Gay Men’s Health Crisis showed how everyday people stepped up when institutions failed during the height of the AIDS epidemic – providing a model for today

Despite funding cuts, political scapegoating and internal tensions, thousands of volunteers came together in the 1980s to provide care to a stigmatized community.

Eden Lowinger, Research Assistant in Social Work, Binghamton University, State University of New York • conversation
June 18, 2025 • ~12 min

When developing countries band together, lifesaving drugs become cheaper and easier to buy − with trade-offs

Pharmaceutical companies have little incentive to sell drugs to countries that can’t afford them. But bargaining together can increase access to vital treatments worldwide.

Nahim Bin Zahur, Assistant Professor of Economics, Queen's University, Ontario • conversation
June 17, 2025 • ~10 min

Cutting HIV aid means undercutting US foreign and economic interests − Nigeria shows the human costs

Withdrawing or reducing aid has immediate and often fatal effects − not only for the countries receiving aid but for people around the globe.

Kathryn Rhine, Associate Professor of General Internal Medicine, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus • conversation
May 19, 2025 • ~12 min

Preventive care may no longer be free in 2026 because of HIV stigma − unless the Trump administration successfully defends the ACA

After a group of employers refused to provide their employees access to free HIV prevention treatment, the Supreme Court may decide whether insurers are required to fully cover preventive care.

Paul Shafer, Assistant Professor of Health Law, Policy and Management, Boston University • conversation
April 15, 2025 • ~12 min

COVID-19 is the latest epidemic to show biomedical breakthroughs aren’t enough to eliminate a disease

Scientific discoveries are necessary to eliminate epidemic diseases. But addressing socioeconomic factors is just as essential in the fight against diseases such as syphilis, AIDS and TB.

Powel H. Kazanjian, Professor of Infectious Diseases and of History, University of Michigan • conversation
March 5, 2025 • ~9 min

USAID’s apparent demise and the US withdrawal from WHO put millions of lives worldwide at risk and imperil US national security

USAID has a decades-long history of fighting smallpox, polio, malaria, tuberculosis and HIV.

Nicole Hassoun, Professor of Philosophy, Binghamton University, State University of New York • conversation
Feb. 25, 2025 • ~8 min

CDC layoffs strike deeply at its ability to respond to the current flu, norovirus and measles outbreaks and other public health emergencies

The CDC was instrumental in eradicating smallpox, identifying the causes of HIV and encouraging Americans to get the COVID-19 shot.

Jordan Miller, Teaching Professor of Public Health, Arizona State University • conversation
Feb. 19, 2025 • ~10 min

How refugee entrepreneurs are supplying sustainable energy to the camps they live in

Refugees have launched shops, mobile phone charging stations – even cinemas.

Sarah Rosenberg-Jansen, Research Advisor on Humanitarian Energy, University of Oxford • conversation
Feb. 19, 2025 • ~7 min

If FEMA didn’t exist, could states handle the disaster response alone?

FEMA pools national resources to help states quickly manage disasters. Without that federal support, each state would be left to build its own expensive response capabilities.

Ming Xie, Assistant Professor of Emergency Management and Public Health, University of Maryland, Baltimore County • conversation
Feb. 10, 2025 • ~8 min

Amid LA fires, neighbors helped each other survive – 60 years of research shows how local heroes are crucial to disaster response

In emergencies, when every minute counts, research shows family, friends and neighbors are often saving lives. These local efforts go uncounted, yet they’re crucial.

James Kendra, Director, Disaster Research Center and Professor, Public Policy & Administration, University of Delaware • conversation
Jan. 20, 2025 • ~8 min

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