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New Health Secretary Brings Experience In Population Health, Course Focuses On Pandemic

Dr. Tracie Collins

University Showcase Friday, 11/20, 8a: On this episode we meet Dr. Tracie Collins, the women selected this month by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to be the new secretary for the New Mexico Department of Health. Collins has served as Dean of the UNM College of Population Health since 2019.

Dr. Collins steps in as the state is seeing an explosion of coronavirus cases that threaten to overwhelm the healthcare system. She brings an expertise in health disparities that have been exacerbated by the global pandemic. Collins says her interest in health care began when she was young. On this episode she talks about how those experiences shaped her career and how we can tackle the pandemic.

Also on this episode, we speak with Professor Chris Duvall, chair of the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies. He is teaching a course on the pandemic, which he says offers a perfect teachable moment.

Megan has been a journalist for 25 years and worked at business weeklies in San Antonio, New Orleans and Albuquerque. She first came to KUNM as a phone volunteer on the pledge drive in 2005. That led to volunteering on Women’s Focus, Weekend Edition and the Global Music Show. She was then hired as Morning Edition host in 2015, then the All Things Considered host in 2018. Megan was hired as News Director in 2021.
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