Public Health Response Platform
9 – 12
January 2023
STEM
21 Days
About Project
Students of Woodward High were sitting together enjoying being outdoors in the post-Covid world. They had been indoors for far too long. One of them asked a pertinent question. “We got vaccinated to fight against Covid. Children weren’t given the vaccinations. But aren’t vaccinations only for kids? I don’t see my parents visit a doctor annually to take any vaccinations.” This got them thinking. They wondered if the adults around them weren’t informed about vaccinations or are they missing something. Upon further research, they uncovered interesting information. Vaccines work by introducing a piece of a virus or bacteria into your body so you can develop long-lasting immunity to the pathogen. While the piece introduced by the vaccine rapidly fades away, your body’s immune system remembers what it saw. So children from ages 0 to 4 are administered most of the vaccines that scientists have developed to fight against well known diseases. However, most adults are either unaware or ignore recommended vaccinations for them. This puts them and people around them at high risk. Some adults travel to high risk countries without being properly vaccinated. For instance, did you know that parts of Africa recommend taking the Yellow fever vaccine? Others have weakened immune system and yet ignore taking a Tdap every 10 years. Tdap vaccine can prevent tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis. Diphtheria and pertussis spread from person to person.Sometimes as new diseases are discovered and enter countries via traveling people, it is important to stay protected and healthy. This information is hardly passed on. The sharp students of Woodward High decided to take on the task of building a platform that will help inform adults about recommended vaccinations in their area, track if they are vaccinated, and assess the individual risk they pose to the world around them. All in the interest of public health. Your project is to assume the role of these students and build a low-tech platform that will help adults in your area and be easily scalable to other areas.
Expert Profile
Dr Premila Webster
Premila Webster is the Director of Public Health Education and Training at the University of Oxford’s Nuffield Department of Population Health. She holds an MBBS, MSc in Public Health Medicine, and a DPhil from Oxford.
Her research focuses on the impact of urbanization on health and tobacco control. She serves as the Health Lead at the Oxford India Centre for Sustainable Development and co-edits the Journal of Public Health.
Dr. Webster was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 2017 for her contributions to public health.
Dr Arjun Rangarajan
Arjun Rangarajan is the Senior Director of Health Systems and Global Health Strategy at Noora Health. With over 17 years of experience in global health, he has worked with organizations such as Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and Doctors Without Borders.
His expertise spans strategy, operations, and implementation across India, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and the USA. He holds a Master of Public Health and actively contributes to healthcare policy and system strengthening.
Dr. Arjun Rangarajan also serves as a trustee at Sundaram Medical Foundation, driving initiatives to integrate public health perspectives into clinical care delivery.
What Students Say?
