We serve as a trusted resource for the latest news and helpful information related to skin health and surface hygiene advancements. GOJO microbiologists, scientists,
nurses and other professionals post regularly
and we also get the views of outside experts and
thought leaders in the field. It’s all part of the
GOJO Purpose, Saving Lives and Making Lives Better Through Well-Being Solutions.
Susan Polan, Ph.D.
Associate Executive Director for Public Affairs and Advocacy, American Public Health Association
Susan L. Polan, Ph.D., is associate executive director for public affairs and advocacy with the American Public Health Association. She oversees the Association's departments of government relations, online marketing, affiliate affairs, communications and membership. She is responsible for planning and directing APHA's legislative, regulatory and legal activities, communicating those initiatives and Association news to members and the public, and overseeing membership recruitment and retention and Affiliate, Caucus and Section relations.
Prior to joining APHA, Polan worked as the director of government relations at the Trust for America's Health, a public health advocacy organization. There, she served as lead staff lobbyist to Congress, federal agencies and the administration on priority issues, including public health infrastructure development, chronic disease prevention and where she advocated for new funding for a nationwide health tracking network.
Polan has more than two decades of experience in public health, government relations and associations. She has drafted legislation for Senate consideration on tobacco control and Safe and Drug Free Schools as an American Association for Advancement of Science Congressional science and technology fellow for the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee. She served as director of federal government relations at the American Cancer Society and as president and senior advisor of Partnership for Prevention, where she represented the nonprofit to government officials, congressional offices, the Congressional Prevention Coalition and other partners. She has also worked as a health policy consultant whose projects included encouraging an increase in funding for environmental health concerns and grant writing for several health clients.
Polan earned her Bachelor of Science degree in psychology from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. She later earned a Master's of Science degree in health psychology from San Diego State University and a doctorate in social ecology from the University of California, Irvine.
Share Habits, Not Germs with Three Simple Steps
10/15/2020
By Susan Polan, Ph.D.
Associate Executive Director for Public Affairs and Advocacy, American Public Health Association
As October 15 is Global Handwashing Day, I wanted to take this opportunity to remind all of you about some simple public health measures that protect not just you, not just your family, but also your friends, your colleagues, strangers you encounter in the grocery store or in the line to vote. We have all been hearing about these simple measures for years but much more regularly and from many different sources since March when the World Health Organization (WHO) officially declared COVID-19 a pandemic.
Read more »