March 11, 2025, marks five years since the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a global pandemic. We asked Yale School of Public Health faculty, staff, students, and alumni to reflect on the lessons they have learned since March 11, 2020, and how to apply those lessons if we are confronted with another health crisis. Their responses highlight the importance of community, collaboration, communication, and innovation.

Community

"Humanity’s greatest asset in crisis is not technology, wealth, or power, but its ability to come together. COVID-19 laid bare the necessity of mutual care and cooperation, reminding us that no policy, treatment, or intervention is as effective as a society that stands as one. In the face of future challenges, let cohesion be our first line of defense."

- Yikai Dong, MPH ‘25 (Biostatistics)

"The most valuable lesson I've learned from the pandemic is the importance of community. Throughout the social isolation of COVID-19, I kept my spirits up through FaceTime calls, virtual movie and game nights, and masked picnics. Future crises, infectious or otherwise, will require a strong community, which takes continuous trust, effort, respect, and support to build and maintain relationships."

- Stephanie Horsfall, PhD candidate (Health Policy and Management)

Collaboration

"The most valuable lesson I gleaned from the pandemic was the necessity of leveraging all types of expertise for optimal community solutions. Collaboration across sectors, departments, agencies, and of course directly with communities, enabled us to examine challenges from multiple angles. Approaching issues from this place of interconnectedness could create a more flexible and dynamic infrastructure, ensuring we meet emerging needs swiftly, while enhancing our collective resilience."

- Susan Nappi, MPH ‘01, Executive Director, Office of Public Health Practice

"Build bridges with diverse communities during inter-pandemic times to routinely have trusted community leaders being voices that carry and amplify reliable and relatable public health messaging. "

- Paul Etkind, MPH ‘76, DrPH ’98

Communication

Communicate clearly things you know, but more importantly things you don't know. Constantly remind yourself and others that you are communicating information that is available at the time and that this can shift quickly. Be transparent, speak in lay terms, and share your vulnerabilities; you are human, too. Every new day is a new NOW, so go with that.

- Tassos C. Kyriakides, PhD, Assistant Professor of Biostatistics

Public health crises require clear, trusted communication from experts. During the COVID-19 pandemic, a flood of misleading content on social media shaped public opinion in ways that challenged public trust in science. To make a real impact, public health researchers need strong communication skills—not just to share accurate information, but also to help communities navigate misleading claims. Building these skills is essential for guiding public understanding in times of crisis.

- Drew Cameron, PhD, MA, Assistant Professor of Public Health (Health Policy)

Designing stories to promote vaccines must not be directed to one group-fits-all. No ethnic, racial, political group is monolithic. We can design stories/programs that best fit specific groups, but we cannot expect to cover everyone in that group. We also need to find innovative ways to promote conversations, in person, to address people's questions. Why not place epidemiologists, public health workers, doctors, nurses, and other health care workers in high-traffic places, like Starbucks?

- Neal Baer, MD, Lecturer

Justice

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed and deepened longstanding racial and social inequities, reinforcing the urgent need to center health equity and social justice in public health responses. To prevent and better address future crises, we must invest in community-led health initiatives, ensure equitable access to health care and essential resources, and strengthen data systems to track and address racial disparities in real time. Public health strategies should be co-designed with impacted communities, funding must be directed to grassroots organizations, and policies should prioritize structural solutions that address the root causes of inequities. By amplifying community voices and embedding equity into every stage of crisis response, we can build a more just and resilient public health system.

- Sofia I. Morales, MPH, CPH, Program Manager of Research and Evaluation at Yale School of Public Health’s Community Alliance for Research and Engagement (CARE) and the Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center (PRC)

The pandemic highlighted our deep interconnectedness but underscored stark social inequities, particularly in housing. Temporary measures like hotel housing, emergency rental assistance, and eviction moratoria acknowledged these disparities but the funds have evaporated. The crisis also underscored the need to strengthen trust in public health and ensure that critical health information is communicated in clear and accessible language. We can apply lessons learned through clear communication, growing public trust, and supporting policies that improve a weak social safety net.

- Penelope Schlesinger, MPH, Lab Manager, Housing and Health Equity Lab

Capacity

I realized the importance of grassroots disease surveillance networks. Improving the disease reporting capacity of hospitals and community health institutions can ensure that unusual cases are detected and reported quickly, preventing small outbreaks from becoming global crises. In the future, whether it is an epidemic, a natural disaster, or a food safety issue, a strong grassroots system can improve response speed and reduce losses.

- Yunhan Chen, MPH ‘26 (Environmental Health Sciences)

Capacity is everything! Running short-staffed, whether in the clinical setting, the laboratory, the case identification/reporting team, or in modeling, policy, and implementation, will be a huge disadvantage during a pandemic. Building and maintaining a robust team is essential to a successful response effort.

- Stephanie Perniciaro, PhD, MPH, Associate Research Scientist in Epidemiology (Microbial Diseases)

Innovation

The pandemic showed me just how powerful resilience, innovation, and community-driven solutions can be. I saw incredible organizations like Pills2Me emerge to meet urgent needs, proving that creative, mission-driven ideas can make a real difference in times of crisis. It was a reminder that health, economics, and social structures are deeply interconnected, and that we need to invest in inclusive innovation, strengthen public health systems, and foster collaboration to be better prepared for the future.

- Fatema Basrai, MBA, Managing Director of InnovateHealth Yale and the Sustainable Health Initiative

Flexibility

No plan survives contact with the enemy. Whether it is an institutional emergency plan, a national playbook, or an individual five-year plan, nothing plays out by the book in a crisis. Flexibility in these situations is not just a skill; it is essential to being able to continue in the face of adversity.

- Campbell Mitchell, MPH ‘25 (Social and Behavioral Sciences)