Vol. 7 (2018): Stanford Journal of Public Health Volume 7 Spring 2018

					View Vol. 7 (2018): Stanford Journal of Public Health Volume 7 Spring 2018

A LETTER FROM THE EDITORS

Thank you for joining us for the seventh issue of the Stanford Journal of Public Health (SJPH)! We are incredibly excited to share with you a wide variety of pieces, written by students at Stanford and around the country, that showcase diverse approaches to some of today’s most pressing public health challenges.

In this issue, we are fortunate to feature a great diversity of subjects, divided into four broadly defined cat- egories: Experience, Investigation, Policy, and Research. We invite you to read about different cultural views of childbirth and the resulting struggles that women endure, to dive into studies of nicotine addiction and neurodegenerative diseases, and to work through the mathematics of developing spaces that might keep people safe from mass shootings. We encourage you to learn about how socioeconomic status affects the field of medicine, from clinical trials to mental health care.

It goes without saying that even an aliquot of topics above is especially relevant in today’s political climate. Our government does not provide equitable healthcare to women, LGBTQ communities, and people of col- or. Mental health care is still an aspect of medicine that is not being sufficiently supported by the government and is heavily stigmatized by many communities. And the tragedy of gun violence and mass shootings is now becoming a common occurrence.

We do, however, have reason to hope. We are seeing a rise in the number of young people who are instigating change. Reading, writing, and sharing are vital in this process, and we are happy to see that so many people are doing those things with SJPH. With this kind of support, we hope that we see positive change in the near future, and we would love for you to continue reading to support those who are trying to be part of this im- portant conversation.

Before leaving you to the stories that follow, we would like to thank all of the students, faculty, and staff who support this journal and seek to educate and learn about public health. We are especially grateful to The Pro- gram in Human Biology and Student Activities and Leadership (SAL) at Stanford for their continued support. And of course, we would like to thank the SJPH staff for their passionate, diligent work to make this publica- tion possible.

We welcome any questions, comments, or concerns that you might have, and we invite you to contact us at sjph.stanford@gmail.com. We hope you enjoy the pieces as much as we did.

Warm Regards,

Michelle S. Bach ‘19 Aprotim C. Bhowmik ‘18 Lauren Killingsworth ‘18

Published: 2018-07-01