Public Health Institute

06/19/2026

Flipping the Table, a podcast from PHI's Roots of Change, presents dynamic and enlightening conversations with people who are flipping the table to create new ways to feed the world. The latest episode features a conversation on the simple but powerful idea behind the Food is Medicine movement: changing the conditions that shape health, including nutrition security, access to care, soil health, food quality and the strength of local and regional food systems.

Watch:

Food is Medicine is gaining momentum across the country, grounded i...

06/18/2026

Learn how to identify, understand and respond to signs of mental health and substance use challenges through a Mental Health First Aid certification course, hosted by PHI's Cypress Resilience Project. The three-year certification, conferred by the National Council for Mental Wellbeing, covers identifying signs and symptoms of an emerging mental health issue, skill-building to provide support and action steps to manage a mental health emergency or crisis. Join one of their upcoming sessions:

One Day Format:
📅 Tuesday, June 23 | 9:00am–3:30pm PT (includes a one-hour lunch break)

Split Two-Day Format:
📅 Part 1: Tuesday, August 4 | 2:00–4:30pm PT
📅 Part 2: Tuesday, August 11 | 2:00–5:00pm PT

Both sessions cost $180 per person. Learn more:

Register here for classes that are currently available and open to the public. Please use the registration links provided below.

06/16/2026

Tomorrow, June 17, from 10am-noon PT — join BeyondAccess Consulting, an initiative of PHI's Center on Disability, for a free foundational training on digital accessibility. Learn the fundamentals of digital and web accessibility, including common barriers in digital documents, web pages and social media content and how to meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. Participants will also be introduced to practical accessibility tools and resources that can be used right away.

Learn more and register:

06/15/2026

Join Dialogue4Health — an initiative of PHI's Center for Health Leadership & Impact — and PHI's Cypress Resilience Project later this month for an important training for those working in substance use and overdose prevention:

⛑️ Sustaining Your Well-being as Someone Who Cares
📅 Tuesday, June 23 | 11:00AM - 12:00PM PT
🔗 Learn more & register: https://dialogue4health.org/web-forums/sustaining-your-well-being-as-someone-who-cares

This session will explore what happens in the brain and body when helping professionals are exposed to chronic stress, and why this work can feel so heavy over time. Participants will learn concrete strategies for sustaining their wellbeing and discuss small, manageable actions to begin recovering from vicarious and secondary trauma.

In this Web Forum, our partners at Cypress Resilience Project will explore how chronic stress affects helping professionals and share practical tools for preventing compassion fatigue, burnout, and vicarious trauma while supporting long-term wellbeing.

06/12/2026

A study conducted by researchers at PHI’s Getting it Right from the Starting it Right from the Start surveyed local elected officials across California responsible for decisions about cannabis licensing and regulation. Published in BMC Public Health, the study found that:

➡️ Cannabis policy decisions are often influenced by economic, ideological or cultural narratives rather than public health evidence.
➡️ Tax revenue (41%) and economic development (41%) were among the top priorities identified by elected officials. Youth cannabis use (38%) also remains a major concern.
➡️ While there is broad, bi-partisan support for restricting cannabis packaging that attracts youth, fewer than 4% of California jurisdictions that allow retail to operate have implemented such protections.

Read the study: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12889-026-27889-x

Background Cannabis legalization has substantial impacts on public health across the United States, yet the perspectives of local elected officials who oversee regulatory environments and make decisions about cannabis business retail licensing, taxation, and marketing restrictions remain largely uns...

06/12/2026

Join PHI's Population Health Innovation Lab for an introduction to their recently launched data dashboard on adverse childhood experiences (ACEs):

🗓️ Thursday, June 18
🕐 1–2:30pm PT
🔗 Register: https://pophealthinnovationlab-org.zoom.us/meeting/register/xEm7CmznR0CcMHzGI9wlIA #/registration

This new resource, developed in partnership with the Northern ACEs Collaborative, compiles data from across a ten-county region to highlight local needs and the long-term impacts of ACE-associated health conditions. Hear an overview of the data dashboard, and get an opportunity to share input for future versions.

Join the Population Health Innovation Lab (PHIL) for the NAC Regional ACEs Data Dashboard Showcase! Find out more about the Northern ACEs Collaborative (NAC) and check out the new data dashboard here: https://pophealthinnovationlab.org/northern-aces-collaborative/ -dashboard Find out more about t...

06/10/2026

PHI's Priscilla Martinez-Matyszczyk recently joined NBC News to share more about new research in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. The study evaluates how both the amount and pattern of drinking can affect your health, including increasing the risk of certain cancers and heart disease.

"It's important that you have some specific guidance to give people because people will really reasonably ask, 'Well how much is too much?'"
- Priscilla Martinez-Matyszczyk, MPhil, Ph.D., Deputy Scientific Director at Alcohol Research Group (Public Health Institute) and study co-author.

🎥 Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZorKZogdBU

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06/09/2026

NEW: A study published today in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs found that health risks climb with just one drink per day. The findings provide clear guidance to help people make informed decisions on alcohol intake. Priscilla Martinez-Matyszczyk, MPhil, Ph.D., Deputy Scientific Director at the Alcohol Research Group (Public Health Institute) is a study co-author.

"Nearly half of Americans ages 12 and older had a drink in the past month, yet most have no clear sense of the impact on their health. These findings put real numbers behind everyday drinking decisions, starting at one drink a day," said PHI's Dr. Priscilla Martinez-Matyszczyk.

Among the key findings—drinking patterns matter as much as totals: high per-occasion consumption magnifies the risk of breast cancer, cardiovascular disease and injuries, independent of weekly volume. Read more: https://www.phi.org/press/new-study-links-even-moderate-drinking-to-higher-risk-of-cancer-heart-disease-and-early-death/

A new study finds no level at which alcohol provides a net health benefit, overturning long-standing assumptions that moderate drinking protects health. The study was co-authored by Priscilla Martinez-Matyszczyk, MPhil, Ph.D., Deputy Scientific Director at the Alcohol Research Group, a program of th...

06/08/2026

New Jobs | Survey: Disability-Inclusive Breast Health Care | Using AI to Strengthen (Not Replace) Public Health Thinking | The Future of America's Food System | Upcoming Trainings and Webinars—all this and more in the latest news and updates from the Public Health Institute:

National Survey Seeking Respondents on Disability-Inclusive Breast Health Care A new survey conducted by CAMI Health and The Center on Disability—both programs of the Public Health Institute (PHI)—is exploring how breast health care is experienced and delivered for women with disabilities as par...

06/08/2026

As public health faces unprecedented challenges, nonprofit executives and philanthropic funders are looking beyond traditional funding cycles in order to achieve lasting impact on health.

In an op-ed published last week by Nonprofit Quarterly, PHI's Elizabeth Keating, Clinical Program Director and Principal Investigator at Bridge to Treatment, and Jenny Shapiro, MPH, Health Equity Senior Program Manager at the Clinton Global Initiative, make the case for how public health leaders can support implementation through intentional and sustainable design. "Too often, once the funding is awarded, the real work of implementation is left to frontline teams without the support, infrastructure, or sustainability plan needed to make the program last."

Read the op-ed: https://nonprofitquarterly.org/sustaining-frontline-change-in-healthcare-and-beyond-lessons-from-advancing-health-equity/

With severe cuts to public health infrastructure and growing uncertainty about philanthropy's financial footing, nonprofit leaders must think beyond the grant cycle to sustain health equity programs. Here’s how nonprofit leaders and funders can support implementers during unstable times.