Join us in person or virtually for Lessons from the Community: How Academic Public Health–Community Partnerships Make an Impact on February 18, 2026 from 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM ET. Hosted with the Indiana University Indianapolis Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health, this hybrid event will bring together community members, students, faculty, and public health leaders to reflect on what it truly takes to build trust and create meaningful impact through community-engaged work.
As part of ASPPH’s national Public Health Listening Tour, this event centers on a guiding principle: the community is our teacher. Panelists will share lived experiences from community-engaged work in Indianapolis and beyond, exploring what strengthens partnerships, what has fallen short, and what academic public health can do differently moving forward. The conversation will emphasize listening, learning, and mutual accountability as essential foundations for trust and lasting impact.
This 90-minute event will highlight the perspectives of individuals who are deeply engaged in community-centered public health work, including community partners and advocates, public health students, faculty involved in community-based research and practice, and other local voices working at the intersection of public health and community priorities. They will discuss what real impact looks like when communities are not just included, but truly centered.
Moderated by Dr. Thomas Duszynski, Assistant Professor of Epidemiology at Indiana University Indianapolis, the discussion will feature voices from ASPPH leadership, students, faculty, journalists, and community partners. Panelists will reflect on the relationships between communities and academic institutions, with an emphasis on what ethical, transparent, and accountable engagement should look like in practice.
Insights from this session will help guide our collective work toward a more responsive, ethical, and community-centered future for academic public health. We hope you’ll join us either in person or virtually for this important conversation.