USM hosts annual public health symposium

HATTIESBURG, Miss. (WDAM) - Students and public health professionals gathered for an annual conference on public health at the University of Southern Mississippi Wednesday.

Speakers addressed current public health issues and trends.

Among those attending was Southern Miss senior Ciarra Shaw, who is majoring in public health administration and policy.

“I’ve always wanted to help people and I feel like this is the best way I could do it is through this field and I’ve fallen in love with public health,” Shaw said.

USM’s School of Health Professions hosted the event.

Speakers included Daniel Edney, state health officer for the Mississippi State Department of Health, and Roy Hart, Mississippi Public Health Institute chief executive officer.

“(The conference) helps you to network and it gives you inside knowledge about the research and how we can face challenges,” said Abeera Zahid, a graduate students in public health.

The conference was held as part of National Public Health Week.

“What I hope people take away is what kind of innovative things can we do, how can we think outside the box, how do we imagine public health and work in a way that traditionally has not worked, but we are open to finding new ways to close some of those disparity gaps,” said Tanya Funchess, an assistant professor at USM and president of the Mississippi Public Health Association.

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