health and environmental issues related to the safety of milk and dairy products. They will also visit a milk processing and/or cheese production plant to follow raw milk through pasteurization and further processing as well as retail and/or food service establishment handling dairy products to examine the storage, handling and sale of dairy products. The product distribution system will be reviewed and processing and distribution issues related to food safety will be discussed, along with consumer issues related to the safety of dairy products. Discussion will include elements of foodborne disease epidemiology as it relates to dairy products. Examples of real foodborne disease outbreaks involving dairy products will illustrate critical control points in the production of safe dairy products.

Joseph E. Gaugler

PUBH 7200 Section 119 Class #87374
May 22 (9 am – 12 pm)
May 23, 24, 26 (8 am – 12 pm)
1 Credit or 15 CE contact hours

The objective of this course is to obtain a broad understanding of the multidisciplinary perspectives, theoretical underpinnings, and advancements in the study of aging (i.e., “gerontology”). Students will review the theoretical foundations and state-of-the-art in science and practice of the following interrelated domains: clinical geriatrics; psychology of aging; sociology of aging; and policy of aging. 

Kate Carlson

PUBH 7253 Section 101 Class #85913
May 22 (9 am – 12 pm)
May 23, 24, 26 (8 am – 12 pm)
1 Credit or 15 CE contact hours
S/N only

This course is an introduction to the concepts and uses of Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Lecture topics include GIS data structures, sources of data, GIS tools, vendors and software, health-related GIS applications, and resources. Through a combination of presentations and hands-on exercises, participants will learn and apply basic GIS concepts and the fundamentals of spatial analysis. Hands-on exercises include spatial data display and query, map generation, data collection, and simple spatial analysis using ArcGIS software. Students will be required to apply GIS concepts, assigned readings, and project development principles to design their own GIS project. This course is designed for participants with no experience working with GIS software or applications. Participants should have experience working with spreadsheets.

William Toscano Jr.

PUBH 7262 Section 101 Class #85875
May 22 (9 am – 12 pm)
May 23, 24, 26 (8 am – 12 pm)
1 Credit or 15 CE contact hours

Global health concerns cross the borders of developed and developing nations. This class will focus on the effect of globalization on social and scientific consequences in public health. Topics will include the interplay between global stressors such as population, war, economics, urbanization and environment and their effects on the health of women and children, the spread of infectious and chronic diseases, nutrition and environmental health.

Jeffrey Bender Et. Al

PUBH 7214 Section 101 Class #85983
May 22 (9 am – 12 pm)
May 23, 24, 26 (8 am – 12 pm)
1 Credit or 15 CE contact hours

In brief, this course explores how people perceive risk and how to communicate effectively about risk, with an emphasis on preparing you to respond when a crisis occurs and you are on the firing line. The term “risk communication” refers to a body of knowledge and a set of practical skills that can be used by government, public or private agency public health, public safety and other professionals in characterizing and managing issues, disseminating information and communicating effectively in crisis or emergency situations. Principles of risk communication are derived from social science research, psychological research and theory, communication theory and the accumulated experience of professionals who have addressed real-world public health, public safety or emergency management communication issues on a day-to-day basis. This course covers key concepts of risk communication theory as well as their practical application to the collection and sharing of information in support of individual and community decision-making about public health issues. The course will also examine new media and their role in public health communication. Challenges in communicating with underserved and non-English speaking populations will be discussed.

Scott Wells

PUBH 7235 Section 101 Class #85922
May 22 (9 am – 12 pm)
May 23, 24, 26 (8 am – 12 pm)
1 Credit or 15 CE contact hours

This course will explore surveillance issues related to zoonotic pathogens in animals, using a case-study approach focused on selected zoonotic pathogens and hazards of cattle. Students will learn concepts related to animal disease traceability, monitoring and surveillance of diseases, and methods to prevent and control zoonotic diseases from a one health perspective. The case study approach, with a field trip, will provide real-world examples for evaluating public health surveillance systems and will provide opportunities to apply surveillance principles learned. A final group assignment to address specific issues related to surveillance and control/prevention for zoonotic pathogens will provide the opportunity to assess learning gained.

Isaac Triebold

PUBH 7200 Section 107 Class #87285
May 22 (9 am – 12 pm)
May 23, 24, 26 (8 am – 12 pm)
1 Credit or 15 CE contact hours

The ability of public health professionals to sort through mountains of published scientific research and use it to guide public health interventions and programs is critically important. This course is designed to provide these professionals the tools to understand and interpret basic epidemiological and health science research data. Basic concepts of epidemiology and study design will be covered along with measures of frequency, association, and significance. Students will be given the opportunity to read and analyze scientific papers, interpret their findings, and discuss their limitations and potential for bias.

