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26 The College of New Jersey Magazine a challenge arises, you meet it with a solution," Fleischman says. With components focused on gathering data, monitoring and tracking disease spread and behavior, and disseminating information to help prevent, manage, and mitigate outbreaks, the public health system is an integrated one with a lot of moving parts. While the field has already drawn valuable new attention, support, and resources this year, stakeholders agree that there is a great deal of work ahead. "Local public health departments are traditionally underfunded and understaffed," says Trotochaud. While more funding for academic research always helps, he says, "building these systems on the ground and developing relationships to make the response more efficient" is one of the most dire needs he sees moving forward. When it comes to fighting future pandemics — or even variants of this one — Fleischman says her experience at Princeton Health Department has clarified the need for improved response times to positive cases and exposures to viruses like COVID-19. She adds that vaccine hesitancy and resistance to public health measures remain obstacles to fighting the pandemic locally and nationwide; knowledge-boosting information campaigns will continue to be key. Last, but not least, the field should increasingly strive for equity, she says, "turning the focus to vulnerable populations to improve outreach initiatives and address potential gaps in health services offered to these communities." Likewise, Borges, Seals, and Trotochaud are all searching for opportunities to address inequity in their field in order to improve public health overall. "One of the biggest challenges we face in public health is that our society promotes this idea that to achieve what you want in life, it's just a matter of wanting," Borges says. "I'm not so sure about that." In communities where health issues like drug use and obesity are high, Borges says it is important to look at the context of those conditions rather than assuming they result from individual choices. "It's really easy to blame and point our fingers, but if someone comes from a context where they don't have their basic needs met, we can't talk about autonomy in that case," she says. "If you're in a place where you're dealing with crime, violence, poverty, we cannot neglect the impact that has on a person." Borges believes health approaches that go beyond individual care to address equity at a systemic level will mean more people with better individual health, more people in the workforce, more children growing up with the resources to develop their full potential, and ultimately, healthier communities. "It's like a snowball effect," she says of this top-down approach. According to Borges, one thing that can push this trend forward in the future is prepared leaders. In this regard, the pandemic may prove to have a silver lining: the newfound " Our society promotes this idea that to achieve what you want in life, it's just a matter of wanting," Borges says. "I'm not so sure about that." Facing page L to R: Students Ethan Moss '24, Jessica Fleischman '20, MPH '21, and Julie Venema '20, MPH '21

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