Teams across the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, including the Johns Hopkins International Vaccine Access Center, the Institute for Global Tobacco Control, and the Office of External Affairs, have together won six Anthem Awards. Presented by the Webbys, the Anthem Awards celebrate purpose and mission-driven work from people, companies, and organizations worldwide.
The Johns Hopkins International Vaccine Access Center
The Johns Hopkins International Vaccine Access Center won a Silver Award for the VIRA COVID-19 Chatbot in the “Innovation” category, which recognizes new products and services that boost awareness about health issues. Since its conception in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic’s peak, VIRA has used machine learning to grow the number of key topics covered—such as vaccine safety and eligibility—from 40 to more than 200. VIRA has been adopted by seven state health departments and has participated in more than 25,000 conversations.
The Institute for Global Tobacco Control
The Institute for Global Tobacco Control won a Silver Award recognizing Striving Towards Equity, a comprehensive review of the impact of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products on tobacco-related health disparities. This project was completed with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
The Hopkins Bloomberg Public Health Magazine
The Hopkins Bloomberg Public Health magazine won a Silver Award for its special section, “How to End America’s Gun Violence Epidemic.” This 24-page section utilized research and first-person narratives to reframe America’s gun violence crisis as a solvable problem with solutions rooted in public health and policy. Stories from this special section reached an audience of more than one million people and continue to generate discussions on social media.
Public Health On Call Podcast
The Public Health On Call podcast earned two Silver Anthem Awards for podcasts that sought to raise awareness about health issues. One award was for the podcast as a whole, while the other was for the six-episode series “Gun Violence is a Preventable Public Health Issue.” Though the podcast’s initial focus was providing reliable news about COVID-19 to a concerned public at the height of the pandemic, it has since widened its scope, with gun violence being one of many public health issues discussed on the show. This post-COVID pivot has proven popular with listeners; current metrics remain consistent with pandemic content, and individual episodes of the show have been downloaded more than 7 million times.
The Expert Insights Newsletter
The Expert Insights newsletter earned a Bronze Award for a news or journalism outlet that specializes in health-related content. Like the Public Health On Call podcast, Expert Insights debuted in 2020 as a COVID-19 newsletter and has since expanded to include other topics in public health. Offering clear, engaging, and reliable information on issues such as climate change, gun violence, and more, Expert Insights has retained a subscriber base of more than 100K readers.
