René F. Najera, MPH, DrPH, FCPP

@epiren.bsky.social

571 Followers 465 Following

Father. Husband. Epidemiologist. Instructor at GMU and JHBSPH. Fellow at the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. Believer in Truth, Justice, and a Better Tomorrow. All opinions, my own. Learn more: https://linktr.ee/rene.najera

A warmly lit wooden lawyer's desk covered with neatly stacked dark folders, scattered legal documents, and a pen. A wooden gavel rests on a notepad. A brass scales of justice sits to the right, and a small hourglass sits beside an open book. Behind the desk, tall shelves are filled with rows of leather-bound law books. The scene has a rich, classic legal office atmosphere.
Three people in blue protective gowns, gloves, and clear face shields work at an outdoor table with lab supplies. One person holds a small dark animal or sample while another uses vials in a yellow rack. Tools, containers, and a red biohazard bin are on the table.
Two women of color sit together in chairs in a modern office or workspace, facing each other in what appears to be a collaborative discussion or meeting. The image conveys diversity and inclusion in a professional tech or business environment.
A person crouches on a grassy yard next to a wire cage trap containing a raccoon. The person is wearing a purple jacket, a thick light-colored scarf, gloves, gray pants, and blue shoes, and is smiling toward the camera. Behind them is a yellow house with a door and windows. Fallen leaves and greenery surround the area, and a piece of brown fabric lies on the ground nearby.
An open, vintage vaccination record card laid flat on a colorful patterned fabric. The card has printed columns for date, vaccinator signature, official stamp, and notes on vaccination status. Several entries are handwritten in ink, with dates from the late 1950s to early 1960s. Blue and purple circular stamps from hospitals in Rome and London are visible, along with notes indicating revaccination.
A close-up of a person’s upper arm as another person applies a small, colorful adhesive bandage at the injection site. The person receiving the bandage is wearing a short-sleeved, patterned shirt and a face mask. The hands of the person applying the bandage are visible in the foreground, gently pressing it onto the skin. The background is softly blurred, suggesting a clinical setting.
Watercolor-style illustration of a wooden bridge crossing a gap between two hills. The left hill is labeled “SICKNESS” and the right hill “WELLNESS.” A line of people of different ages walks across the bridge. The bridge planks are labeled “PRIMARY CARE,” “VACCINES,” “CLEAN WATER,” “MATERNAL,” and “CHRONIC DISEASE MEDS.” One person stands alone on the ground below the right end, looking up.
An AI-generated watercolor-style illustration of a late-night talk show set titled 'Analysis Late Night,' with the R programming language logo prominently displayed in the background. The host is an anthropomorphic scroll of paper wearing glasses and a headset, sitting behind a desk with R code visible on its body (showing ggplot2, dplyr::filter, and print()). The guest is a smiling spreadsheet character resembling a Microsoft Excel window, sitting in an armchair and pointing to a presentation screen labeled 'Story' that displays trend and forecast charts. A mug labeled 'R-15' sits on the desk, and an audience of human figures fills the background — humorously depicting data 'telling its story' through analysis."
Four crystal award trophies lined up on a wooden surface, each engraved with the seal of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia and inscribed with individual recipient names. The foremost trophy reads "Ebony Powell, CHES — 2025 Public Health Award – Student — Section on Public Health and Preventive Medicine — The College of Physicians of Philadelphia." Additional trophies behind it are inscribed for other recipients including "Eric Devins Block, MPH, MS, BS" and "M. Patricia We[…]," all recognizing the 2025 Public Health Award from the College of Physicians of Philadelphia.
An infographic titled "THE U.S. VACCINE APPROVAL PROCESS," showing a left-to-right timeline with diverse individuals. Steps include Preclinical Development, IND Application, three phases of Clinical Trials, FDA Review & Licensure, Use Recommendations (ACIP role), and Post-Licensure Safety Surveillance. A top bar notes "CONTINUOUS SAFETY MONITORING." Small text bubbles, callout boxes, and illustrations detail activities, goals, participants, and review steps. Typical durations are listed along the bottom, ranging from months to years, with surveillance marked "Ongoing."
Infographic titled 'Vaccine Ambassadors: Empowering Youth to Lead Public Health Education.' It describes a Wayne State University program that trained high school students as vaccine ambassadors to address post-pandemic vaccination rate declines in Detroit. The left side illustrates 'The Two-Step Empowerment Model': Step 1 shows ambassadors completing a 3-week curriculum on immunology, myth-busting, and communication (with flexible synchronous and asynchronous access); Step 2 depicts peer-to-peer outreach through interactive myth-busting sessions at community health fairs and after-school programs. The right side, titled 'Proving the Impact,' presents a bar chart showing ambassador knowledge scores rose 38% (from 56.7% to 78.3% pre- to post-training), and youth taught by ambassadors saw proficiency scores nearly double from a 45% baseline to 82%, compared to 45% for community youth not in the program.
An illustrated infographic titled “Unstable Housing, Unsettled Minds: The Youth Mental Health Crisis.” On the left, a cracked house and icons show housing insecurity and financial strain, noting over 1 in 10 youth live in families unable to pay rent. In the center, icons depict anxiety, depression, aggression, and sleep disturbances linked to housing stress, including inability to pay rent and eviction notices. On the right, shield and home icons highlight solutions like stronger housing policies and using housing status to identify at-risk youth.
A line chart titled "Median Home Price (\$) and Median Household Income (\$)" compares two trends from 2000 to 2022. The blue line shows median home prices rising sharply over time, especially after 2015. The red line, representing median household income, shows a much slower and steadier increase. By 2022, the gap between home prices and household income is noticeably wider than in earlier years.
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A black-and-white cartoon shows Abraham Lincoln lying sick in bed, his face and hands covered in smallpox lesions. Despite being in bed, he is still wearing his tall top hat. A Black man stands beside him, holding a bowl and a cloth with a concerned expression, suggesting he is tending to Lincoln. The room is simple, with a framed picture on the wall and a curtain drawn to one side. The style mimics that of a classic newspaper cartoon.
A calculator rests on a dotted Rhodia notepad page filled with hand-written epidemiological calculations. The page includes a 2x2 table of measles cases by vaccination status, Chi-square test setup, confidence intervals, a relative risk calculation, and an odds ratio calculation. Everything is organized in sections with equations, notes, and small graphs. The background includes a colorful, abstract desk mat and a closed pen.