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State & Hill

Discourse: Ford School faculty in the news, spring 2022

May 31, 2022

“(Putin) has already violated every international treaty, including the U.N. charter, by invading. This has international implications, not just European implications. Now, the question of what we do and how we do it, with regards to sanctions or...

Headshots of Melvyn Levitsky, Brian Jacob, Natasha Pilkauskas, Katherine Michelmore, Justin Wolfers, and Barry Rae

News

Ford School to expand anti-racism faculty, address environment and health disparities

May 26, 2022

The Ford School will participate in a cross-campus University of Michigan initiative to address environmental racism and promote health equity. Three tenure track faculty positions will be hired, one each in the Ford School, the School for...

News

El-Sayed testifies to Senate Budget Committee on Medicare for All

May 23, 2022

On May 12, Abdul El-Sayed, the Harry A. and Margaret D. Towsley Foundation Policymaker in Residence, testified before the U.S. Senate Budget Committee hearing titled “Medicare for All: Protecting Health, Saving Lives, Saving Money.” El-Sayed was...

Photo of Dr. Abdul El-Sayed testifying before a congressional committee, May 2022

In the Media

Supreme Court leaked draft abortion ruling animates pro-choice advocates - Hall

May 17, 2022 USA Today

The recent leaked draft Supreme Court opinion which would eliminate the Constitutional right to abortion as settled in Roe v. Wade has energized both sides of the debate. A USA Today article that examines the energy of the advocates—as determined by...

News

Lantz comments on U.S. Supreme Court leaked abortion draft decision

May 4, 2022

The U.S. Supreme Court acknowledged a leaked draft opinion on Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 court decision that granted federal protection of abortion rights. Ford School professor Paula Lantz, who studies the role of public policy in improving...

In the Media

Schwarz criticizes VA medical facility closing decision

May 1, 2022 Detroit News

The Department of Veterans Affairs is planning a phased closing of a VA medical facility which specializes in inpatient and residential mental health treatment in Kalamazoo. In an article in the Detroit News, Joe Schwarz, lecturer in public...

News

Parthasarathy appointed to NASEM advisory committee on tech governance

Apr 22, 2022

Ford School professor Shobita Parthasarathy has been appointed to an ad-hoc committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) which will help create governance guidelines for emerging technologies related to health...

Publication

Most Detroiters vaccinated in second half of 2021 were previously unsure about COVID-19 vaccines

Apr 6, 2022

DETROIT—Nearly a third of a random sample of Detroit adults who had not received any COVID-19 vaccinations in June 2021 obtained their first dose in the second half of last year, according to a new University of Michigan survey. Most of these...

Publication

1 in 5 older Americans experience food insufficiency, according to U-M study

Mar 29, 2022

More than 20% of older adults in the United States will experience food insufficiency at some point in their 60s and 70s, according to a University of Michigan study. The study, led by U-M researcher Helen Levy, examined the probability that...

Photo of a nearly empty fridge, with only an apple inside

News

U-M virtual series to explore racialized health, economic disparities stemming from COVID-19

Mar 29, 2022

The University of Michigan's Ford School of Public Policy is kicking off a virtual event series this week with a discussion about the local impact of safety nets on communities of color during the COVID-19 pandemic. Panelists at Friday's event,...

Lightly styled graphic with text that says "COVID-19 reflections: A series on race, health, and economic justice"

News

Ford School highly ranked in latest survey, recognized again as the #1 social policy program

Mar 28, 2022

The Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan is recognized again as one of America’s top graduate programs in public affairs, according to the latest U.S. News & World Report rankings. According to the rankings, based...

Image of Weill Hall with the words "Top-ranked. World-class."

News

Detroit parents less likely to vaccinate themselves than non-parents, leads to low youth vaccination rates

Mar 9, 2022

Just under half (49%) of Detroit parents and guardians of children under 18 reported at the end of 2021 that they had been vaccinated against COVID-19, compared to 75% of adults who do not live with children. These relatively low vaccination...

A nurse administers the COVID-19 vaccine to a teacher in Iowa (Credit: Phil Roeder / CC BY)

Alumni spotlight

Geoff Gamm (BA ‘18) shapes social care policy through technology

Mar 9, 2022

While studying at the Ford School, Geoff Gamm (BA’ 18) focused on health care policy, and planned to continue his studies in public health after graduation. Looking for a break from academia, he went to work as a project manager at Epic, an...

Publication

YPL study calls for mental health training and support of DPSCD staff

Mar 7, 2022

Schools are a promising setting for mental health services – they meet students where they are, surrounded by adults that they trust. Yet more research is needed to determine the most effective way to deliver those services within schools. In a...

Photo of a teacher and three young elementary school students around a classroom table

News

Ford School faculty participate in campus-wide Global Vaccine Equity Ideas Lab

Mar 2, 2022

Researchers from 13 units across the University of Michigan, including the Ford School and entities from all three campuses, gathered for three days of learning and collaboration to develop innovative approaches that address vaccine equity in low-...

