WashU Experts

The 21st Century Cures Act, sweeping mental health legislation passed this week by the U.S. Senate, will provide necessary funding to help those with mental illnesses if signed by President Obama, but should focus more on mental health outcomes of those suffering right now, says a mental health expert at Washington University in St. Louis.

Greater stress and anxiety resulting from economic insecurity may be at least partly to blame for the U.S. death rate that the government announced Dec. 8 has increased for the first time in a decade, says an expert on poverty and inequality at Washington University in St. Louis.

Despite promises made before Donald Trump’s inauguration, the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare, will be as difficult to outright repeal as it was to pass, says a health economist at Washington University in St. Louis.

The 21st Century Cures Act, the vast bill aimed at bolstering medical research and revamping the way drugs are approved, is a step in the right direction but is far from perfect, says an expert on the health care industry at the School of Law at Washington University in St. Louis.

Conservative columnist George Will is encouraging Republicans to have the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act passed through the U.S. Congress and ready for Donald Trump’s signature on his first day in office. While some see the REINS Act as a way for Congress to reassert its power to control the regulatory rulemaking process, an immediate push for its passage could force the first big battle over Democrats’ use of the filibuster and make it more complicated for Republicans to repeal Obamacare, says Steven S. Smith, a congressional expert at Washington University in St. Louis.

Striking racial divides in the 2016 election serve as a reminder that racially charged narratives still have a powerful hold on the American mindset. If the left is to compete in future elections, it must learn to tell competing narratives that build coalitions around racial justice, says political scholar Clarissa Hayward.

If a Trump administration follows his campaign rhetoric and advisers, then his most immediate and far-reaching environmental target will be domestic and international efforts to address climate change. Maxine Lipeles, director of the Interdisciplinary Environmental Clinic at the Washington University School of Law, offers her thoughts on Trump’s expected policies toward the environment.

Donald Trump’s surprising success with Mormon, Catholic and evangelical Christian voters can best be explained by the deep distrust that these groups have for Hillary Clinton, suggests R. Marie Griffith, director of the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics.

If adults are feeling anxious, depressed or angry about the presidential election results, their children might be feeling the same. Joan Luby, MD, the Samuel and Mae S. Ludwig Professor of Child Psychiatry at the School of Medicine, offers advice to parents on what they can say to their children who are expressing anxiety or sadness.

It is our duty as social workers and public health professionals to advocate for the use of science and empirical data to guide future policy initiatives and legislation to improve the well-being of all, said Mary McKay, dean of the Brown School.