A team of students representing Temple University’s Public Policy Lab placed second at the National Policy Challenge Super Bowl held at the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics this February.

Heather Border, Tahya Eldreny, Gabriel Puckett and Laksha Thulasiram, all students in the MPH program in the Barnett College of Public Health, won the Public Policy Lab’s inaugural Policy Challenge in November 2025 and were invited to represent Temple at the national event.

For both events, teams were asked to devise a novel policy solution in response to a prompt. Teams had to draft a two-page proposal and were given 5 minutes to present their program before the judges. The team from Temple presented “Promoting Sexual Health in Older Adults: A Policy Proposal for Condom Distribution in Philadelphia Continuing Care Retirement Communities,” a cost-effective, scalable, and reproducible program to provide sexual health education and distribute prophylactics to seniors in care facilities.

At the Public Policy Lab event in November, 21 teams of undergraduate and master’s students submitted proposals, and the top five teams were invited to present their policies at a live event. The judges selected the winning team based on the written proposal and the oral presentation.

At the national event, Temple’s team competed against others representing six colleges and universities from across the country, including Grinnell College, Colorado State University, the University of Cincinnati, Kansas State University, the University of Illinois Chicago and the University of Chicago. The event was judged by Dr. Susan Monarez, former Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"What struck me most was the mindset the students brought into the room. They are not naïve to the complexity of the challenges facing our health systems. They see them every day. And yet, they chose to see not barriers, but opportunities to make things better,” said Dr. Monarez. She
continued, “I have spent my career working to translate science and innovation into real-world solutions, and I recognized in these students the same drive and clarity of purpose required to turn ideas into impact. They were not only ambitious, but also practical, thoughtful about implementation and grounded in the realities of how change happens. Watching each team step onto the stage and present their ideas with clarity and confidence, I felt a deep sense of pride to play even a small role in their professional journey.”

For winning the PPL Challenge and for placing at the national event, the team members received a monetary prize. Congratulations again to Heather, Tahya, Gabriel and Laksha!