Summer Institute
PUBH 6499: Systems Sciences for Public Health and Public Policy
Dates: July 13-17, 2026
Location: Washington, D.C.
Registration coming soon – stay tuned!
The Opportunity
Partnering with established researchers at Harvard University and Drexel University, the George Washington University's Institute for Socioeconomic Opportunity (ISEO) has established a Systems Sciences for Public Health and Public Policy summer institute that will enroll students and professionals at GW and across the nation for a one-week, one-credit hour course (non-students will receive a certificate of completion).
This course introduces students to systems science methods and teaches them how to apply these methods to real-world problems.
The summer intensive draws upon the expertise of Dr. Wendy Ellis and Dr. Daniel Chen who pioneered applying systems science to Public Health 3.0, Dr. Irene Headen of Drexel University’s School of Public Health, Dr. Sydney Pryor of GW’s Milken School of Public Health, and Dr. Mohammad Jalali of Harvard University’s Medical School.
Coming together in a ground-breaking collaboration, these researchers have developed a curriculum that can train the next generation of systems thinkers that will translate public policy and public health research to action.
Course Topics
Systems Thinking: Unpacking Complexity in Approaches to Public Health and Public Policy
Explore how systems thinking can help you understand complex public health and policy problems and identify more effective solutions.
Group Model Building for Stakeholder and Community Engagement
Learn how to use the group model building process to support collaboration across stakeholders, map complex public health challenges, and identify opportunities for intervention.
Agent Based Modeling and System Dynamics for Understanding Structural Context
Explore agent-based modeling and leverage data and AI tools to better understand how interactions between individuals and structural conditions produce complex real-world outcomes. Students will also work with existing system dynamics and agent-based models to become familiar with model design and learn how to interpret and analyze model outputs.
Translation of Models for Policy and Practice
Translate systems modeling outputs into actionable strategies that inform policy
development and practice improvements.
Translating Research to Action
The application of systems thinking in public health and public policy is a rapidly growing field. Increasingly, funders and organizations are recognizing the value of using methods such as group model building and system dynamics modeling to develop policies, frameworks and evaluation approaches aimed at addressing root causes of disparity in health, wealth and wellbeing.
A group of researchers in GW's School of Public Health, the Global Food Institute and Institute for Socioeconomic Opportunity has been nationally noted as innovators in the application of systems science to address social inequity through public health policy. Our work has demonstrated the promising impact of applying systems science to public health and public policy. The Systems Sciences for Public Health and Public Policy summer institute aims to create a formal training pathway that builds a pipeline of future researchers to expand this body of work.
There is an increasing need to ensure that public health and public policy address root causes and align with community needs. Issues such as food insecurity, maternal mortality, chronic disease, economic instability, homelessness and substance use are the result of multiple interactions at the societal, community and individual level. Systems thinking requires an understanding of elements, interconnections and function or purpose.
Collaborators
Wendy Ellis, DrPH, MPH
Director, Institute for Socioeconomic Opportunity; Director, Center for Community Resilience (CCR); Assistant Professor, Global Health, The George Washington University
Daniel Chen, DrPH, MPH
Associate Director of Research, Center for Community Resilience (CCR); Assistant Professor, Global Health, The George Washington University
Sydney Pryor, PhD, MPH
Research Scientist and Adjunct Professor with the Global Food Institute (GFI), The George Washington University
Irene Headen, PhD, MS
Assistant Professor, Community Health and Prevention, Drexel University
Mohammad Jalali, PhD
Associate Professor, Harvard Medical School, MGH Institute for Technology Assessment; Research Affiliate and Senior Lecturer, MIT Sloan’s System Dynamics Group; Faculty Affiliate, Harvard Data Science Initiative
Advancing the Next Generation of Systems Thinking Scholars
The Systems Sciences for Public Health and Public Policy summer institute provides training anchored in public health and public policy– two of the fastest growing fields for application of systems science.
The summer institute will be grounded in frameworks such as social determinants of health and structural marginalization to help students apply the concepts of systems science to advance socioeconomic opportunity and social justice. An example of our application of systems thinking to real world issues is the recently released Closing the Wealth Gap Report, developed by the Center for Community Resilience in partnership with the Institute for Socioeconomic Opportunity.
The content of this course will help prepare the next generation of scholars to apply systems science methods to the complexity of real world systems and problems.
Questions
Please contact Summer Institute Curriculum Manager Kristen Hayes at khayes10
gwu [dot] edu (khayes10[at]gwu[dot]edu).