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HPH Weekly: A Q&A with Wanjira Mathai of the World Resources Institute

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Written by

Jo Zhou

Published

May 16, 2024

Read Time

2 min

This edition of Harvard Public Health Weekly was sent to our subscribers on May 16, 2024. If you don’t already receive the newsletter, subscribe here. To see more past newsletters, visit our archives.

HPH Weekly: A Q&A with Wanjira Mathai of the World Resources Institute

Wanjira Mathai, Vice President and Regional Director for Africa, World Resources Institute, sits on a panel and speaks into a microphone. — Nariman El-Mofty / AP Photo

Wanjira Mathai, daughter of Green Belt Movement founder Wangari Maathai, is an environmentalist and leader in her own right. HPH’s Leah Samuel sat down to talk about Mathai’s approach to her role as director of the World Resources Institute’s Africa division and about the connections between climate change, poverty, and public health.

Daniel Dawes on why Meharry is adding a school of global health

Daniel Dawes is the founding dean of Meharry Medical College’s new School of Global Health, which will begin enrolling students this fall. He talked to HPH Editor in Chief Michael F. Fitzgerald about how the school will differ from traditional schools of public health by focusing on the practice, not the theory, of health equity.

The ‘Black Angels’ who helped cure tuberculosis

Archival photo illustration: A black female patient gets weighed by a black female nurse. The color image sits in front of a black and white image of SeaView hospital, with bright blue clouds and sky in the background. — The Emancipator / Getty Images

The unsung Black nurses who helped cure tuberculosis in the early 1900s are the subject of Maria Smilios’s 2023 book, The Black Angels. In The Emancipator, she offers a look at the events covered in her book—plus some vital commentary on how these events fit into a continuing pattern of exploitation in America’s health care system.

Snapshot: Communities of color may have higher exposure to unsafe drinking water

Drinking water in communities across the U.S. is at risk for contamination, in part because removing contaminants can be challenging and expensive. HPH spoke with Nicole Deziel, a Yale University epidemiology professor and lead author on a recent study about clean water access.