Discuss how public health experts can contribute to policy development and implementation in this webinar with Kirin Goff. Translational research is critical to ensuring that our work actually improves public health. But this type of work often requires skillsets in more than one field, work that does not fit neatly into a traditional job category, and relationships. Moreover, laws and employer policies limit permissible political activities, government systems are confusing, and the adversarial nature of politics is downright intimidating. We will highlight successful models specific professionals or institutions have used to contribute their expertise to policymaking. Most importantly, we will highlight the skills, activities, and methods necessary to transform evidence or abstract ideas into sound policies.

Learning Objectives: 

1. Define translational research and its importance in public health.
2. Explore the gaps and unmet needs of current systems and why those systems can make it difficult to operationalize academic ideas.
3. Identify the ways various professionals can contribute within a specific job role.
4. Discuss the skills, methods, and relationships needed for successful translational research.

Target Audience:  Public Health Professionals and Students

Duration:  1 hour 

Continuing Education Information:  none

Format: Webinar

Live Webinar date:  November 15, 2023, 3pm-4pm PT / 4pm-5pm MST

Presenter(s):  Kirin Goff, JD, MA

Kirin Goff, JD, MA, is a public health lawyer and helped found and direct the Applied Health Policy Institute. She has two Anthropology degrees, including a Bachelor’s in cultural Anthropology from Willamette University and a Master’s in Global Health from Arizona State University, where her studies focused on using community-based participatory research to inform public health policy.

She has worked in several policy-related areas, including policy and legal research and analysis, drafting legislation, rulemaking, litigation, community-based participatory research, and helping candidates form their policy platform. Kirin was a Senior Rules Analyst at the Arizona Department of Health Services, where she drafted regulations, including those adopted in response to the opioid epidemic. Most recently, she worked as a litigator practicing political and constitutional law at the Torres Law Group before joining the University of Arizona. She has taught courses in anthropology, global health, Medicaid, and health policy and regulation. She is particularly interested in health impact assessment, tobacco, Medicaid, and the built environment.