Brown School

Across 30 major U.S. cities, an average of 63% of public schools are located within 1,000 feet — about two city blocks — of a store selling tobacco and e-cigarette products, according to a comprehensive new study mapping tobacco retailers.

Disturbed by voter suppression, Gena Gunn McClendon helped found the Voter Access and Engagement initiative at the university. In the time of COVID-19, fighting to make sure every voice is heard on election day is more important than ever.

Up to 5,000 St. Louis County residents will be invited to participate in a survey and testing regarding COVID-19 to help gauge the impact the coronavirus has had on the county’s residents. Washington University in St. Louis and the St. Louis County Department of Public Health are leading the project.

As China’s government seeks solutions to social problems related to an evolving society, professional social work is increasingly entering new areas, including migrant and aging services, and is poised to take on a larger role in assisting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people, say two experts from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis.

There have been more than 3.5 million requests for assistance to 2-1-1 help lines around the United States since the coronavirus pandemic hit this spring. The impact was immediate and dramatic, said a Brown School researcher who tracks calls to 2-1-1 help lines across the U.S.

Louis Damani Jones, an incoming Brown School student, has been appointed to the board of directors of Catholic Charities of St. Louis.

The Brown School has launched a “Foundations of Pandemic Preparedness & Response” program. The five-part, 20-hour program provides a self-paced, online tool kit to help public health and social service professionals respond, mitigate and prevent infectious disease outbreaks, focusing on the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jason Purnell, associate professor at the Brown School, has been named vice president of community health improvement at BJC HealthCare. He will remain on the Brown School faculty.

Cindy Lynn Norman, business office operations supervisor at the Brown School, died in her sleep on July 15, 2020. She was 50. Norman had worked at Washington University for 26 years.

While COVID-19 has impacted all individuals, the impact has not been equal. In a new national Socioeconomic Impact of COVID-19 survey, the Social Policy Institute at Washington University in St. Louis found that liquid assets increased the likelihood that an individual could practice social distancing.