Faculty Leads: Dr. Cheryl Healton and Dr. José Pagán
Lab Director: Faith Daniel, MPH, DrPH student, Questions about the lab, contact fd2188@nyu.edu.
The Managing Public Health Backlash as a Public Health Emergency Lab at the NYU School of Global Public Health explores the typology of backlash within the context of various public health crises, particularly during COVID-19 and since its declared end, with attention to the myriad ongoing challenges to public health and their risk to the nation's health. Part of a multi-institutional project led by Dr. Amy Fairchild (University of Minnesota), with Co-PIs Drs. Cheryl Healton and José Pagán (NYU), and Dr. Marian Jones (Ohio State), the lab uses humanities-based methods to examine how public health officials respond to resistance, navigate tradeoffs, and communicate during public health emergencies. The lab also explores the association between the impact of the pandemic as measured quantitatively and the political and community level reactions to public health measures implemented to curb the impact.
Students engage with oral histories, public databases, litigation documents, and historical case studies to investigate the structural, cultural, and political dynamics that shape public health decision-making. Through qualitative and quantitative analysis, students have the opportunity to produce case studies for use in academic and professional training. The lab also hosts guest lectures from historians and public health practitioners to foster critical discussion around the evolving public health landscape.
Objectives:
- Develop a clear understanding of the typology of public health backlash and how it impacts public health infrastructure and current policymaking.
- Identify and synthesize information from publicly available sources and apply findings to policy options.
- Attain experience in the use of qualitative research coding strategies and techniques and develop proficiency in the use of qualitative research software like Dedoose.
- Write and issue professionally written pieces (e.g., briefs, op-eds, manuscripts, case studies) synthesizing findings from qualitative data using transcripts from interviews with US state and local health officials, integrating mixed methods as appropriate to tell the story of the impact of backlash as it is now unfolding.