The closing plenary session of the Virtual Annual Meeting for the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health will be May 15 from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.

The meeting will include messages from several physicians and leaders in public health, including director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci, and University of Kentucky College of Public Health Dean Donna Arnett. The panel will also include Dean Jim Curran from the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University, and Ana Diez from the Dornsife School of Public Health at Drexel University. Sandro Galea, dean of the Boston University School of Public Health, will moderate.

“As academic administrators, we have confronted the same issues endemic across higher education in 2020—moving classes to alternative formats, ensuring students receive the opportunities they deserve, and doing everything we can to keep the educational and research mission of the university functioning in the face of unprecedented disruption,” said Dean Arnett.

The event will cover lessons learned by public health colleges across the country in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic—as well as challenges for the future.

At UK, public health and health administration students have been highly engaged in research, experiential education and virtual classroom learning focused on COVID-19.

“Public health is uniquely positioned to lead right now, and to imbue our students’ education with vital skills that are already in demand by employers,” said Arnett. “Our job is to figure out how to meet that need while providing our students with a world-ready education that will carry them beyond the current crisis into a long career dedicated to improving the health of populations.”

The ASPPH Virtual Annual Meeting is free and open to the public. For more information about the event and those involved, or to register, click here.