Photo of Shobita Parthasarathy facing John Ayanian, both standing in front of posters with writing and post-it notes

In the Media

El-Sayed calls for auto and health insurance reform in new op-ed

Feb 25, 2022 Crain's Detroit Business

Abdul El-Sayed, Towsley Foundation Policymaker in Residence, urges lawmakers to stop making auto insurance double as health insurance in a recent op-ed for Crain's Business Detroit. "As Michiganders know all too well, we pay more for auto...

News

Poverty Solutions study: Homeless teens face significant health risks, lack access to shelter

Feb 23, 2022

High school-aged youth who are homeless report higher rates of attempted suicide, prescription drug misuse, pregnancy and being forced to have sex. Transgender youth are especially at risk of experiencing homelessness and being estranged from a...

News

Lantz calls for acknowledgement of racial inequity in health care

Feb 23, 2022

Twenty years ago, a report pointed out, “Racial and ethnic minorities experience a lower quality of health services, and are less likely to receive even routine medical procedures than are white Americans.” An article in STAT News notes that the...

In the Media

Watkins-Hayes joins El-Sayed to talk about HIV/AIDS impact

Feb 23, 2022 America Dissected

Celeste Watkins-Hayes, associate dean for academic affairs and founding director of the Center for Racial Justice, recently appeared on, America Dissected, a podcast hosted by Abdul El-Sayed, former Towsley Foundation Policymaker in Residence. She...

In the Media

Schwarz discusses Michigan bill targeting stem cell research

Feb 14, 2022 Michigan Advance

Joe Schwarz, lecturer in public policy, weighed in on two bills passed in the Michigan House of Representatives this week. The bills would make conducting medical research on stem cells derived from abortions a five-year felony. "That is...

News

International Day of Women and Girls in Science: Impacting society through technology and innovation research

Feb 11, 2022

Ford School professor Shobita Parthasarathy, director of the Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program, shares her thoughts on International Day of Women and Girls in Science. In an episode of the Michigan Minds podcast, produced by...

Flat-style illustration of three women scientists in a laboratory

News

Application deadline nears for inaugural racial justice reading circles

Feb 7, 2022

In an effort to expand the ways in which the university community approaches discussion of racial equity, the Center for Racial Justice has established two reading circles for the winter 2022 term. The reading circles are open to graduate students,...

In the Media

Udow-Phillips weighs in on Beaumont-Spectrum merger

Feb 1, 2022 Bridge Michigan

Following the merger of Beaumont Health and Spectrum Health, patients are wondering if their costs will rise. Marianne Udow-Phillips, lecturer in public policy, discussed the merger. “We certainly know what they've said publicly — that from a...

Publication

Pathasarathy calls for systemic change in U.S. innovation policy to promote equity and access

Jan 29, 2022

Ford School professor Shobita Parthasarathy is calling for a change in innovation policy to center “equity as a public value” as the scientific community ponders “the next 75 years of science policy.” In her essay Innovation as a Force for Equity,...

Alumni spotlight

Vanessa Castro (MPA/MPH ‘20) advances equity and increases HIV awareness at the Human Rights Campaign

Jan 26, 2022

Vanessa Castro (MPA/MPH ‘20) landed her dream job right out of the Ford School — Associate Director of HIV and Health Equity at the Human Rights Campaign (HRC). “HIV work and working with the LGBTQ community has been something I’ve always been...

In the Media

Hausman discusses COVID-19 economy

Jan 24, 2022 CBS News

Two years after COVID-19 was discovered in the U.S., the country is still grappling with the virus and its effects. Joshua Hausman, associate professor of public policy and economics, discussed the impact of the virus on different...

In the Media

El-Sayed hosts Parthasarathy on 'America Dissected'

Jan 12, 2022 America Dissected

How are issues of equity addressed in health care innovation and in particular the patent process? Shobita Parthasarathy, professor of public policy and director of the Science, Technology, and Public Policy program, addressed the question on...

Professor Shobita Parthasarathy leads a discussion in the Betty Ford Classroom

In the Media

Social and emotional learning especially important for students during pandemic - YPL

Jan 12, 2022 The 74

Social and emotional learning has become very important for schools as students adjust to the many changes they have had to endure during the pandemic. According to Robin Jacob, co-director of the Youth Policy Lab, Detroit students were experiencing...

Photo of young students, each reading a book, seated around a small classroom table

Alumni spotlight

Stephanie Sandoval-Pistorius focuses on people-centered medical research

Jan 10, 2022

Stephanie Sandoval-Pistorius is pursuing her PhD in neuroscience at Michigan Medicine, studying the molecular underpinnings of Parkinson’s disease. She will go on to UCSF for her postdoctoral training, where she will investigate pathological brain...

Publication

Axinn and colleagues examine COVID-19 behaviors in Nepal

Jan 5, 2022

Examining the worries and behaviors of families in Nepal, Ford School courtesy professor William Axinn and colleagues from the Institute of Social Research and its Program in Society, Population, and Environment were able to tap in to an ongoing...