In the March 2021 Issue of the Quarterly.

Since the launch of the Quarterly’s Building Back Better series of policy opinion posts in November 2020, the United States has experienced one of the most tumultuous and traumatic periods in its history. In fact, the entire year of 2020 will be remembered as a “perfect storm” of global pandemic, tragically avoidable death, reduced life expectancy, economic depression, racial injustice, and civil unrest. Fortunately, the violent insurrection at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, failed, and the inauguration of President Biden occurred two weeks later without incident. Since taking office, the Biden administration has initiated a host of federal policy changes affecting not only health but other areas of policy that relate to health, most notably environmental protection and climate change. Some of these policy shifts reverse Trump-era policies harmful to health, while others aim to improve or strengthen existing programs. Not surprisingly, many have aligned closely with ideas and recommendations contained in the 13 pieces posted thus far in the Building Back Better series. Because the administration continues to face formidable challenges that require timely, practical, evidence-based policy advice, we will continue the series for the foreseeable future and invite readers to visit our website (https://www.milbank.org/quarterly/ building-back-better/). The four Perspectives in this issue of the Quarterly all embrace the spirit of “building back better.” In “Population Health Science: Fulfilling the Mission of Public Health,” Frederick Zimmerman argues that public health has been distracted from its historical mission of ensuring the conditions in which people can be healthy. He attributes this to a heavy reliance on randomized controlled trials, a dearth of formal theoretical models, and a reluctance to engage in politics. However, he believes that the field of population health is bringing needed scientific tools to the aid of public health in fulfilling its core mission. Persistent communication inequities have limited the access of racial and ethnic minorities to life-saving health information, making them more vulnerable to the harmful effects of misinformation. In “The Com-