I have a February confession to make: I haven’t made a New Year’s resolution in years. Instead, I start my year by choosing a word or set of words to serve as a guidepost for the year ahead.
At the start of 2025, I chose the word fearless to remind myself of the importance of boldness as we faced a great unknown.
This year, I’m leaning instead into intentionality and joy. The words I chose for 2026 reflect my conviction that it’s time to actively define the future that we want to see.
Whether it’s due to artificial intelligence, social media, geopolitics, or infectious disease, the world is changing fast, and a lot of humanity is feeling whiplash. It is understandable that many feel powerless. But my training has taught me that real impact and agency are possible, even in the most challenging of circumstances. Achieving impact in the face of uncertainty requires, however, thoughtful assessment, development of a strategy, and purposeful action — in other words, intentionality, in every aspect of our work.
I also want to remind myself to balance hard work with levity this year. (The data backs me up here: happiness correlates with good health!) Hence, joy – with this word serving as a reminder that we need celebrations, as well as commitment, if we are to achieve our vision for YSPH and for our field.
As you’ll see from the stories in this issue, these maxims are already embraced by our faculty, staff, and students. You’ll see research impact stories describing brilliant, intentional projects across all four of our Scholarly Areas of Focus, led by Kai Chen, Zack Cooper, Nicola Hawley, and Yusuf Ransome. We hear about the joy and possibility in global health leadership from our new Yale Institute for Global Health Director Ingrid Katz, and about intentional design of new case-based learning from our director of academic affairs, Mike Honsberger. Nora Al-Roub, MPH ’26, shares a fascinating essay on how she’s using AI and other digital technologies to make science more relatable. Finally, you’ll get a peek at highlights from our international symposium on Building Trust, led by Jason Schwartz — a marvelous day that epitomized both joy and intention. (The hopefulness, human warmth, and conviction jump off the page!)
I welcome your joining me in my commitment to intentionality and joy in 2026 — or share your own commitments, as I love hearing from our readers about what resonates with or inspires them.
And as always, I thank you for joining the YSPH community in our journey to link science and society.
Best,
Megan L. Ranney, MD, MPH
Dean, Yale School of Public Health
C.-E. A. Winslow Professor of Public Health
Professor of Emergency Medicine