Dean Fairchild, Elisabeth Root discuss public health’s critical role in pandemic response
By Misti Crane
In a recent online discussion that focused on public health’s critical role in COVID-19 response, Dean Amy Fairchild put matters into perspective.
Public health is “the front lines out in front of the front lines,” she told an audience of invited guests during the third in a webinar series from The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center entitled COVID 19: From the Front Lines.
Fairchild and Elisabeth Root, an associate professor of epidemiology and geography in Ohio State’s colleges of Public Health and Arts and Sciences, offered public health perspectives on issues including historic health inequities worsened by the pandemic, the value of wearing a mask in public and the challenges of balancing economic concerns against potential lives lost.
“Human life is valuable — highly valuable. Perhaps the most valuable thing we have,” said Root, who has been serving as an advisor to state leadership during Ohio’s pandemic response.
Peter Mohler, the medical center’s chief scientific officer and director of the Dorothy M. Davis Heart and Lung Research Institute, was also part of the moderated discussion.
About The Ohio State University College of Public Health
The Ohio State University College of Public Health is a leader in educating students, creating new knowledge through research, and improving the livelihoods and well-being of people in Ohio and beyond. The College's divisions include biostatistics, environmental health sciences, epidemiology, health behavior and health promotion, and health services management and policy. It is ranked first in Ohio, and 26th among all colleges and programs of public health in the nation by U.S. News and World Report. Its specialty programs are also considered among the best in the country. The MHA program is ranked 5th, the epidemiology specialty is ranked 21st, the health policy and management specialty is ranked 22nd and the biostatistics specialty is ranked 23rd.