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Shawnee County’s new epidemiologist outlines priorities: mental health, heat illness, motor‑vehicle deaths
Summary
Josh Van Drunen, Shawnee County epidemiologist, described his role in tracking disease, supporting community partners and analyzing local trends including higher suicide rates and barriers to mental‑health access.
Shawnee County’s newly hired epidemiologist, Josh Van Drunen, used the Board of Health meeting on Oct. 23 to outline how his work will inform county priorities and public‑health interventions.
"Epidemiology aims to learn where disease occurs and why it occurs there," Van Drunen said, describing the field as the study of distribution and determinants of disease. He said his role combines data collection, trend analysis and translating findings into interventions for county programs and community coalitions.
Van Drunen listed current projects that include…
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