Welcome to IDEA Exchange: A Conversation with ASPPH's President & CEO, Dr. Laura Magaña

Introducing the IDEA Exchange Podcast: Elevating Conversations in Academic Public Health

Public health is evolving, and ASPPH is working to elevate the conversations shaping the future of academic public health. Launching April 9 during National Public Health Week (NPHW), the IDEA Exchange Podcast is a new platform designed to convene leaders, innovators, and changemakers from across the field. Hosted by Miranda Bosse, Director of the IDEA Institute, the IDEA Exchange Podcast creates space for thoughtful dialogue on the most pressing issues and emerging opportunities in academic public health.

Each month, the podcast will feature engaging conversations with individuals influencing research, education, and practice, offering fresh perspectives and actionable insights for the public health community.

The inaugural episode features ASPPH President and CEO Dr. Laura Magaña, a nationally recognized leader in academic public health. In this opening conversation, Dr. Magaña shares her perspective on the evolving role of schools and programs of public health, the importance of innovation and collaboration, and how the field can continue to adapt to address today’s complex health challenges.

Launching on April 9 on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and ASPPH’s YouTube Channel, the IDEA Exchange Podcast reflects ASPPH’s commitment to fostering connection, amplifying diverse voices, and advancing the future of public health education and practice. Listeners are invited to follow along, engage with each episode, and take part in the ongoing conversations driving progress across the academic public health community.

Stay tuned and join us as we explore the ideas shaping what comes next.

Listen to ASPPH's IDEA Exchange on Spotify and Apple Podcasts! 

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Hello and welcome to Idea Exchange, a podcast from the Idea Institute here at the Association of Schools and Programs of Academic Public Health. Idea Exchange is a space for conversations about innovation, discovery, and excellence in academic public health. In each episode, we'll highlight the ideas, research, and collaborations, and the people shaping the future of public health across our ASPPH member schools and programs and the broader public health community. We are especially excited to launch this podcast during National Public Health Week, a time when we celebrate the contributions of public health professionals and the impact of our field on communities everywhere. I'm your host, Miranda Bossey, the director of Idea Institute here at ASPPH. And for our very first episode, I'm delighted to welcome Dr. Laura Magania, President and CEO of ASPPH. Dr. Magania is a global leader in academic public health and has played a central role in advancing collaboration and innovation across ASPPH's community of schools and programs. Dr. Magania, thank you so much for joining us and for helping us kick off this very first episode of Idea Exchange.

SPEAKER_00 1:17

Awesome. It's my great pleasure. Thank you so much, Miranda, for doing this. I'm so excited to be here talking with your audience. So thank you.

SPEAKER_01 1:26

Yeah, thank you so much. We're really excited to have you. So, first to start us off, um, we would like to ask you, you know, what excites you the most about launching the Idea Exchange podcast? And why do you believe that right now is the right moment for these conversations to be happening?

SPEAKER_00 1:42

Thank you for that question. Well, what excites me most is that this podcast is not really just a platform, it is a movement. At ASPPH, we are deeply committed to bringing together the academic public health community, not just to respond to change, but really to shape it. So, idea is a culmination of years of listening, learning, and co-creating with our members. It reflects where we are and more importantly, where we must go. So, because the truth is, and we all know this, right? We're living through a period of profound transformations. You name it. COVID-19 reminded us how quickly local threats can become really global crisis. Health inequities continue to deepen. Artificial intelligence is just reshaping how we learn, teach, and practice and actually live. Conflict and instability are disrupting health systems worldwide. Trust in institution is really fragile. And the global health architecture is really under real strain. So this is not a moment for incremental change. Okay, this is really a moment for connecting, reflecting, and really transforming the way we live and our future. That's why this podcast matters right now to illuminate ideas, to elevate voices, and to share the innovations and lessons that will define really the future. Because idea is about more than really innovation, it is about reimagining a future of improved health and well-being for everyone everywhere, which is our mission. So it's on us to construct that future.

SPEAKER_01 3:26

Yeah, absolutely. No, thank you so much for that. I couldn't agree more. It's 100% in alignment with our mission and you know why we're here to serve not only our communities, but the world, creating uh, you know, a healthy world for everyone everywhere. So absolutely. So to help set the stage for some of our listeners here, it may also be helpful to start with the broader organization, you know, behind this work. So before we really dive into IDEA and the Idea Institute and innovation, could you briefly introduce ASPPH's role in supporting schools and programs of public health?

