Minnesota Public Health Association
Since 1907, MPHA has been dedicated to creating a healthier Minnesota through effective public health practice and engaged citizens.
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2025 - 2026 Policy Forum Series:
Health and Wellbeing in Today’s Climate: The times, they are a changin’
The theme for this year’s breakfast forum series explores changes that have occurred around the topic of health and wellness. How has the national landscape changed? A response requires public health professionals to dig deep into our roots to ensure basic needs of people are met and sound policies exist to achieve optimum health for all Minnesotans.
The forums will be in-person at the Wilder Foundation in St. Paul (new location). Check-in and a light breakfast begin at 7:30am. Forums begin promptly at 8:00am and conclude at 9:30am.
View the 2025-2026 series flyer!
Sponsorship Opportunities!
November 21, 2025…Immunizations
In the United States, there has been a consistent decline in routine vaccination rates, especially for kindergarteners, which began during the COVID-19 pandemic and has continued. Additionally, misinformation about vaccine safety and effectiveness, fueled by public distrust of health authorities and politicization of vaccine issues has contributed to increased vaccine hesitancy. The use of non-medical exemptions for school vaccination requirements is rising in MN. What is currently being done to improve vaccination rates and regain trust? What did we learn from measles outbreaks and are we on the verge of another outbreak? What may we see as a result of some states’ efforts to roll back school immunization laws?
Moderator: TBA
Panelists: Sheyanga Beecher, Inari Mohammed
| Panelist Bios -
Sheyanga Beecher began her career as a public health nurse in Baltimore, Maryland providing care for mothers recovering from substance use and their children. She received her Masters of Science in Nursing from Johns Hopkins School of Nursing and Masters in Public Health from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. As a nurse practitioner, Ms. Beecher has lived and worked internationally in Haiti, Ethiopia, South Africa and Tanzania with a focus in maternal child health, community health and health system strengthening. In 2012, she began working at Hennepin Healthcare. Currently, Ms. Beecher cares for children with acute illnesses and serves as the Medical Director for the Mobile Health program which began in May of 2020. The Mobile Health program helps increase access to care to pediatric primary care and post-partum care for mothers and their and newborns. In recognition of her work with the Pediatric Mobile Health program, Ms. Beecher has won the Hennepin Healthcare Pandemic Preparedness Award, the BlueCross Blue Shield Trail Blazer Award, the Commissioner’s Circle of Excellence Awards from the Minnesota Department of Human Services, the Woman’s Health Leadership Trust for Innovation and the MDH/CDC Immunization Champion Award. Ms. Beecher co-leads the Hennepin Healthcare Department of Pediatrics Health Equity Work Group, sat on the Hennepin Healthcare Board Mission Effectiveness Committee, and is a member of the Hennepin County PICA/HeadStart Board. |
| Inari Mohammed is a research project manager in the Division of Epidemiology and Community Health at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. She works on the Illuminating and Addressing Structural Racism in the Healthcare Industry project. Before her work at the U of M, Inari was a health equity epidemiologist at the Minnesota Department of Health's Minnesota Immunization Information Connection (MIIC) Unit for 2.5 years. Inari is passionate about health equity and centering the voices and experiences of marginalized communities in public health research and practice. She is a two-time graduate of the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, having attained her MPH in 2019 and PhD in epidemiology in 2024. Her doctoral research focused on assessing vaccine hesitancy and gaps in vaccine coverage among BIPOC Minnesotans. |
February 13, 2026…Prevention therapies, healthcare treatment and drug approvals
Approval of innovative therapies such as treatments for hemophilia and heart disease, and the development of new oncology drugs has been accelerating. FDA has a current effort to expand safe options for pain management and a growing focus on combating the illegal import of counterfeit and illicit drugs. FDA is also working to streamline processes by promoting the real-time reporting of adverse events. The FDA is an essential agency—relied on not only by ALL healthcare providers to ensure drugs are available in the US, but also by other countries as a resource. Who is in charge of this essential health agency? Should AI be used to approve drugs? In what ways will global relationships and tariffs (particularly India and China, who are the MAJOR sources of drugs for the US) affect drug availability and costs? Are the efforts to reduce illegally imported drugs working?
Moderator: TBA
Panelists: TBA
Registration coming soon!
April 24, 2026…Nutrition and wellness
We have a global mental health crisis, including a recent acknowledgment that loneliness and social isolation are now recognized as public health threats. Women’s health is also receiving more attention, especially in the area of menopause. In addition, more people are trying to take control of their health through increased use of wearables and use of foods and supplements to try to improve their health. What are Minnesotans doing and using to improve their health? How has the personalization of health changed health metrics? Have there been changes to holistic mind-body approaches to health? What new information do we have on functional foods and supplements?
Moderator: TBA
Panelists: TBA
Registration coming soon!