Draft:UC Irvine Public Health

The University of California, Irvine Program in Public Health is in the process of becoming the UC Irvine School of Population and Public Health – the fourth school of public health in the University of California system.

It is made up of four departments that represent the foundations of public health: Environmental & Occupational Health; Epidemiology & Biostatistics; Health, Society, and Behavior; and the original department, Population Health & Disease Prevention.

Mission & Vision:

The Program’s mission is the achievement of health equity for all populations through research, teaching, service, and public health practice, locally and globally. Championing the principles of evidence-based public health science, the Program’s community aspires to understand and impact population-level social, biological, and environmental determinants of health and well-being.

Boasting one of the largest and most diverse undergraduate programs in the country, UCI Public Health has approximately 1,300 undergraduate students, 200 graduate students, 60 senate and clinical faculty, 90 staff members, and 60 career researchers. The Program offers eight degrees as well as many additional dual degree options.

The Program is ranked #26 by the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research Rankings of NIH Awards (Schools of Public Health Category) and among the top 50 for U.S. News & World Report Graduate School Rankings for public health.

History: Established in 2003, stemming from the UCI School of Social Ecology, the UCI Program in Public Health was a one-department program and in 2021 added three more departments to its unit. The Program now sits with three other schools and an institute under the Susan & Henry Samueli College of Health Sciences.

Our Dean: Bernadette Boden-Albala, MPH, Dr.P.H., is the current director and founding dean of the proposed UCI School of Population and Public Health. Boden-Albala started her tenure with UC Irvine in the summer of 2019. She looks forward to assembling the UCI Public Health community’s commitment to health equity, social justice, and academic excellence to a world-class school of population and public health.

Before UC Irvine, Boden-Albala held academic positions and leadership in the New York University School of Global Public Health, the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and the Columbia Mailman School of Public Health. Boden-Albala received her Master of Public Health and Doctor of Public Health degrees at the Columbia Mailman School of Public Health.

Departments: Department of Environmental and Occupational Health: This department researches and studies topics related to environmental health sciences and occupational medicine. Additionally, this department is one of the only departments to offer research and training in Orange County. Physicians and healthcare professionals are committed to providing high-quality evaluations of public safety personnel. Medical evaluations as well as consultations are also offered. Degrees offered in this department are an MS or PhD in Environmental Health Sciences.

Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics: The mission of the Epidemiology and Biostatistics department is to improve population health through education, community engagement, research, and more. This department calls upon other disciplines such as biology, informatics, economics, behavioral sciences, and many more to strengthen epidemiological methods. Degrees offered in this department include an MS or PhD in Epidemiology.

Department of Health, Society, and Behavior: The Department of Health, Society, and Behavior is the newest department at UC Irvine, Program in Public Health. Within this department, the work done focuses on bridging environmental, social, cultural, and biological factors to health status and behavior. Other concepts in this department include health disparities, health equity, social determinants of health, and many more. Degrees offered in this department are an MPH (Sociocultural Diversity & Health) and a PhD (Disease Prevention emphasis).

Department of Population Health and Disease Prevention: The Department of Population Health and Disease Prevention was established in 2008. It has served as the center for the campus’ public health training. Within this department, there are various training opportunities to assess health risks in diverse communities. Degrees offered in this department include an MS in Public Health and a PhD in Public Health (Global Health).

Degree Programs Undergraduate Studies: The Program offers two undergraduate majors: public health sciences and public health policy. Public health sciences is a Bachelor of Science degree while public health policy is a Bachelor of Arts degree. The program also offers a total of three minors. These minors are global health, public health, and health informatics. Finally, the program provides a single certificate, the Certificate in College Population Health Promotion and Wellness. Coursework can include topics such as nutrition, health policy, and health communication. Both programs allow students to learn about quantitative and qualitative aspects of public health research and practice. Graduates will acquire a strong foundation in public health sciences and application.

Graduate Studies: The program in public health currently offers four different graduate degrees: the Master of Public Health, Master of Science in Public Health, Master of Science in Environmental Health Sciences, and Master of Science in Epidemiology. Students interested in combining law and public health are invited to apply for the JD/MPH dual degree. The MS programs in Environmental Health Sciences and Epidemiology provide students with the skills necessary to conduct basic or applied research to address discipline-specific problems and to work in research or practice-based careers. The MPH degree contains a professional component that includes a skill-based aspect across the core disciplines of public health.