SPEAKER_00 4:02

Absolutely. So ASPPH exists to mobilize the collective power of academic public health, actually worldwide. So we represent over 150 institutions across the United States and globally in seven countries. And each one's contributing to really our shared mission. And our shared vision is to advance excellence and innovation in education, research, and practice. But more than that, I think we are a convener, a catalyst, and a really connector. So we one of the things that we do is that we strengthen the workforce through education and lifelong learning. We advance innovation in how we teach and train. We engage heavily in advocacy to protect and elevate our field. We bring institutions together to address the defining challenges of our time, and you name it climate change and health, gun violence, healthy longevity, artificial intelligence. So we are really creating spaces where really ideas turn into action. So that's what we do in ASBDH.

SPEAKER_01 5:08

I love that. Thank you so much. So the Idea Institute is still relatively new. Um, it was launched in June of 2025. So can you share a brief history about how IDEA and the Idea Institute was created?

SPEAKER_00 5:23

Sure. As any great initiative, IDEA did not emerge overnight. It is really the result of decades of international transformations. So let's think about Framing the Future as being the first Framing the Future who was back in 2015. We started to feel and to build that transformation already. But all the way from that time to our commit our commitment to zero tolerance for harassment and discrimination, where we have our framework, and then our work in dismantling racism, in climate change, gun violence, all of these are our initiatives that we have been really engaged over the last at least five years, if not more. So we have been asking a fundamental question, and actually, framing the future, I just referred to the first one, but actually we already have the second one, which was uh finalized a couple of years ago, and now we're looking to Framing the Future 2030 initiative in order to really think about like the future of education and research and advocacy. But we have been asking a fundamental question all over these years how must academic public health evolve to remain relevant, responsive, and just so we are in an era of transformation. So through initiatives like Transforming Academia for Equity and Framing the Future 2030, these two the latest ones, we really began to see a new possibility that was emerging. A future-facing model, one that does not simply adapt, but really transforms. So idea is that model is really the space when we can all come together and not only our academic public health community, but also all our partners nationally and globally, because it's a space. And as I said at the beginning, it's a movement that we need to come together just to talk and to create, to be co-creators of that future that we all need and want.

SPEAKER_01 7:19

No, I love that. It really is a culmination of you know so many different pieces and bodies of work. So thank you for elaborating on that. Of course. So when you think about the vision behind idea, you know, innovation, discovery, and excellence in academia, what do you think that means for the future of the field of academic public health?

SPEAKER_00 7:40

Absolutely. And I I love the title, by the way, because it really represents what idea is. So it is innovation, it's discovery and it's excellence. All of that in academic public health, right? Uh, and again, the idea of innovation is innovation not just for innovation, but it's for transformation, for creating the future that we need and we want. So uh that means that we are no longer satisfied with really incremental progress of a little bit of changes here and there. It really calls all of us for innovative, boldly discovery, collaboratively with all our members and beyond our community. We need to lead with excellence and with purpose. So it's about really building institutions that are human-centered, and that's extremely important, especially in the area of AI. But at the same time, we are technologically empowered. We need to empower technologies, AI, yes, but with a human-centered and with an equity-driven eyes and decision making all the time. And very importantly, we need to know that we are globally connected. It's not just because of for us, uh, you know, nationally, but globally, we are so interconnected. So ultimately, idea is really about ensuring that academic public health is not just preparing for the future, but we are creating the future. And this is extremely important. This is actually the opportunity we have right now in the current moment, that it's on us to create what we want for the future, what we need for the future in order to ensure that our mission and our vision really can be delivered to all the people everywhere.

SPEAKER_01 9:25

Yeah, no, thank you for that. I mean, I think you've alluded to already the importance of innovation and that we're at this time where creativity and those things are really important. So, kind of going off of that, you know, why do you think innovation is particularly critical for academic public health right now in the time that we're in?

