The Office of Public Scholarship is proud to announce the 2026 Public Scholarship Faculty Fellows: Salma Abdalla, Associate Professor at the School of Public Health, and Liz Chiarello, Associate Professor of Sociology.
The Public Scholarship Faculty Fellowship recognizes scholars whose work connects rigorous research with public audiences. Abdalla and Chiarello were selected as Fellows in recognition of their sustained commitment to translating research for people outside of the academy—through media appearances, accessible storytelling, and original public-facing content.
Abdalla is receiving funding to support her public health podcast, Complicating the Narrative. Chiarello is receiving support to adapt her recent book, Policing Patients: Treatment and Surveillance on the Frontlines of the Opioid Crisis (Princeton University Press, 2024), into an audiobook.
“Dr. Abdalla and Dr. Chiarello are exactly the kind of scholars this program was created to support and celebrate,” Director of Public Scholarship, Christopher Schaberg, said. “Their commitment to reaching people beyond the academy sets a powerful example for what this kind of impact can look like across WashU.”
About Salma Abdalla
Abdalla is a physician by training who studies how social, commercial, and economic policies shape population health. Her podcast, Complicating the Narrative, brings her rigorous, evidence-based analysis to complex population health challenges. The goal of the podcast is to “empower listeners with nuanced understanding, helping them navigate these multifaceted issues in an informed and balanced way.”
In her research, Abdalla studies the mental health effects of trauma and how data can be used to inform decision-making around noncommunicable diseases. She is co-director of the Global Health Futures Innovation Research Network at the WashU School of Public Health, and she was a co-author of the U.S. Surgeon General’s 2021 report on community health and economic prosperity.
About Liz Chiarello
Chiarello is a medical sociologist and socio-legal scholar whose work explores how cultural forces such as law, politics, and organizational policy shape decision-making in healthcare and the criminal-legal system. Her 2024 book, Policing Patients: Treatment and Surveillance on the Frontlines of the Opioid Crisis, examines how the fields of healthcare and criminal justice have used shared surveillance technology to address the overdose crisis and how doing so has altered professional work and undermined patient care. She argues for a comprehensive approach to solving the crisis grounded in harm reduction, treatment, and prevention. The book has received multiple awards, including the Herbert Jacob Prize from the Law and Society Association.
Beyond academia, Chiarello is a frequent public commentator on opioid-related topics and has been featured in The New York Times, USA Today, Bloomberg News, and St. Louis on the Air.
2025 Fellows
Last year’s Public Scholarship Faculty Fellows were Rebecca J. Lester (Anthropology) and Abram Van Engen (English). You can learn more about their work here.