What do you do?
I'm a public health economist in the Office of Policy, Planning and Evaluation.
What does a public health economist do at the Department of Health?
As the public health economist, I provide economic expertise to our policy and program to operationalize our agency’s Transformational Plan by bringing the three V’s into focus: visibility, value, and validation. I provide consultation on economic program evaluation to demonstrate value. I provide economic expertise on various policy by reviewing literature, analyzing data, and providing an economic lens that allows for data-driven decision making.
How did you enter your career in public health?
After serving for 39 months in the U.S. Peace Corps (Zambia), I found my passion and my calling in working to improve health systems. During that time, I saw understaffed and understocked local clinics. I saw people die of preventable diseases. I knew people who died of Malaria.
I saw the healthcare system fail many, but I also saw the system help people through innovative solutions. I attended child wellness clinics under the big tree, where caregivers came with their children to receive health check-ups, vaccinations, and life-saving health information without having to travel 23 kilometers to the nearest clinic.
While living in the Zambian village of Chisebwa during my first two years of service, I spoke at clinics educating about malnutrition and diarrhea treatment for small children. I organized an HIV testing and counseling event, and I led a group of students through a grassroots program focused on health education. At the end of my time in Chisebwa, I moved to the capital, Lusaka, and volunteered with the Zambian Cancer Society and the University Teaching Hospital’s Children’s Oncology Ward, the only children’s oncology ward in the country. Children often traveled long distances with their caregivers to receive treatment and often presented far too late for effective treatment.
I am driven to strengthen systems that provide people with education to stay healthy, treatment to get well, and structures to allow everyone to thrive because we all deserve a health system that serves everyone equitably and gives us all the opportunity to live long and healthy lives.
Do you see any bright spots or opportunities as you look to the future of public health for the next generation of public health professionals?
The next generation of professionals is the bright spot in the future of public health. To solve the complex challenges we face, we need leaders who can understand and navigate systemic barriers, work within resource-constrained environments, break down silos by building relationships, and use evidence-based decision-making to ensure approaches that first, do no harm.
I am continually inspired when working with the next generation of public health professionals by their equity and innovative mindset they bring that is sure to benefit us all.
Are there any books, podcasts, or other media that you would recommend for future public health professionals?
- Book: McGhee, Heather. The sum of us: What racism costs everyone and how we can prosper together. One World, 2022.
- Public Health Economics Article: LaVeist TA, Pérez-Stable EJ, Richard P, et al. The Economic Burden of Racial, Ethnic, and Educational Health Inequities in the US. JAMA. 2023;329(19):1682–1692. doi:10.1001/jama.2023.5965