A Year of Great Progress, Amid Great Challenges
Just before my planned start as dean, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, one of the most consequential public health decisions in decades. Doctors, nurses, clinics, and public health professionals—myself among them—struggled to untangle what the ruling would mean for the reproductive health of millions of women and their families and communities. In the 12 months since, the challenges to public health have continued. The fate of medication abortion remains uncertain. Maternal mortality rates continue to be high, particularly here in Georgia. More people are struggling with mental health and substance use. Transgender youth in certain places have lost access to evidence-based services. And sadly, the gun violence epidemic in the U.S. has continued to worsen, with more than 250 mass shootings so far this year—a recent victim of which was a beloved colleague of many here at Rollins.
Amid these challenges, our Rollins community has remained tenacious in its efforts to improve health for all as well as nurture our own community. From my first day, I’ve been inspired by the caliber of people at Rollins and grateful for the kindness, generosity, and passion of our faculty, staff, students, alumni, and donors. It is wonderful to be part of a school where people love what they do, where new ideas are celebrated, and where a shared motivation to make a difference permeates all of our activities.
I have been personally touched by the warm welcome, kindness, and openness to change in this past year. For my family, the transition from our old professional and personal communities in Baltimore, where we spent over 20 years, has been very hard. The Rollins community has shown empathy, enthusiasm, and optimism for the future ahead, confirming the wisdom of our decision to take this journey. There is no other place like Rollins.
As a collective community, we should all be proud of what we’ve accomplished in the past year and where we are headed as a school of public health.
We are preparing to launch our new strategic plan. I am grateful to everyone in our internal and external communities for their feedback during the strategic planning process. I’m excited to kick off our ambitious five-year plan this fall and genuinely appreciate the hard work of all of our colleagues engaged with the plan’s steering committee and working groups who have worked tirelessly to pull our new plan together. This has been a broad school-wide effort, and I am excited to see our aspirations become reality!
We have expanded our footprint. As we look to the future of Rollins, the recently opened R. Randall Rollins building brings immense opportunities for continued research and academic excellence as we embark on new initiatives and grow our global influence. Donor support has always been critical to our success, and the Rollins legacy has enabled our school to grow and flourish. We continue to be grateful to all of our donors for their generosity.
We are offering more ways to learn. From an academic perspective, in this past year, we moved to a fully online EMPH program and added a 4+1 degree program for epidemiology students. In the year ahead, we are thinking through a number of new additions and expansions to further enhance our academic offerings and reach a broader base of exceptional students who will become future public health leaders.
We are unrelenting in our work on COVID-19 and vaccination. Despite the progress we’ve made in controlling the spread of COVID-19, it is still very much an area of concern. Our community continues to work diligently through ongoing research, efforts to improve vaccine uptake, and collaborations, many of which fall under the umbrella of the work the Emory Alliance for Vaccine Epidemiology has done over the past two years.
We continue to focus on our areas of excellence and are expanding our efforts in public mental health, climate change, and health equity. We added a summer course in Public Mental Health to complement our certificate in this area and continue to pursue activities that will build on our expertise in mental health as a critical component of public health. Rollins faculty are also leading the university’s Emory Climate Research Initiative, with emphasis on climate and health, addressing head-on the challenges ahead. Finally, the strategic plan will further highlight our commitment to health equity. I want Rollins to be known as the place to go if you want to do health equity and anti-racism work and where you can feel confident that all research, practice, and educational activities are grounded in our value of health equity. With the arrival of Dr. Chandra Ford this past January, joining an already robust set of faculty with eminence in health equity, we are well on our way.
We are investing in AI. The benefits and concerns related to AI are on the minds of us all. I am excited about our opportunities for advancing existing areas of eminence with new hires and the introduction of new technologies and developments in artificial intelligence, while also addressing ethical challenges and honing our educational approaches in this evolving landscape.
We remain dedicated to the fight for social and reproductive justice. Our researchers have numerous efforts underway to improve maternal health and save lives. We have built on the longstanding expertise and passion of our staff, faculty, and students in reproductive rights and maternal and child health to develop a brand-new MOOC aimed at providing educational and technical assistance across the globe. We’re also working hard across the Woodruff Health Sciences Center to build a group focused on maternal morbidity and mortality to move the needle on Georgia’s abysmal record.
Although great public health challenges remain, we, the Rollins community, are better prepared than ever to address them—together.
I hope you will take a moment to read this issue of Rollins Magazine, where you can learn more about what we have been doing recently as a school to improve public health, find solutions, and inspire change. I am energized for the year ahead and can’t wait to see what we will achieve together next!
M. Daniele Fallin, PhD
James W. Curran Dean of Public Health
Rollins School of Public Health
Emory University
