Today, we continue our little adventure in finding out just who *are* #ThoseNerdyGirls. We’re talking with Dr. Rachael Piltch-Loeb.
Dr. Piltch-Loeb is a risk communications expert. When she’s not contributing to research efforts here at #DearPandemic, Dr. Piltch-Loeb is working on research projects as a research associate at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and directing projects with their Emergency Preparedness Research Evaluation and Practice (EPREP) Program.
Dr. P-L tells us that she has always been interested in health, especially how unequal and complex it can be. She didn’t know what public health was when she went to college, but she knew she wanted to do something related to health. After she graduated, she ended up with a job in an academic setting, doing research on public health emergency preparedness and response.
This taught her two things: first, things are more complex than she ever imagined. And second, that there was a lot more to learn. So she kept on learning, and is still working in public health emergency communications more than 10 years later.
🟣 What do you miss most from the #BeforeTimes?
Like many of us, Dr. Piltch-Loeb misses travel. But she and her husband also became first-time parents one month before the pandemic began 🚼, so travel (and many other activities) would look a little different two years later no matter what.
🟣 What don’t you miss?
“Not being able to say no to social events I wasn’t excited to go to in the first place!”
🟣What is one thing you are really looking forward to in 2022?
“Celebrating birthdays with a bunch of family and friends.”
🟣 Why do you spend your time volunteering at Dear Pandemic?
“The sense of community and commitment to communication is so special. We need as many ways as possible to build trusting relationships with colleagues, friends, and people we don’t even know to harness the power of science. DP’s superpower has been to do that!” 💪🦸
As if Dr. Piltch-Loeb didn’t already have a full plate, she’s also on the board of the Neighborhood Coalition for Shelter (NCS), and is a founder of their NextGen Network. NCS, like DP, is an organization that had a grassroots start and continues to do innovative programming after 40 years. Their newest initiative is in supporting a college dorm for homeless college students in New York City.
Dr. Piltch-Loeb earned a BS in Healthcare Management and Policy from Georgetown University, an MSPH in Behavioral Communications from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and a PhD in Social and Behavioral Sciences from the NYU School of Global Public Health.
Give her a big nerdy thank-you for her ongoing commitment to public health. Here at Dear Pandemic we really value her insight as a true expert in public health emergency communications, and that of people like her all over the world. Thank you Dr. P-L! 🙏
