Building Healthy Communities

Building health knowledge and trust in communities is one of the most urgent challenges facing public health today. iHeard St. Louis, a program of the Health Communication Research Laboratory at Washington University’s School of Public Health, is helping lead an evidence-based response. Launched during the COVID-19 pandemic, iHeard initially helped health officials respond more quickly to vaccine misinformation. Since then, the program has broadened its scope.

Randall Jotte, MD, a professor of emergency medicine at WashU Medicine, is a driving force behind the Hospital to Housing program. The innovative partnership with local organization St. Patrick’s Center and other agencies aims to improve medical outcomes and reduce health-care costs by providing housing support for high-frequency users of the emergency room.

Martin Mwita, who just turned 21, recently became the first patient in the St. Louis region to receive a gene therapy newly approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for sickle cell disease. Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and St. Louis Children’s Hospital are among only a few academic medical centers in the U.S. that have begun offering the treatment.

Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and WashU Medicine has been ranked No. 13 of cancer centers nationwide by Newsweek. The recognition — part of the news magazine’s listing of America’s Best Hospitals for Specialized Care 2025 — makes Siteman the highest-ranked cancer center in Missouri, Illinois and beyond.

The Clinical Research Training Center (CRTC) TL1 program recently partnered with the Center for Community Health Partnership & Research (CCHPR) for an impactful day of community engagement. Serving as a Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) session, this four-hour retreat encouraged two-way learning and building stronger community-academic ties.

On May 16, 2025, Centennial Christian Church in St. Louis, a longtime community partner of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, was devastated by an EF-3 tornado. Tragically, community leader Patricia Penelton lost her life, and fellow advocate Sherrill Jackson sustained injuries. Despite the destruction, the church and its partners including WashU’s Center for Community Health Partnership & Research (CCHPR) remain committed to rebuilding and continuing their mission of service and community engagement.

Last year, with funding from the Gephardt Institute’s St. Louis Impact Fund, three students at the WashU School of Medicine hosted a series of workshops aimed at helping St. Louis seniors take a more active role in their own health and well-being. 

Community engagement is woven into the fabric of WashU Medicine. Guided by a deep commitment to helping others, many faculty have built lasting community partnerships that drive innovative care, education and community-engaged research. In April, 55 faculty members at WashU Medicine were honored with 2025 Dean’s Impact Awards, which recognized individuals whose dedicated service and leadership have left a lasting mark across WashU Medicine’s mission areas. These honorees represent the compassion, innovation and dedication required to build meaningful community-focused change. 

As temperatures continue to warm and the days become longer, St. Louisans are ready to get outside. And as part of its “In St. Louis, For St. Louis” commitment, WashU is supporting several organizations focused on outdoor recreation.

Amy Eyler, a professor at WashU’s Brown School, is leading a new initiative to advance research on the health benefits of spending time in nature and address the social and environmental barriers that limit access to green spaces in underserved communities. Eyler, along with co-principal investigator Derek Hoeferlin, professor and chair of landscape architecture at the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts, have received a $50,000 IGNITE interdisciplinary grant through WashU’s Here and Next initiative. The grant helped launch the Nature and Health Alliance at WashU, a collaboration that brings together faculty, community organizations in St. Louis, and national partners to explore how exposure to nature can enhance physical and mental well-being.