May 27, 2008

The invisible hand of public health

Graduates learn that science is not enough to prevent disease and
make the world a safer place.

At their Commencement ceremony in Battell Chapel, 108 public health graduates heard from Georges Benjamin, director of the American Public Health Association.

The 108 graduates of the School of Public Health have their work cut out for them: defeating the AIDS virus, reducing obesity and eliminating health care disparities, to name just a few of the tasks cited by Dean Paul D. Cleary, Ph.D.  And they’ll face one more challenge, said Commencement speaker Georges C. Benjamin, M.D., director of the American Public Health Association: “Nobody’s going to know what you do,” he told the graduates gathered in Battell Chapel on May 26.

Benjamin offered an analogy for public health: Two people relaxing on a riverbank rescue a drowning person who drifts by their picnic spot. The next day they are called on to save two near-victims, and each day the numbers steadily increase. They establish an elaborate rescue system using boats, ambulances and helicopters. When they finally address the cause of the problem—a curve in an upstream road needing a guardrail and a speed limit—the flow of victims ends. Those people who benefit from the intervention likely will never know of the danger averted.

To achieve this sort of prevention, Benjamin told the graduates they’d need skills as leaders, administrators and advocates, good relationships with policymakers and the knack for rallying public support. Cleary affirmed Benjamin’s contention: “Science is necessary but not sufficient,” he said, noting that students at the medical campus are pressing New Haven officials to improve safety at nearby intersections. In April a medical student was killed, and in October 2006 a public health student was seriously injured, both after being struck by cars.

Commencement awards

This year’s excellence in teaching award went to Annette M. Molinaro, Ph.D., assistant professor of public health (biostatistics). “If you can generate enthusiasm for core biostatistics, you are some teacher,” Cleary quipped.

Sharing the Dean’s Prize for Outstanding MPH Thesis were Rupak Datta, Ling-I Hsu, Diane Martinez and Stephanie Smith. The Henry J. (Sam) Chauncey Jr. Inspiration Award went to Heather McPheron, and Ashley Fields won the Cortland Van Rensselaer Creed Award. Rebecca Boulos gave the student address.

—Cathy Shufro

Photo gallery:

Photos by John Curtis and Harold Shapiro

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