I appreciate the call for more scrutiny of cost-effectiveness in HSS. Given the EA community’s focus on measurable impact, do you think there's room to shift some methodological attention toward capturing system-level resilience, which is harder to quantify but critical for long-term outcomes (especially during shocks like pandemics or conflicts)? For example, Rwanda’s long-term investment in community health workers and data systems didn’t show immediate returns, but it was credited with enabling a rapid and coordinated pandemic response – suggesting that some HSS benefits may only become visible during moments of acute stress.

Yeah, I’ve had mixed results too. I find tools like Connected Papers or ResearchRabbit most useful when I’m exploring a loosely defined area – like when I was looking at how “burnout” and “compassion fatigue” are used across occupational health and mental health literature. I usually start with a solid anchor paper and follow citation paths out from there to spot newer or adjacent work I might miss with keyword searches alone.

Re: reference managers – I use Zotero, mainly because it makes tagging easy. I’ll tag papers with terms like “job strain” or “occupational stress” and leave quick notes on definitions or measurement tools. It helps when trying to map how constructs shift or get re-labelled over time.

Thanks for this – your point about choosing “Goldilocks” search terms really stood out. One challenge I’ve encountered is how quickly terminology shifts over time, which can cause even well-chosen terms to underperform in the long run. There’s some recent work suggesting that incorporating citation network analysis (e.g., using tools like Connected Papers or Litmaps) can help identify emerging clusters of related research that keyword-based searches might miss.

In my own reviews, I’ve found two strategies helpful: (1) combining PubMed’s My NCBI alerts with citation alerts for key papers to catch both direct hits and lateral developments, and (2) using a reference manager that supports tagging and notes to track how concepts evolve over time.

Would be keen to hear if others have different strategies for spotting shifting language in a field!

Very much agree about public health as low-hanging fruit when it comes to impact- hence my career pivot! We often use the term “wicked problems” to describe the public health challenges that are complex, interconnected, and basically refuse to be “solved”. In my view, some of the “wickedest” problems in epidemiology include climate change and health, non-communicable diseases (NCDs), antimicrobial resistance, mental health, pandemic preparedness, and global health equity (among others). 

My own research mostly focuses on NCDs (particularly diabetes) and occupational health epidemiology, while I teach subjects like climate change and public health, as well as health communication (which I also see as particularly important given the rise of health misinformation). I’ve also served on various mental health and global health boards and committees, so I guess you could say I’m trying to contribute to solving as many of these big public health problems as I can! 

thanks Toby, will do!

Hi EAs, I’m Dee, first-time forum poster but long-time advocate for EA principles since first discovering the movement through Peter Singer’s work. I’ve always had a particular interest in global health and wellbeing, which initially inspired me to complete a medical degree. While I enjoyed my studies, I became somewhat disheartened with the scope of impact I could have as a single doctor in a system largely geared towards treatment rather than prevention of disease. After a career pivot to management consulting for a couple of years, I eventually completed my PhD in epidemiology. I’m now using my research experience and medical knowledge to tackle complex public health problems. 

The more I’ve solidified my own goals to do good, including through my career as well as through giving to effective causes, I’ve sought to further engage with EA content and the community. I look forward to connecting and sharing ideas with you all!