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Letter from the Editor

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2021

Courtney McClellan
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Just weeks before the 2016 presidential election, over 600 professionals gathered in Washington, D.C., for the bi-annual Public Health Law Conference. Co-hosted by the American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics and the Network for Public Health Law, and generously funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, this event brought together some of the country's leading scholars and practitioners in the field — many of whom have been part of ASLME for years. This year's theme focused on equity, and how inequalities affect many issues central to public health: access to health and oral care, nutritious food, education, and safe and healthy communities. The authors of this supplement address equity in a variety of interesting ways — some are updates on topics we've previously published, while others are completely new. As the issue's guest editor Donna Levin writes in her Introduction, “Equity is the cornerstone for the creation of a culture of health.” Together these articles show that, as a society, we are more than ready for a culture of health, and understanding how equity lies at the core of these issues is the first step toward taking action.

One of our favorite aspects of this conference is catching up with old friends, making new ones, and listening to everyone's presentations. Each day attendees shared their ideas, insight, knowledge, and recommendations, and several kept the conversation going on social media. We are honored to work with such talented and dedicated practitioners in the field of public health. Their work inspires us to take whatever steps we can to improve the health and well-being of those around us. Publishing this supplement is our way of helping to move the conversation from the conference attendees to the public at large. As with all of our previous supplements published after the Public Health Law Conference, this issue will be free and available to all at aslme.org; we encourage you to share it far and wide. As always we thank you for being part of this journey and doing your part to achieve health equity for all.