SPEAKER_00 9:44

Absolutely, because the pace of change is unlike anything we have really experienced before. Yeah. Innovation is no longer like optional, it's no longer, well, for some people that are very innovative, but it's not really a required skill. Oh no, no. Now it's essential. We must really innovate to transform. But innovation is just a way to do it. We need to innovate in order to transform the way we work, the way we uh learn, the way we live, in order to really continue uh advancing the health and the well-being of everyone everywhere. So we must integrate AI, of course, but in a responsible way into education and practice, and we're learning to do that. We also need to rebuild trust with our communities. We need to regain the trust in our communities or with, you know, from our communities. We need to rethink how we communicate and engage and learn more about like new messages, new messengers, in order to really connect uh with the public, but also with the policymakers. We need to prepare our students for realities that are still unfolding. You know, our school, our students, our graduates are gonna change at least 20 times their jobs, and they're gonna be having jobs that they don't even exist right now. So, what is the kind of education we need to be thinking right now? You know, what do the classes look like if you know that you're preparing this generation for something that we don't even know what's gonna be, right? Or maybe some of the current jobs are gonna even disappear in really the next year. So we need to really be uh aware of that and we need to be transformative in the way we teach and in in our schools. But even more importantly, we must move beyond innovation, and I want to really insist on that to transformation, meaning that to transform the way we do things, meaning that it's not just reacting, but really we really need to anticipate, we really need to imagine and to build what comes next together. Yeah. So so we are co-creators really of the future.

SPEAKER_01 11:55

Yeah, I love that. I mean, there's a little bit of proactiveness to that reactiveness, right? So you have that innovation and that transformation that comes with it, you know. So I really love how you're uh piecing those two things together, right? Because there are so many things that are happening that we didn't expect them to happen, and now we have to figure out how do we move forward and build stronger for the future for our public health professionals and students. So thank you. That's that's a really great perspective on that.

SPEAKER_00 12:21

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 12:22

So, you know, speaking of innovation and some of these different things that we maybe weren't expecting, um, you know, what are different innovations or discoveries that give you hope about where the field is headed?

SPEAKER_00 12:33

Wow, I love that question because I think that there's so much to be hopeful about. We always kind of concentrate, I don't know why, in the pessimistic side of things and the things that are not working. And yes, there's a lot of that. But we need to be optimistic. We need to really put our eyes in and our heart and our minds in the possibility and the things that can be done. And there's a lot of them. So across our community, I really see, for example, educators using AI, trying to learn themselves to prepare students for really the real-world impact. And they're trying hard because there's a lot to be learned about AI and how to be responsible in the use of it, but they are trying and they are learning, they are sharing their ideas and their you know, their examples. I see leaders stepping into difficult conversations, really to build bridges. Because at the end, that's what we are. We are here to build bridges. Uh, we don't have all the answers, we don't have not even our perspectives are maybe the right perspectives or the correct ones. Maybe there are other ways to just achieve the same thing. So we need to be builders, we need to build bridges and have those difficult conversations in order to really advance. I can see, for example, institutions breaking down the silos to work alongside the communities and alongside other sectors. And we need to do that more and more. Academia has always been like this silo doing great things, but isolated. We need to really break that and we need to really work alongside our practice uh community partners and other sectors uh in health and in life. So these are not really small shifts, they are really signs of a field that is evolving, and it is evolving with courage. And I see a lot of that. I see people really engaging in innovative ways of doing different things, trying different things and learning. That doesn't mean that we're gonna have it right every time we try something new or something different, right? But that's about learning. Our community is about, it's a learning community, it's about trying, trying, and then uh learning what what what's best for our own community. So I'm very hopeful for our community, for our students, our graduates, our faculty, our leaders are just putting out their hearts and their minds in order to really construct the future. So I'm very hopeful about that.

SPEAKER_01 14:59

No, I love that. And I I love that perspective again of you know, there's a lot in the world that we could be pessimistic about, but there's a lot of good, and there's a lot to be optimistic about and excited about all of these innovations and collaborations and connections. And I think that's what you know we can do really well as public health practitioners. I mean, you know, we are the connectors and kind of the people who make connections across different fields and different sectors. And so, you know, kind of alluding to that point that you were, you know, building on as well, you know, ASPPH represents a diverse and dynamic network of schools and programs. How does ASPPH help connect institutions to collectively strengthen public health education, research, and practice?

SPEAKER_00 15:42

So, yeah, that's part of what we are and why we exist, right? So we create spaces where connection becomes a collective strength and that connections actually happen, right? So, what do we do? Uh, we have during the whole year convenings, for example, right? Where we come uh as a community, and of course we invite all, also like our partners and students and and others to come together. So we are a great convener, but we also have task forces and all the frameworks that I alluded at the very beginning, all of those were task forces, people in our community and beyond our community that are willing to give their time and energy and expertise in just moving forward with frameworks that we can all implement and recommendations for our community and also for others in order to achieve. We also share learning platforms, like hopefully idea, right? To ensure that no institution is working in isolation. So we are here as a collective, uh, and our strength is really in the collective. That's that's our power here.

