Midwestern University Appoints One Health Initiative Coordinators
Dr. Karen Gruszynski and Dr. Tiffany Hughes chosen to educate the MWU community on the benefits of One Health
Midwestern University is pleased to announce that Karen Gruszynski, D.V.M., M.P.H., Ph.D. (CGS-Downers Grove), Assistant Professor, and Tiffany Hughes, Ph.D. (CGS-Glendale), Acting Program Director, Public Health Program, have been appointed as MWU One Health Initiative Coordinators.
Read more about the MWU One Health Initiative
We asked Drs. Gruszynski and Hughes to offer their perspective on how One Health positively benefits the MWU community and healthcare education in general.
Midwestern University instituted the One Health Initiative in 2014. Can you summarize what that initiative means for the MWU community?
The One Health Initiative means that future healthcare providers will recognize that individual patient care doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Human, animal, and environmental health are interconnected. We hope that future healthcare providers will be able to use a One Health lens to optimize patient care, whether it is asking about pets in the household, educating about zoonotic disease risks, or adopting sustainable clinical practices.
You are both part of the College of Graduate Studies, whose programs represent both the Basic Sciences (Biomed Program), Public Health, and emerging sciences (Precision Medicine). How does that background inform your approach to One Health principles and issues in our community?
Both of us have different pathways that shaped how we ended up as faculty within the CGS, but we feel that these experiences molded us into One Health leaders. While both of us have performed benchtop research and studies on human health and behavior within local communities, Dr. Hughes focuses on gerontological health, while Dr. Gruszynski focuses on animal health and infectious diseases, which provides different perspectives regarding One Health. We have worked closely together as CGS faculty for a year and a half, and we hope that the bond that we have forged will enable us to develop similar One Health goals and opportunities across both campuses.
What, in your experience, is the greatest value of One Health for Midwestern faculty, staff, and students?
It goes back to what One Health is. One Health applies to everyone, whether they are going to be practitioner at a local clinic or embarking on a veterinary practice. The One Health Club on the Downers Grove campus has held educational sessions about recycling and composting which impact the environment. And there are other things that students, staff, and faculty can change or adopt in their daily lives which is a micro perspective, but it can ripple in a macro perspective if they educate others about One Health.
How can the MWU community contribute to your work in this area and strengthen the core of the One Health Initiative in study and practice?
The MWU community can contribute to our work by being open to the benefits of One Health. Half of the battle is educating people about One Health, while the other is implementing One Health. The community has to be open what experiences and knowledge each of us brings as individuals as well as our professional training. One Health not only needs to be integrated in education, but also into research and service. Broadly speaking, the sky is the limit when it comes to incorporating One Health in study and practice.
