ATLANTA—The 2026 Kreuter Katz Lecture and Public Health Research Symposium brought nearly 200 people to Georgia State University to share research-based knowledge with the goal of improving health for all.
Associate Professor Amanda Gilmore speaks with Ph.D. student Larry Mason at the 2026 Kreuter Katz symposium.
“This annual tradition at the School of Public Health highlights the role that research plays in addressing urgent challenges confronting the health of populations,” said Dean Rodney Lyn. “It also creates a venue for our students, faculty, staff and community partners to share knowledge and strengthen connections with each other.”
Named in honor of two of the school’s most dedicated supporters, Mashall Kreuter and Martha Katz, the full day event on March 31 featured lightning talks presented by faculty and students, roundtable presentations featuring alumni speakers, and a student poster session and lunch.
The keynote address was delivered by Dr. Margot Kushel, Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco and director of the university’s Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative.
“Homelessness is solvable,” Kushel said, “and as a physician I like to say there is no medicine as powerful as housing. There is no other single thing that makes such a dramatic improvement in people’s health.”
Following Kushel’s lecture, community partners working with GSU’s Center on Health and Homelessness shared their perspectives on a recent collaboration that resulted in a widely publicized report that found that extended-stay hotels are serving as a shelter of last resort for more than 4,600 people in DeKalb County alone.
“I think that GSU has a culture of community and partnership and just a very welcoming spirit,” said Joy Monroe, Founder and CEO of the nonprofit Single Parent Alliance and Resource Center. “What we had with the Center for Health and Homelessness was a dream partnership. It was everything you want in a partnership; it was resources; it was support; it was thought partners; it was boots on the ground; it was innovation; it was validation.”
Sue Sullivan, an advocate for families living in extended-stay hotels, added that “we were a team from day one; it was amazing. I also want to say that what was so important was all of the student volunteers that we had. The students were engaged, and they really wanted to understand the population.”
Lyn concluded the event by noting that that the work conducted by the Center on Health and Homelessness alongside local partners is a reminder that the health of communities is a shared responsibility.
“When we work across sectors and work together, we’re more effective and are really able to make a difference and also center the voices of those with lived experience,” he said.
About Marshall Kreuter and Martha Katz
Kreuter was one of the earliest faculty members in what was then known as the Institute of Public Health at Georgia State. During his career at GSU, he led several community-based participatory research projects. Prior to joining Georgia State, he was a Distinguished Scientist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. His leadership roles at CDC included Director of the Division of Health Education, inaugural Director of the Division of Chronic Disease Control and Community Intervention, and Director of the Prevention Research Centers program.
Katz also had a distinguished career at the CDC, where she served for 22 years as Deputy Director for Policy and Legislation. In this role, she advised the CDC Director on policy issues and provided leadership for the agency’s legislative initiatives, health communications programs, and relationships with external partners. She previously served as Director of Health Policy for Healthcare Georgia Foundation and was instrumental in the establishment of the CDC Foundation.
Symposium Planning Committee
The 2026 Kreuter Katz Lecture and Public Health Research Symposium was organized by a committee led by Daniel Whitaker, Associate Dean for Research. In addition to Whitaker, faculty and students who assisted in planning the event were:
- Jalayne Arias, Associate Professor, Department of Health Policy and Behavioral Sciences
- Elizabeth Armstrong-Mensah, Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Health Policy and Behavioral Sciences
- Brian Barger, Research Associate Professor, Department of Population Health Sciences
- Arriyanna Brooks, Master of Public Health student
- Roby Greenwald, Associate Professor, Department of Population Health Sciences
- Jidong Huang, Professor, Department of Health Policy and Behavioral Sciences
- Ruiyan Luo, Professor, Department of Population Health Sciences
- Dennis Reidy, Associate Professor, Department of Health Policy and Behavioral Sciences
- Anne Marie Schipani-McLaughlin, Assistant Professor, Department of Health Policy and Behavioral Sciences
- Claire Spears, Associate Professor, Department of Health Policy and Behavioral Sciences
- Scott Weaver, Research Professor, Department of Population Health Sciences