Genelle LaMont

PUBH 7200 Section 108 Class #87287
May 22,23,24 (1 pm – 5 pm)
May 26 (1 pm – 4 pm)
1 Credit or 15 CE contact hours

As sovereign nations, American Indian Tribes are responsible for the overall health and well-being of their members along with the land and environment of their tribe. Tribes are becoming increasingly involved in more public health activities and regulation, and deliver public health services through various funding sources, grants and contracts, alone or in collaboration with other tribes and local, county and state health departments. In this course students will learn about the legal responsibility of the United States to provide health services to American Indians. Students will examine the public health issues facing American Indian communities; review historical implications, analyze legislation, apply specific financing requirements, and gain an understanding of the unique American Indian public health system and the complex set of services, activities, collaborations and stakeholders that varies by tribe and region. Additionally, Indigenous knowledge will be shared that offers a focus on historical holistic views and programs for health and wellness that emphasizes assets, resilience, and cultural humility. This knowledge is applicable for all populations throughout the World.

Joni Scheftel Et. Al

PUBH 7230 Section 102 Class #87298
May 22, 23, 24 (1 pm – 5 pm)
May 26 (1 pm – 4 pm)
1 Credit or 15 CE contact hours

Using state and national surveillance data as an anchor, this graduate-seminar style class will explore the major zoonotic and vectorborne diseases of importance in the United States. Basic public health principles will be covered in the context of the epidemiology, prevention and control of zoonotic and vectorborne diseases. Students will be given opportunities to work independently and as part of a group. Students will create plain language educational materials and participate in a debate on a public health topic with vectorborne or zoonotic relevance.

Fernando Sampedro

PUBH 7200 Section 109 Class #87290
May 22, 23, 24 (1 pm – 5 pm)
May 26 (1 pm – 4 pm)
1 Credit or 15 CE contact hours

Food protection is defined as assuring food consumed is safe from unintentional and intentional contamination. Achieving food protection in a food system requires identifying, evaluating and managing risks from natural pathogens and contaminants (Food Safety), intentional contamination events intended to cause harm to an entity or population (Food Defense) and intentional contamination events for economical gain (Food Fraud). All these events can occur at different steps in the food supply chain and require a different approach to prevent their occurrence. This course focuses on assuring food safety and preventing intentional contamination of the food supply by using available tools to build a plan that adequately identify and mitigate the food protection risks. Course participants will be given specific food products with a history of food safety, defense and fraud events and the FDA Food Safety and Food Defense Builder and food fraud databases will be used to create a food safety, defense and fraud plans. At the conclusion of the course, participants will be able to work more effectively on assuring food safety, food defense and food fraud in a food manufacturing plant.

Julian Wolfson

PUBH 7200 Section 110 Class #87291
May 22, 23, 24 (1 pm – 5 pm)
May 26 (1 pm – 4 pm)
1 Credit or 15 CE contact hours

Historically, advancements in public health have mostly been supported by statistical analyses that use inference to quantify associations between risk factors and health outcomes. With recent explosions in the availability of data and computing power, however, there is increasing interest in developing models for prediction that use a large number of inputs to guess the future status of complex processes, from epidemics to an individual’s risk of developing a chronic disease. This course introduces key concepts and techniques that are relevant to using and assessing prediction models for public health data. Students will learn how to use statistical models to predict binary and continuous outcomes and how to compare the performance of multiple models using cross-validation and sample splitting. We will also discuss how uncritical use of automated algorithms has the potential to increase health disparities. Guest speakers will give presentations on the use and pitfalls of prediction modeling in public health practice. For the final project, students will build a prediction model for a provided dataset of public health relevance. On the final day of class, students will have the opportunity to test their model on previously unseen data and compare the performance of their model to their classmates.

Anne M. Barry
Joel Wu

PUBH 6711 Section 101 Class #85831
May 22, 23, 24 (1 pm – 5 pm)
May 26 (1 pm – 4 pm)
1 Credit or 15 CE contact hours

This course provides the student with a basic understanding of public health law and how to apply this understanding to practical public health situations and issues.