SPEAKER_01 16:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:50

So some of the things that we do in these convenings and in those task forces and in all the meetings that we have, we elevate best practices, for example. We learn from our for our members and we try to give them a platform so we can share the experiences that they have in uh in terms of the practices. Um, we celebrate excellence. We also are always you know very happy to see and to highlight the excellence work that we're seeing through all our members. We make sure that innovation in one place really becomes inspiration for many, because it would not make you know any sense that if you're very you know successful, you just want this tiny thing. No, we want everyone to notice to learn and just to share. So that's what we are. We are a community that shares everything. And of course, also you know, challenges and sometimes things that don't work, and we need to share them as well, just to learn. So, with the idea, we are really expanding that connection even further because we really love storytelling, we love to learn, and we need and we love to share discovery from all our members, but also beyond our community and be really that place where everyone feels comfortable and confident to become and learn. We are again a learning community, and idea is going to be an awesome space in order to continue to do our work.

SPEAKER_01 18:15

Yeah, no, absolutely. I couldn't agree more. We really do love to learn in academic public health. And more importantly, you know, even aside from learning, sharing all of those things that we do learn with our communities and with our partners and with, you know, each other, whether it's in one institution or, you know, our partner institutions. So I um really love that point that you made there. Um and so, in your view, um, what do you think is the unique role that academic public health institutions play in shaping the next generation of leaders, especially when it comes to responding to some of these emerging public health challenges that we are seeing and are dealing with right now?

SPEAKER_00 18:54

Wow. Well, I think that academic public health is really the backbone of the health system. So we why? What do we do in our schools? First of all, we train the workforce. Yeah, that's a big thing. I mean, we are really training the people who now and in the future are gonna be there in order to safeguard really the the health, the well-being of everyone everywhere. So that's big, right? But we don't only do that, we generate the evidence. So this world needs evidence, data, needs research in order to make sure we're doing what things are, you know, are working, are not working. So all that research, all that uh evidence, it's it's really evolving from our our schools and the work that we do with our partners as well. We partner with communities. Communities is really you know the heart of what we do, but we we we really partner with them, we work with them, we co-create with them. And let me add it to your your previous question because I forgot just to say, we co-create also, which for me that is even now have more meaning now with the AI and technology. We all are co-creators of what can be possible. So we co-create the world with our communities, our partners, but also with technology now, right? As one of our allies. So we also shape the leaders of tomorrow because let's face it, all our our we've trained the workforce, but on that workforce, some of them are gonna be practitioners, most of them are gonna be practitioners, researchers, but some are gonna be leaders, the people who are gonna be taking and having the decisions moving forward and gonna have held this, all these positions that are gonna be passing laws or passing policies and guidelines for the sake of all our people or the communities, I would say. And it's very important to really, you know, pay attention to all the leadership skills that our students, our graduates are having. So across the world, public health leaders are shaped in our institutions. We are so proud to know that a lot of the international uh workforce is actually trained in some of our member institutions, and then they go to their own countries and they they become really, you know, the people who are shaping their own communities and their own uh countries. So that's uh something that we take you know a lot of proud. I'm very proud of all our graduates uh here and there. And that's both a privilege, but really a profound responsibility as well. Because really the future of public health really begins here, begins in the schools and programs of public health, who are the first place where the people who love, have a passion, and likes public health start their training. And from there to all the way, all their careers. It's gonna be, you know, where they are shaping really their skills, their competencies, and making the connections that. They're going to need in order to really be successful in their in their careers.

SPEAKER_01 22:04

Yeah, no, that's that's a really good way of thinking it, right? Because you know, you walk into that door at your institution, and that's kind of your first step into the future of being a public health leader and a public health practitioner. And so it is an immense privilege, but it is an immense responsibility as well.

SPEAKER_00 22:20

May I add also that, yes, it is, because exactly what you're saying, that now it is the first door, but hopefully the way uh you know things are happening in terms of the higher education space, we really are thinking about a new social contract where the students come to our schools or to the university, not just for one, two, three years, but actually they have to be with us all their careers in order to be really having this linkage between you know your professional uh practice and education because you need to come back to upskill. I mean, life is changing so much that you really really be keep on you know doing uh new competencies, new certifications, new ways of really connecting with academic people, with your experts and also with the community. So hopefully it's really a long life uh social compact or social contract with with with our schools and programs in order to really ensure that we have the most capable warfare in order to keep us all healthy.

