Public health is under pressure. Across health care systems around the world, funding is declining, exhausted professionals are leaving the field, and in the US state legislatures are pulling back needed legal authorities. At the same time, outbreaks of diseases such as measles and dengue are increasing, adding more urgency and responsibility to the work. In 2025, these pressures will initiate a transformation in epidemiology, pushing the field to adopt innovations to become more efficient and effective in controlling outbreaks.
The Covid-19 pandemic was extraordinarily challenging for the public health workforce, which mounted a historic pandemic response. The long-lasting crisis revealed numerous gaps in a workforce under immense strain.
Unfortunately, the pandemic was neither the first nor will it be the last public health threat to overwhelm our defenses. Historically, major…
