Guest bio: Dr. Katrina Korfmacher is a Professor of Environmental Medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center and Director of the Community Engagement Core at the Environmental Health Sciences Center. [00:51] - What is wastewater-based epidemiology? [02:26] - Wastewater surveillance for COVID-19 & overcoming disparities in testing [04:09] - Monroe County Wastewater Coronavirus Surveillance Group - interdisciplinary collaboration [08:40] - Wastewater monitoring on college campuses [10:47] - Scaling operations up [12:16] - Separations between environmental and public health This episode was recorded in late September 2021.

We talk with Dr. Molly McNulty about how being an attorney informs her teaching, Medicaid reforms for children in New York state, and tools for effective public health advocacy. Guest bio: Dr. Molly McNulty is an attorney and an assistant professor of public health law and policy at the University of Rochester. Her interests lie primarily in maternal/child health and adolescent health policy, and she worked in local governments, in nonprofit advocacy groups, and in the corporate sector before returning to academia.

In part 2 of our Conversations About COVID series, we talk with Dr. Michael Mendoza about the impact of individuals’ actions on public health, striving for herd immunity, and the Delta variant as evidence of this pandemic’s tenacity. Guest bio: Dr. Mendoza is the Commissioner of Public Health for Monroe County and a professor of Family Medicine, Public Health Sciences, and Nursing at the University of Rochester School of Medicine. He previously served as Medical Director at Highland Family Medicine for seven years, and he helped establish the Finger Lakes COVID-19 Vaccine Task Force in the wake of the pandemic. [00:45] - Vaccine Task Force goals & current directions [03:11] - Vaccine hesitancy, community ambassadors, meeting people where they’re at [09:20] - Reconciling differences, centralization in public health, preventable hospitalizations [13:14] - Herd immunity & looking forward   Additional information & resources: Vaccinated vs. immunized: https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vac-gen/imz-basics.htm (https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vac-gen/imz-basics.htm) More on the Delta variant: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/variants/delta-variant.html (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/variants/delta-variant.html)  How COVID-19 mRNA vaccines work: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/different-vaccines/mrna.html (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/different-vaccines/mrna.html)  Infographic in https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/downloads/vaccines/COVID-19-mRNA-infographic_G_508.pdf (English) & https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/downloads/vaccines/COVID-19-mRNA-infographic_G_SPANISH_508.pdf (Spanish) Find a COVID-19 vaccination site near you: https://www.vaccines.gov/search/ (https://www.vaccines.gov/search/)

Dr. Bennett is a Professor of Medicine and Public Health Sciences at the University of Rochester School of Medicine. She founded the Center for Community Health & Prevention and previously served as Deputy Director of the Monroe County Department of Public Health for over a decade. She currently co-chairs the Finger Lakes COVID-19 Vaccine Task Force.

On this episode, we talk with Rebecca Block, a Health Educator at the U of R Health Promotion Office, about mindfulness, exciting initiatives planned for this fall, and navigating this sort-of-post-pandemic limbo. Guest bio: Rebecca oversees the strategic planning, implementation, and evaluation of health promotion programs for the University of Rochester students. She teaches the Peer Health Advocacy course (PHLT 216) and the Peer Health Internship (PHLT 394) offered through the Public Health degree program. In addition, Rebecca helps coordinate Mindful University Project programming, is yoga instructor certified, and is training to become a Certified Koru Mindfulness teacher.  [00:45] - Pathway to health promotion [02:09] - How educators can support student health [04:42] - Resources & barriers to access, challenges while transitioning to a "new normal" [11:47] - Mindful University Project Things mentioned: More on ultradian rhythms: https://betterhumans.pub/avoid-burnout-and-increase-awareness-using-ultradian-rhythms-5e64158e7e19 Resources on campus: Meditation room: third floor of Douglass Commons, open for individual use on Monday through Friday, from 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mindful University Project: https://www.rochester.edu/mindful/ Guided meditation: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChB-SD06B6RvjOaYEBQBIzw UR Connected Coaches: http://www.rochester.edu/uhs/healthpromotion/urconnected/

Hello! Welcome to Activation Energy, a podcast focused on the intersections between health, medicine, and social justice. We will be talking with students, researchers, health professionals, and other human beings with interesting things to say. We hope to highlight diverse perspectives around us and to provide a platform for open conversations.  Activation Energy is available for free anywhere you can find podcasts, with new episodes released every week. Head over to http://activation-energy.captivate.fm/listen (activation-energy.captivate.fm/listen) for more. Thanks for stopping by! And we hope you'll tune in.