SPEAKER_01 23:22

Yeah, absolutely. We love to learn and we do it all lifelong, right?

SPEAKER_00 23:26

Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 23:27

Yeah. So thinking about that future uh, you know, kind of next steps, looking forward, not only for the public health workforce, but also, you know, in-house at Idea Exchange, uh, one of the things that we're most excited about with Idea Exchange is opening up this space for conversations across not only our membership, but also the broader public health community. And so as we launch Idea Exchange and invite voices across our membership and public health communities to join in on the conversation, what kinds of stories are you most excited to hear about?

SPEAKER_00 24:00

Well, as you were saying well, uh, right. I think that we need to really be open to hear really stories that move us forward. Yeah. And not just, as you said, not just our community, but beyond our community. We want to hear everyone. We're gonna we're gonna we need everyone in order to really co-create that future that we have been talking about. Uh so yes, uh, it's any story that could help us move forward. I think all those stories are welcome. Uh, we would like to hear from leaders reimagining that future. What do you think the future is look like from the practitioners, the community uh members, and also from the communities, we want to hear a lot of them. And how how would they feel about all this change? What is change look like in their communities uh for them? From award winners, we have a lot of award winners every year. We want their stories, stories that can really inspire all of us, inspire you know the rest of our community, our students, especially from our students, I think, whose voices remind us what is possible. I love when students come forward and talk about how they see the present and the future. There's so much wisdom in their words and so much hope when you listen to them. So I really would like to hear them a lot during uh all your podcasts here, uh Miranda. So this podcast is really an invitation to learn from each other, to build together what's possible for today and for tomorrow. So anyone who has something to contribute, please come. We want to hear, we want to learn, we want to share from everyone.

SPEAKER_01 25:38

Yeah, I couldn't agree more. I think there's so much out there that we can learn from each other. And I'm really excited, you know, just like you are, to hear from one another and to share and to co-create. And so, you know, before we kind of wrap up here today, Dr. Mangania, what message would you like to share with our faculty, our staff, our students, our leaders, and our community members? Uh, so individuals across the public health community as they continue advancing public health during such a pivotal time?

SPEAKER_00 26:06

Thank you, Miranda. And before I answer that question, I just like, oh my God, that was quick in terms of the time when you start talking about such an incredible initiative. I'm very excited, as you can see, about this because we want to hear from everyone. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you for this initiative. Thank you, Miranda, for all your time and for all the voices that we're going to be able to hear through this new platform. But for me, just answering to your question, well, public health is not just a discipline, it's really a promise. Because it's a promise that every person, everywhere, has the opportunity to live a healthy, fulfilling life. But really, promises must be renewed. And that renewal begins with us. We are in charge of this renewal. We cannot prepare students for a world that no longer exists. We must prepare them for the world they will shape. And that's why we must ask ourselves, what does health mean in an age of longevity, for example? We have talked a lot that we have, you know, now gained so many more years. But now the question is that first of all, we want not more years, but more healthy years, right? So, what does that mean to our system? What does it require on a planet under climate stress? What are we doing with that, right? How do we lead at the intersection of technology, ethics, and humanity? Big questions to answer, and we need all of you to help us and you know answer all these questions. How do we build systems that evolve as fast as the challenges we face? So the answers maybe we'll differ, the opinions too, but our compass is shared and is very clear. I think that we all care about equity, about dignity, sustainability, continuous learning, collective well-being. So if we hold that compass really steady, I think there's no limit to what academic public health and idea can achieve. So thank you for having me in this important segment. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_01 28:17

Yeah, I appreciate your time so much. This has been wonderful having you, and I really love that you know closing idea of the compass, the academic public health compass, and how we can move forward in this space together. So, Dr. Magania, thank you so much for joining us and for helping us launch the very first episode of Idea Exchange. And thank you to all of our listeners for being a part of this important conversation. Idea Exchange is about sharing ideas, learning from one another, and highlighting the innovation, discoveries, and collaborations that are happening across the field of academic public health. If you're interested in sharing your work or participating in a future episode, we do invite you to stay connected not only with Idea Institute, but of course ASPPH. Thank you so much for helping us turn ideas into action within academic public health.