Publisher's Synopsis
Leana Wen - emergency physician, former Baltimore health commissioner, CNN medical analyst and 'Washington Post' contributing columnist - has lived on the front lines of public health, leading the fight against the opioid epidemic, outbreaks of infectitious disease, maternal and infant mortality, and COVID-19 disinformation. Here, in gripping detail, Wen lays bare the lifesaving work of public health and its innovative approach to social ills, treating gun violence as a contagious disease, for example, and racism as a threat to health. Wen also tells her own uniquely American story: an immigrant from China, she and her family received food stamps and were at time homeless despite her parents working multiple jobs. That child went on to attend college at 13, became a Rhodes scholar, and turn to public health as a way to make a difference.
