Recent events have demonstrated as never before the magnitude of the challenges and opportunities for public health.

Within our field, public health professionals and practitioners have long stressed the need to improve the United States’ highly inconsistent and frequently inadequate public health infrastructure. Never in the past, however, was this need made so plain to our entire nation as when the possibility of attack by anthrax and other chemical weapons suddenly moved from the realm of science fiction to grim reality.

Existing human and systems resources were stretched to their thinnest when the burden of the anthrax alert was added to previously existing responsibilities. Our public health system should be the first line of detection and defense in the face of such events, yet only 80 percent of our public health workforce has received the training and education necessary to build such preparedness. The communications, information, and resource-sharing technology needed to support a united national response is similarly lacking, with significant gaps between the sophistication of the tools we have achieved and the equity and penetration with which they have been deployed.

Not long ago, we were already struggling to deal with naturally occurring epidemics, the resurgence of diseases we had once thought conquered, and environmental hazards. In addition to these monumental challenges, we must now prepare to respond to deliberate acts of terrorism and sabotage.

Nevertheless, public health's resulting new visibility can lead to enhanced resources and a renewed vigor in their application. Promising funding initiatives are appearing from the federal to the local levels. Our Illinois Center for Public Health Preparedness, one of the first in the nation to be approved for support by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is working to measure and improve preparedness of the public health workforce in our state. The school's Mid-America Regional Public Health Leadership Institute is helping health agency and legislative representatives hone the leadership skills needed to make organizations and their community partners work together effectively. We have developed both a bioterrorism and response course and web-based, short topical courses for health workers. Our faculty and students are also generously contributing their time and talent in innovative ways that range from responding to requests from the media and the community at large for expertise, information, and interviews, to participating in Epidemic Intelligence Service officer/faculty/student rapid response teams as part of Chicago's preparedness initiative.

If you would like to join us in maintaining this exciting focus and momentum toward improving public health to better meet the needs of the public we serve, please review our Catalog and consider pursuing your studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health.

Susan C. Scrimshaw, PhD, Dean