HOW HAVE MORE THAN 66,000 HOMELESS people in Los Angeles fared during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic?

AS THE FOG BEGINS TO LIFT on the most deadly pandemic in more than a century, we in public health are left to confront the reality that at home and abroad, communities face unprecedented challenges to their health and well-being — challenges that transcend a pandemic that has taken millions of lives while inflicting devastating physical and mental health impacts.

XHANA THOMPSON SAYS SHE KNEW LITTLE ABOUT PUBLIC HEALTH when one of her professors at Tougaloo College informed her of an opportunity to participate in a new summer program offered by the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health in partnership with Tougaloo, a historically Black liberal arts institution in Jackson, Mississippi.

THE DIRECT CONSEQUENCES OF SARS-COV-2 HAVE BEEN ENORMOUS, with severe illnesses and approximately 1 million deaths in the U.S. among the nation’s more than 80 million reported COVID-19 cases. The danger posed by community spread of the virus resulted in both government- and self-imposed restrictions on people’s activities, particularly early in the pandemic.

FOR DECADES, DR. BILL MCCARTHY HAS CONDUCTED RESEARCH ON LIFESTYLE BEHAVIORS, such as how smoking and eating junk food affect health. This work was frustrating, however, because the health consequences of his research are typically not seen for years.

FOR THE PAST 10 YEARS, AS Dr. Catherine Carpenter (PhD ’96) has traveled to India as part of an international research team focused on nutrition and women’s health, she has seen the transformation of many Indian cities into globalized urban areas.

SARAH FANTA LOVED HER JOB AS A DIETITIAN with the Public Health Foundation Enterprises WIC program, which provides healthy free food, nutrition education, breastfeeding assistance, and family resources to more than 200,000 women, children, and families in Southern California. As a supervisor at WIC offices in South Los Angeles and Culver City, Fanta managed teams that provided support services as well as high-risk counseling to WIC participants.