Craig Hedberg
Stephanie Meyer

PUBH 7210 Section 102 Class #87264
May 24 (6 pm – 8 pm)
May 25 (7:30 am – 5 pm)
0.5 Credit or 7.5 CE contact hours
S/N only

In recent years a growing number of outbreaks have been associated with contact with pets and contaminated pet foods. Several multi- state outbreaks of Salmonella have been associated with dry dog food products, and most recently, a multistate outbreak of multi- antibiotic resistant Salmonella was associated with pigs ear dog treats. Production, distribution and regulation of pet foods differs in important ways from production of foods intended from human consumption. An understanding of food safety practices in production of pet foods is important for protecting public health. This course will examine pet food production systems. Participants will visit facilities to see the handling and processing of raw materials, as well as discuss potential sources of contamination, potential food safety hazards, and mitigation steps that have been introduced by producers at large and small production scales. Differences in regulation and oversight of human and pet foods will be explored. Discussion will include elements of foodborne disease epidemiology as it relates to exposure to pet foods.

Nancy Carlson

PUBH 7223 Section 101 Class #87302
May 30 (9 am – 12 pm)
May 31, June 1, June 2 (8 am – 12 pm)
1 Credit or 15 CE contact hours
S/N only

Disaster events leave a short term and perhaps a long term footprint that has not been recognized by many disciplines involved in response and recovery. In this course we will focus on developing a rich understanding of the psychological impact of disaster events of all types impact the individual, teams, organizations and communities. First we will work to develop an understanding of how disaster impact an then use a “Push Pull” service intervention model in how to work with all levels of a disaster. We will use not only presentation and discussion but also case studies and scenario based training. The course will be divided into four sections that look disaster dynamics from a behavioral health perspective, initial response strategies and issues, short term recovery interventions and long term challenges.

Amira Adawe

PUBH 7200 Section 112 Class #87294
May 30 (9 am – 12 pm)
May 31, June 1, June 2 (8 am – 12 pm)
1 Credit or 15 CE contact hours
S/N only

This course will provide understanding of environmental justice, policy and practice in the US and some of the global policy impacts. The students will learn the concepts of environmental justice including environmental racism, social determinants, health, safety, race, and culture, communities, and systems and policies, assessing environmental risks. Students will have the opportunity to examine complex issues using equity, social justice and community participatory lenses. The course will also examine existing and emerging issues of environmental justice including different sources of chemical exposures from skin lightening products and other sources, in home exposure of mercury and lead, the association between reproductive and early childhood health with chemical exposures, air pollution, beauty products environmental impacts, regulation, systems and policy changes.

Carolyn M. Porta
Megan McCaghey

PUBH 7200 Section 113 Class #87296
May 30 (9 am – 12 pm)
May 31, June 1, June 2 (8 am – 12 pm)
1 Credit or 15 CE contact hours

Recent trends of state-level decriminalization of psilocybin, and an increasing number of federally funded studies involving psilocybin has contributed to revived popularity and attention toward mushrooms and their medicinal properties. Historically, diverse cultures have incorporated all types of fungi into their healing and cultural practices. Today, “gourmet” mushrooms (e.g., lions mane, reishi, chaga) are sought after in nature, at farmers markets, and mainstream grocery stores in fresh, dried, and capsuled forms for their taste as well as their possible cognitive and related health benefits. Medicinal benefits of “magic mushrooms” in the form of synthetic psilocybin are being evaluated in clinical trials for their efficacy to address a range of conditions including treatment-resistant depression, anxiety, end of life acceptance, etc. The popularity of fungi warrants attention and consideration of public health implications, unintended consequences, and promising benefits, including possible solutions for antibiotic resistance and diseases affecting humans, animals, and the environment.

This course will examine the historic, current, and future value of fungi in personal and public health, and in advancing the collective health of humans, animals, and the environment. Students will learn about historical and present day uses of fungi as medicine, specific promising use of psilocybin to mitigate mental health problems and effects of trauma, the role of fungi in “one health”, and related public health practice and policy implications. A tour of the fungi grow lab on the St. Paul campus is part of the class experience.

Timothy Hanson

PUBH 6431 Section 101 Class #87286
May 30 (9 am – 12 pm)
May 31, June 1, June 2 (8 am – 12 pm)
1 Credit or 15 CE contact hours

Hierarchical Bayesian methods combine information from various sources and are increasingly used in biomedical and public health settings to accommodate complex data and produce readily interpretable output. This course will introduce students to Bayesian methods, emphasizing the basic methodological framework, real-world applications, and practical computing.

Anne M. Barry
Larone R. Greer

PUBH 7200 Section 114 Class #87299
May 30 (9 am – 12 pm)
May 31, June 1, June 2 (8 am – 12 pm)
1 Credit or 15 CE contact hours

This course will introduce students to current system practices in child protection, the history of these practices, the harms caused by these system practices, and the serious and persistent racial disparities in health and well-bring outcomes particularly for African-American and American Indian children and their families. Students will also be presented with a variety of community based approaches that emphasize the essential role played by communities in the support of children and families to promote health and well-being.

