What would it take to build a public health knowledge system that is more pluralistic, reflexive, and oriented toward action? The Building Better Ways of Knowing initiative was created by the Healthier Futures Lab at Washington University in St. Louis Bursky School of Public Health, in partnership with the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research and with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). The initiative convenes researchers, practitioners, policy leaders, institutional representatives, and community partners to explore how public health knowledge is produced, assessed, shared, and put into practice in ways that are rigorous, meaningful, timely, and impactful. During the inaugural convening of this initiative, participants explored the values and incentives that drive research priorities, the institutional forces that shape whose knowledge is considered legitimate, the types of evidence that public health has long overlooked, the potential of communities to serve as genuine contributors to knowledge creation, and the disconnect between what research generates and what practitioners and communities actually need. This episode introduces the Building Better Ways of Knowing summer mini-series by asking some of the convening guests to reflect on the convening and the knowledge production process in public health. Throughout the summer, guests from the inaugural convening will join Salma to delve deeper into the themes explored during the convening, their areas of expertise, and the interaction of their disciplines with the field of public health. About the guests: Guests responding to the question "What stood out to you from these two days of discussion and exchange?” include, in order of appearance: Alonzo Plough — Chief Science Officer and Vice President Research-Evaluation-Learning, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Merlin Chowkwanyun — Donald H. Gemson Associate Professor of Sociomedical Sciences, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health Rachel Sachs — Professor of Law and Co-Director of The Cordell Institute, WashU School of Law Whitney Robinson — Associate Professor in Obstetrics and Gynecology, Duke University School of Medicine John Ioannidis — Professor of Medicine, Epidemiology and Population Health, Stanford University Katherine Keyes — Professor of Epidemiology, Susan Lasker Brody Professor of Population Mental Health, and Vice Chair for Research, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health Guests responding to the question “What do you think needs to happen to strengthen how we produce and use knowledge in population health?” include, in order of appearance: Kumanan Rasanathan — Executive Director, Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research at the World Health Organization Sara Bannoura — Co-Founder, Civic City Darren Jackson — Founder, Civic City Paula Brakeman — Professor Emeritus of Family and Community Medicine and Founding Director of the Center for Health Equity, University of California, San Francisco Host: Dr. Salma Abdalla Editors: Catalina Melendez Contreras and Zach Linhares Marketing: Kinkini Bhaduri Music: Helmut Schenker / Omnia from Epidemic Sound https://www.epidemicsound.com/music/tracks/60e14d61-23ca-4899-9c56-9a9018634986/ The views and opinions expressed by the guests in this episode do not necessarily reflect those of their institution, the funders, or the podcast team.
