My path into public health is a little non-traditional. I actually got my PhD in chemistry and was a chemistry professor as an associate professor and I got into public health through my research. So, my research was on why lead is poisonous so molecular toxicology of blood, and as a result of that, I realized that you could understand the intimate details of like why things are bad for us but not prevent people from getting poisoned in the first place… and so I started working with folks in community- based organizations and the Chicago Department of Public Health on primary prevention of lead poisoning and that was the point that I had this epiphany of like this is what I want to do with my life and I literally shifted careers mid-career from chemistry into public health.
