We Are Cortex | Rodrigo Reis, PhD

The way Rodrigo Reis thinks about his job, he should be invisible.

As a professor of public health at Washington University’s newly launched Bursky School of Public Health, his job centers on research into improving people’s lives, education centered on preparing the next generation of public health professionals, and implementing practical, research-backed solutions that keep people healthy.

“Good public health is invisible, because the solutions are implemented and working well,” Reis said. And public health solutions have tentacles that stretch across a range of disciplines: access to medicine, healthcare, and food; the quality of air and water; where you live; the type of job you have—“all the things affecting how you live and how healthy you live, this is all public health.”

Reis transitioned to the school of public health after 10 years on the faculty of WashU’s Brown School of Social Work. Reis leads the school’s People, Health and Place Unit within its Prevention Research Center, where he is also an investigator.

This year, the Bursky School welcomed its first 188 students, becoming the ninth school at WashU and the first new school at the university in 100 years. The school is housed in two locations: On the Danforth Campus and within Cortex at 4300 Duncan. That blending of academia and entrepreneurship excites Reis.

“In academia, we have great assets, and we have great limitations. Academia moves slower than the needs of the people that are in need,” he said. In contrast, the Cortex culture of innovation rewards finding and implementing solutions quickly. “I think combining this academic environment, geared toward improving people's lives, with this great interaction of innovation, discovery, and scalability works for everybody.”

As a native of Curitiba, Brazil, Reis became inspired by his city’s commitment to good urban planning and sustainable solutions for city living. That includes the city’s pioneering creation of a bus rapid transit (or BRT) system—a system in line to be launched in St. Louis—to streamline public transportation. It all led to his interest in social work and public health.

He is also inspired by the many companies in the Cortex community that work within the St. Louis ecosystem on solutions that can be applied globally.

“What we find here can work elsewhere—and the other way around,” Reis said. “We call that GLOCO. We cannot think about global solutions without understanding the local needs, and we can apply the local solutions elsewhere. You cannot detangle that – innovation, research, and solutions are integrated. We just come from different disciplines and we approach things slightly differently – that's why we're better together.”

Join us on Wednesday, November 4th for #WeAreCortex — a community celebration of the thinkers, builders, creators, and doers who are shaping the future of St. Louis and beyond. Free coffee and light breakfast will be provided – register to attend today!