Sandro Galea

Cognoscenti contributor

Sandro Galea, M.D., is dean and Robert A. Knox professor at the Boston University School of Public Health. His new book, "The Contagion Next Time," is out now from Oxford University Press.

Recently published

A homeless person wearing a protective mask lies asleep on the pavement in Rome's central Piazza Venezia on April 17, 2020. (Vincenzo Pinto/AFP via Getty Images)

This pandemic will end. But the next one could be worse

COVID was only the lit match dropped into the tinderbox of inequality, writes Sandro Galea. We must address these underlying issues before the next pandemic.

Cognoscenti

Nov 18, 2021

President Donald Trump, with members of the president's coronavirus task force, speaks during a news conference in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2020, in Washington. (Evan Vucci/AP)

Donald Trump Finally Addressed Coronavirus. It Did Not Make Me Feel Better

"Whatever happens, we're totally prepared" is not going to cut it, writes Sandro Galea. The president's ambivalence towards COVID-19 is a danger to us all.

Cognoscenti

Feb 27, 2020

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announces legislation to lower health care costs and protect people with pre-existing medical conditions in Washington on Tuesday, March 26, 2019. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

Let's Move Beyond The Political Fight Over Health Care To Address The Forces That Shape Health

While we may regard health care as a useful policy tool for improving people’s lives, writes Sandro Galea, we do not yet see it as a political nonnegotiable.

Cognoscenti

Apr 2, 2019

In this Aug. 23, 2007, file photo, a sign marks the entrance to a gender-neutral restroom at the University of Vermont in Burlington, Vt. (Toby Talbot/AP)

A 'Yes' On Question 3 Is A Vote For Public Health

When we can navigate public spaces without fear of attack, health can flourish, writes Sandro Galea.

Cognoscenti

Oct 17, 2018

Why The Trump Administration Is Hazardous To Your Health

The president's policies have steadily eroded our government’s ability to safeguard well-being: our air, our education, our housing and our economic prospects, writes Sandro Galea.

Cognoscenti

Mar 12, 2018

The Guns & Guitars store is shown in Mesquite, Nev., Monday, Oct. 2, 2017. The store's general manager Christopher Sullivan said in a statement Monday that Stephen Craig Paddock showed no signs of being unfit to buy guns. Paddock killed dozens and injured hundreds Sunday night when he opened fired at an outdoor country music festival in Las Vegas. (Chris Carlson/AP)

After Las Vegas, Will We Finally Say 'Enough'?

Until we are ready to work towards making the acceptable unacceptable, there are, in reality, no “lone” gunmen, writes Sandro Galea. They are abetted by the society they attack.

Cognoscenti

Oct 4, 2017

North Korea's Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho speaks outside the U.N. Plaza Hotel, in New York, Monday, Sept. 25, 2017. (Richard Drew/AP)

Trump's Careless North Korea Threats Obscure The Humans Who Would Suffer

Trump’s words matter because they pave the way for making the unacceptable -- nuclear war -- acceptable, writes Sandro Galea. Instead, our pursuit of public health might inform our pursuit...

Cognoscenti

Sep 26, 2017

People push a stalled pickup through a flooded street in Houston, after Tropical Storm Harvey dumped heavy rains, Sunday, Aug. 27, 2017. The remnants of Harvey sent devastating floods pouring into Houston on Sunday as rising water chased thousands of people to rooftops or higher ground. (Charlie Riedel/ AP)

After Harvey, What Next? Mitigating The Public Health Effects Of A Natural Disaster

Past experience tells us there will be a period of intense focus on the areas affected by Hurricane Harvey, then, a gradual fading of attention, leaving survivors to ask: now...

Cognoscenti

Aug 28, 2017

Health professionals hold placards as they demonstrate for clean energy at the COP21, United Nations Climate Change Conference, in Le Bourget, north of Paris, Dec. 8, 2015. (Michel Euler/AP)

Climate Change Is Making Us Sick

Withdrawing from the Paris agreement not only undermines the health of the planet, writes Sandro Galea, it also undermines the health of populations.

Cognoscenti

Jun 2, 2017

The Republican Health Care Bill Is An American Tragedy

The American health care debate, for all its many iterations over the years, has never been presented to us as an issue that is, before anything else, a moral one,...

Cognoscenti

May 9, 2017