This report highlights food insecurity as a persistent and growing public health issue in the United States, affecting nearly 48 million people. With 13.7% of households experiencing food insecurity in 2024, many families face serious challenges, including skipping meals or going an entire day without eating. The report outlines the significant physical and mental health impacts linked to food insecurity, particularly among children, and emphasizes the disproportionate burden in Southern states like Louisiana, where rates remain among the highest in the nation.

This report provides evidence, best practices, and practical strategies for integrating doulas into maternal care, highlighting their role in improving birth outcomes, supporting families throughout the prenatal, birth, and postpartum periods, and advancing equitable maternal health in Louisiana.

This resource outlines key attributes of a doula-friendly hospital, highlighting practices, policies, and partnerships that support doulas as integral members of the care team and enhance the birthing experience for clients.

Shelina Davis, MPH, MSW, CEO of the Louisiana Public Health Institute, emphasizes that paid family leave is a critical support for healthier families, stronger schools, and more resilient communities, highlighting that when parents and educators can care for loved ones without sacrificing income, both individual and statewide health and workforce outcomes improve.

This resource outlines what is currently known about the potential connection between vaping and cancer risk, emphasizing that e-cigarettes contain harmful chemicals that can damage DNA and contribute to serious health issues. While long-term research is still ongoing, existing evidence suggests vaping may increase the likelihood of developing conditions linked to cancer. The resource also highlights the need for continued research, along with strong prevention and cessation efforts to protect public health—especially among youth.

This resource highlights that public health impact requires more than knowledge and depends on essential “power skills” that turn ideas into action. It focuses on communication, systems thinking, collaboration, strategic use of data, and policy engagement as key to navigating complexity and driving meaningful change. By strengthening these skills, public health practitioners can build stronger partnerships, improve decision making, and create lasting, equitable outcomes for communities.

This report explores the critical loss of the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) and how the disappearance of this federal data infrastructure threatens our ability to track maternal and infant health trends. It highlights the disproportionate impact on Gulf South states. The brief introduces the Louisiana Maternal & Infant Data Collaborative as an innovative, localized solution to help fill these emerging data gaps and maintain public health accountability.

This report presents analyses of linked maternal and infant health records from The Louisiana Pregnancy Registry. It examines pediatric care adherence, preterm birth, and low birthweight, highlighting differences by sociodemographic and clinical factors and comparing results to national benchmarks. The findings aim to inform maternal and infant health policy and improve care quality across Louisiana.

This report synthesizes insights from the Southern Data Infrastructure webinar, co‑hosted by LPHI and the Southern Economic Advancement Project (SEAP), highlighting how local and regional organizations serve as essential data infrastructure. It offers guidance for funders and partners aiming to build equitable, resilient data systems across Southern communities.

Shelina Davis, MPH, MSW, CEO of the Louisiana Public Health Institute, emphasizes that cancer prevention, early detection, and equitable access to care are essential to building a healthier Louisiana, highlighting the importance of routine screenings, vaccination, and community-based solutions to ensure no one is left behind.

Thomas Carton, PhD, MS, Chief Data and Strategy Officer at the Louisiana Public Health Institute (LPHI), is a researcher on this article, published in Medical Care. It describes how PCORnet’s standardized data network and governance framework enable efficient, large‑scale clinical research by linking data across health systems and supporting diverse studies that address real‑world health questions.

This article, published in Medical Care, was authored in part by REACHnet, LPHI’s clinical research network. REACHnet serves as LPHI’s clinical research network within PCORnet®, enabling efficient, large‑scale studies that integrate patient engagement and real‑world health data to address critical health questions.

Lindsey Rudov, MS, Analyst III on the Health Services Research team at the Louisiana Public Health Institute (LPHI), is a researcher on this article, published in Medical Care. The study describes how a targeted recruitment methodology that combined PCORnet® infrastructure with patient engagement strategies increased participant diversity in the Congenital Heart Initiative registry compared with traditional self‑enrollment approaches, demonstrating the value of combining data‑driven recruitment tools with meaningful patient partnership in research.

Thomas Carton, PhD, MS, Chief Data and Strategy Officer at the Louisiana Public Health Institute (LPHI), is a researcher on this article, published in Medical Care. The study uses PCORnet® data to describe outpatient antiviral prescribing patterns and highlights differences in treatment across patient groups that may be preventable.

Thomas Carton, PhD, MS, Chief Data and Strategy Officer at the Louisiana Public Health Institute (LPHI), is a researcher on this article, published in Medical Care. The study summarizes a decade of achievements by PCORnet®, the national patient‑centered clinical research network, highlighting its growth, expanded patient reach, and contributions to large‑scale, real‑world health research.

Thomas Carton, PhD, MS, Chief Data and Strategy Officer at the Louisiana Public Health Institute (LPHI), is a researcher on this article, published in Medical Care. The study examines patterns of telehealth use during pregnancy and the postpartum period using aggregated electronic health record data from PCORnet®, highlighting changes in care utilization and differences by hypertension status among pregnant women.

Thomas Carton, PhD, MS, Chief Data and Strategy Officer, and Bridget Simon-Friedt, PhD, MS, Population Health Scientist, both at the Louisiana Public Health Institute (LPHI), are researchers on this article, published in Medical Care. The study leveraged PCORnet® data from over 1.6 million adults to examine racial and ethnic differences in COVID‑19 disease severity.

Thomas Carton, PhD, MS, Chief Data and Strategy Officer, and Beth Nauman, PhD, MPH, Senior Director of Health Services Research, both at the Louisiana Public Health Institute (LPHI), are researchers on this article, published in Medical Care. The study highlights how linking electronic health record and claims data strengthens research capacity within PCORnet® and supports more comprehensive, patient-centered research.

Beth Nauman, PhD, MPH, Senior Director of Health Services Research at the Louisiana Public Health Institute (LPHI), is a researcher on this article, published in Medical Care. The study analyzes more than 1.1 million pregnancy outcomes across 72 health systems to better understand patterns of pregnancy-related health events nationwide.

The report identifies obstacles to care including financial barriers, perceived cost of care, transportation challenges, and provider shortages, and offered recommendations such as strengthening insurance literacy, expanding access models, increasing telehealth capacity, and building workforce pipeline programs.