Mickey Scullard

PUBH 7222 Section 101 Class #87288
May 30, May 31, June 1 (1 pm – 5 pm)
June 2 (1 pm – 4 pm)
1 Credit or 15 CE contact hours
S/N only

Best practices in public health preparedness and response are evolving and today’s best practices will be continually tested with new experiences and expertise. This course for public health professionals, emergency managers, public safety personnel and other health and human service providers responsible for preparedness planning, response and recovery is designed to provide participants with practical applications and tools to apply learning from real incidents. The course features panels of experts who have responded to natural disasters, mass casualty incidents, and/or infectious disease outbreaks. Panelists will present case studies from actual events and describe roles, responsibilities, actions and outcomes. Participants will work with course faculty and guest speakers to conduct after action analyses, describe positive outcomes and identify quality measures needed to improve future emergency response planning and actions. Practical and tested tools such as planning flow charts; templates for interagency collaboration, mutual aid, and financial agreements; formats and systems for communication, evaluation and reporting; and other resources will be available to participants for review and critique.

Larone R. Greer
Anne M. Barry

PUBH 7200 Section 115 Class #87300
May 30, May 31, June 1 (1 pm – 5 pm)
June 2 (1 pm – 4 pm)
1 Credit or 15 CE contact hours

This course will introduce students to the importance of building community partnerships and the skills necessary to work in and with communities. There is limited meaningful involvement of communities being served and facing the worst health and well-being outcomes in program design, program policies, and program practices generally in systems and particularly in governmental systems. The historical practice of people in positions of power in systems and representing dominant culture to engage communities in improving health and wellbeing outcomes is generally one sided, rarely includes acknowledgment of the harm done by systems, and is driven by a lack of understanding the needs and wants of communities. Because people in positions of power do not develop skills to build relationships based upon recognizing their personal and systems bias, acknowledging harm that can be done by systems, as well as how to share their power and authority, they are limited in their abilities to work in and with communities to affect real change in health and well-being outcomes.

Amy Kinsley

PUBH 7200 Section 118 Class #87362
May 30, May 31, June 1 (1 pm – 5 pm)
June 2 (1 pm – 4 pm)
1 Credit or 15 CE contact hours

This course provides an overview of freshwater and marine ecosystems and their linkages to human health. The course will expose students to several challenges facing aquatic ecosystems and will provide students with the opportunity to discuss approaches and strategies to mitigate the impact of these challenges.

Benjamin Miller

PUBH 7200 Section 116 Class #87295
May 30, May 31, June 1 (1 pm – 5 pm)
June 2 (1 pm – 4 pm)
1 Credit or 15 CE contact hours
S/N only

The recent legalization and decriminalization of cannabis in a number of states in the United States has created varied regulatory approaches among states and the federal government. At least a dozen states have legalized “adult use” cannabis for recreational purposes, more than 30 states have legalized cannabis for medical use, and the federal government has legalized the growth and processing of industrial hemp. While cannabis containing more than 0.3% THC by dry weight is still federally illegal, these new state and federal laws have created new markets across the United States with consumers accessing pharmaceuticals, dietary supplements, foods, vape cartridges, topicals, and other products that contain THC, CBD, and other cannabinoid containing products. Regulatory oversight of these products varies widely among states and the potential risks to public health are largely unknown or just starting to emerge. This course will examine the current state of policy and regulatory oversight of cannabis in the United States through a lens of potential public health hazards and risks. Students will learn about the current and emerging regulatory systems in states that have legalized cannabis as well as the federal government’s recent legalization of industrial hemp and will have the opportunity to conduct case studies into a specific topic of interest.

Courtney Sarkin

PUBH 7200 Section 117 Class #87292
May 30, May 31, June 1 (1 pm – 5 pm)
June 2 (1 pm – 4 pm)
1 Credit or 15 CE contact hours

Historically, and currently, the LGBTQ community has faced systematic discrimination and oppression, which can lead to poorer health outcomes and poorer access to health care. Much of this discrimination has been codified in policy and can also be addressed with policy solutions, making it important to understand the ways in which policy can hinder and harm vs. help health for LGBTQ individuals. Public health researchers and advocates are active in finding ways in which to improve LGBTQ health through policy efforts, but much more needs to be done. This class will provide an understanding of ways in which sexual orientation and gender identify are associated with health outcomes and health care access, ways in which policy impacts health, and avenues for public health professionals to improve LGBTQ health through policy action.