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The Department of Public Health Sciences is a basic science department within the UConn School of Medicine. It consists of 24 faculty and over 25 support staff, with a research portfolio representing a total commitment of over $10 million in extramural funding. We serve the School of Medicine as the academic home of faculty in the social, behavioral, and public health sciences as well as health law and medical ethics. The Department of Public Health Sciences is also home to the Program in Applied Public Health Sciences which offers  M.P.H. and Ph.D. degrees as well as four graduate certificates.

News and Events

Our Department Is Growing ...

We are recruiting several full-time tenured faculty positions. View the details.

Professor Lewis Distiguished Faculty Award

Professor Lewis Honored with Distinguished Faculty Award

Congratulations to Professor Judy Lewis who was honored with the Distinguished Faculty Award from the UConn School of Medicine Alumni Board.  She is recognized for her leadership and commitment making an exceptional impact on education at the University.

David Gregorio is in the Fall Faculty Spotlight for being instrumental in expanding public health education to undergraduates through the successful FastTrack (4 + 1) program. Listen to his description of the program.

Tom Babor on the Relationship Between Exposure to Alcohol Marketing and Underage Drinking

Alcohol Ads Lead to Youth Drinking, Should be More Regulated, Experts Say is a press release describing conclusions and recommendations from a series of eight review articles published as a supplement to the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs (JSAD).  Tom Babor, editor of JSAD, was co-author of the conclusions. The full supplement is available as an open-source issue.

 

Program in Applied Public Health Sciences Activities Canceled

 

Footwear With Care Event 2019

This has been another great year of generous donations by students, staff and faculty of the Department of Public Health Sciences during the holiday season!

  • This year we contributed to Footwear With Care, an annual event that provides boots and other essentials to the homeless. Kirsten Carew, Linda Casey, Ruth Shefraw, Barb Case and their family and friends volunteered helping distribute new boots, socks, toiletries, hats and gloves to 600 homeless!
  • We also collected toys for the Burgdorf Clinic.
  • In addition, our department again donated to HPD Officer Jimmy Barrett of the City of Hartford for the homeless. Items included bus tickets, hand warmers and other warm clothing.
  • Plus, clothes and toys were also delivered to the Open Door Soup Kitchen in Winsted, CT.

Thanks to all who donated!

end_hunger2019

Another year that our public health students, department faculty and staff joined with University Health Professionals (UHP) as partners with End Hunger NE to package meals.  70 volunteers packaged more than 10,000 meals that have been distributed to local shelters and food pantries.  Thanks to all who volunteered!

Greg Rhee, Ph.D. cited in two recent articles

The article, In Connecticut, Drug Overdoses Doubled in Six Years, discusses that the rate of opioid overdose deaths in the state is higher than the national average and that using multiple drugs together is increasingly common. Rhee was one of the researchers who collaborated on this study.

The other article, Use of Emergency CPR Device Rises Despite Lack of Evidence, discusses recent research which found “Given the high costs of mechanical CPR devices, better evidence is needed to determine whether these devices improve clinically meaningful outcomes for patients treated for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest by emergency services professionals to justify the significant increase in their use.” Rhee was one of the authors of this study published in JAMA.

 

 

 

Congratulations to Mayte Restrepo-Ruiz, a PhD candidate, who is a 2019-2020 Human Rights Graduate Research Grant recipient. Her topic is Intimate Partner Violence in Contexts of Armed Conflict: The Case of Colombia

 

Join the APHA Billion Steps Challenge between Jan. 1 and April 12. A team for UConn Public Health Sciences has been set up.  You can sign up here:  http://nphw.org/get-involved/steps-challenge
Increasing physical activity:

  • Lowers blood pressure and improves cholesterol levels.
  • Boosts your immune system and your mood.
  • Strengthens bones and joints.
  • Reduces stress.
  • Improves your sleep.

 

 

Educating Educators to Help Children with High-Intensity Special Needs discusses a recent $6.5 million grant awarded to Mary Beth Bruder from the U.S. Department of Education to develop a doctoral leadership program to create a workforce to focus on those with disabilities in early childhood.

