Jamila Michener, assistant professor of government in the College of Arts and Sciences at Cornell University, discusses COVID-19 and potential changes in the role of the federal government. The pandemic may prompt people to re-examine investments in institutions, such as the public health system, on which we now rely, she says. Disinvestments in these institutions include the steady closure of rural hospitals for the past five years, she says. Michener studies questions related to poverty, inequality and public policy.