Doctoral Studies: The program in public health offers three doctoral programs: a PhD in Public Health, a PhD in Environmental Health Sciences, and a PhD in Epidemiology. Students in the public health doctoral program have the opportunity to conduct research with accomplished faculty members on some of today’s most pressing public health questions.

Healthcare and Public Health Analytics Program The Healthcare and Public Health Analytics is a specialized studies program that is open to individuals who want to pursue or advance their careers in healthcare, public health, and information and digital technology. This program is designed for individuals looking for analytical skills to transform insights to support evidence-based decision-making. This program is administered through the UCI Division of Continuing Education and is in partnership with the UC Irvine Donald Bren School of Information & Computer Sciences, and the UC Irvine Institute for Clinical and Translational Sciences. This program is open to undergraduate or graduate students, healthcare executives and administrators, employees of public health agencies, and many more.

Occupational and Environmental Medicine Residency Program The Occupational and Environmental Medicine Residency Program was established in 1976 and is a joint training program between the UC Irvine Program in Public Health and UC Irvine School of Medicine’s Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. Over 85 physicians have graduated from this program. The goal of this program is to prepare residents for the practice of occupational medicine in many settings such as private clinical practices, healthcare organizations, and more. This program is a two-year training experience that includes both an academic and practicum phase.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion UC Irvine's Program in Public Health is dedicated to maintaining and celebrating an inclusive and diverse environment. This mission is demonstrated in our student body, faculty, and staff who represent multicultural backgrounds and unique perspectives on public health.

Education & Awareness: Ongoing Curriculum Review: Public Health faculty partake actively in ongoing curriculum reviews for the elimination of post-colonial content and literature. Health Justice Advocates: The UC Irvine Program in Public Health provides support for student body organizations like Health Justice Advocates, which conduct a range of activities focused on the Black Lives Matter movement, social justice, and public health.

Diversity Fellowships: Several fellowships are offered within the UC Irvine Program in Public Health including the Latino Excellence and Achievement Award, the Public Health Leadership Awards, and the Founding Dean’s Diversity Fellowship.

Recruiting & Supporting a Diverse Workforce:

UCI Black Thriving Initiative Faculty Cluster Hire in Environmental Health Disparities: The Black Thriving Thriving Initiative cluster program works to leverage the university’s research, teaching, and service mission to understand the drivers of well-being in support of Black communities. Graduate Cluster on Environmental Racism & Health Equity: The Graduate Cluster gives fellows structured training in environmental racism and health equity to build their research and professional skills. Students can receive ongoing mentorship and support from the university and the broader community.

Research Excellence:

The Program has a multimillion-dollar research operating budget of approximately $38 million in the 23-24 FY and was awarded $23 million in new contracts and grants.

The Program has numerous areas of research excellence, including:

• Bioethics focused on moral and ethical issues in health;
• Cancer control and screening aim to prevent illnesses;
• Chronic disease remains an illness that public health continues to tackle;
• Climate change requires constant effort to research and improve for the future;
• Emerging & Infectious disease involves stopping the spread of illnesses from microorganisms such as viruses or bacteria;
• Environmental & Occupational hazards can relate to natural disasters;
• Health equity & social justice aims to work towards global health to prevent and detect various illnesses.
• Many more areas of excellence include Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Health Policy & Management, Health Services Research/Population Health, Informatics, Maternal & Child Health, Mental Health, and Nutrition & Wellness.

In the Field:

At UCI Public Health, our work extends far beyond the classroom. We are out in our communities – locally and globally – and out in the field working to advance health equity for all through research, education, and public service.

Alumni:

With a rapidly growing alumni network of 5,000+ individuals, the Program in Public Health strives to nurture and strengthen both personal and professional bonds between alumni and UC Irvine.

Research Centers:

• Air Pollution Health Effects Lab (APHEL)
• California Initiative for Health Equity & Action (CAL-IHEA)
• Center for Environmental Health Disparities Research (CEHDR)
• Center for Health Ethics
• Center for Occupational and Environmental Health (COEH)
• Center for Population, Inequality, and Policy (CPIP)
• Center for Young Adult Cancer Survivorship Research
• Global Health Research, Education, and Translation (GHREAT)
• Institute for Interdisciplinary Salivary Bioscience Research (IISBR)
• World Institute for Sustainable Development of Materials (WISDOM)

References

https://publichealth.uci.edu/ https://brimr.org/brimr-rankings-of-nih-funding-in-2023/