Spring 2020 MPH Course Offerings announced.

Thanks to all that stopped by to visit us at our table at APHA or attended our reception at night. It was great to socialize and reconnect with old friends as well as make new acquaintances. Our many posters and presentations were well received. Adekemi Suleiman, one of our Ph.D. students, won first place in her section New researchers/practitioners in OHS poster competition. Congrats, Kemi!

Savings Lives in Haiti details the over 30 year partnership between  Assistant Clinical Professor, Bette Gebrian, and Professor Judy Lewis and their commitment to the people of Haiti and to the expansion of health care access in resource-poor locations.

Congratulations to Dr. Tara Lutz, elected by her peers to serve as a Governing Councilor representing the Public Health Education and Health Promotion Section of APHA.

We are pleased to announce our name has changed to the Department of Public Health Sciences to better convey the nature and scope of the department’s teaching and research.

A recent article, Food Insecurity Leading to Type 2 Diabetes, discusses a collaborative study by a team of Connecticut researchers, including our  Dr. Angela Bermúdez-Millán, that shows there is a strong connection between food insecurity and insulin resistance, the underlying problem in type 2 diabetes.

Check out our latest newsletter, Public Health Happenings, from the Program in Applied Public Health Sciences!

 

Books Published By Our Faculty

 

Program in Applied Public Health Sciences
Employment Opportunities

 

News Archive

Seminars

Each semester, our Program offers 12th Week seminars where students, faculty and community partners come together to examine significant public health issues, affirm our collective commitment to effective public health action and identify unique research and service opportunities. We welcome your participation in our Fall 2020 program. Here is a brief overview of topics and instructions on how to register and attend these sessions.

Tuesday, November 17, 6:00 – 8:00 pm, WebEx Event

DISCUSSING CLIMATE AMID A CLIMATE CRISIS

Connie Roser-Renouf, PhD, is Associate Research Professor at the Center for Climate Change and Communication at George Mason University.  Her research focuses on the application of information processing theories to the design of strategic communication on climate change in order to identify effective communication strategies for audiences with diverse and polarized views on climate change, seeking methods to depolarize the issue and build public support for action to reduce the threat.
James O’Donnell, PhD, is Executive Director of the Connecticut Institute for Resilience & Climate Adaptation (CIRCA) and Professor of Marine Science at UConn. As Executive Director of CIRCA, he is bringing together the world class research and outreach capabilities of UConn and the extensive practical experience of the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection to create and disseminate practical and sustainable strategies to enhance the resilience of the built environment.

*REGISTER NOW for this seminar at:
https://uconn-cmr.webex.com/uconn-cmr/onstage/g.php?MTID=e1df07beea753d26d9d547fd0a0c0c564.

Thursday, November 19, 6:00 – 8:00 pm, WebEx Event

TRANSFORMING CHILD HEALTH SERVICES:  A CONVERSATION

Woodie Kessel, MD, MPH, is a community pediatrician who has served as senior advisor on public health, health policy, and child and family health matters to the White House, Cabinet Secretaries, Surgeon Generals, and Health and Human Services officials spanning eight administrations.  He has developed and led initiatives to reduce infant mortality, expand child health insurance, improve environmental health, prevent childhood obesity, and break the cycle of violence and trauma among children witnessing domestic violence and terrorism.  Currently, he is the C. Everett Koop Senior Child Health Scholar in Residence of the Koop Institute at Dartmouth College.

Paul Dworkin, MD, is Executive Vice President for Community Child Health at the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center and Founding Director of the Help Me Grow National Center, an initiative promoting early identification of children with mild to moderate developmental or behavioral concerns in order to link them to community-based programs and services.  He is Professor of Pediatrics at UConn’s School of Medicine, served as editor of the Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics and is a recipient of the C. Anderson Aldrich Award from the American Academy of Pediatrics.
*REGISTER NOW for this seminar at:
https://uconn-cmr.webex.com/uconn-cmr/onstage/g.php?MTID=ed38bd74a14342bd08ae9b98532a72e3b.