Public Health
What if you could join a determined and growing effort to find measures to improve human health...
Public Health uses the
natural and social sciences to
promote global health
STAMP OUT SICKNESS
Develop your imagination and research skills to detect the true causes of health problems and your growing awareness of the interconnectedness of the world, and you’ll understand how public health policy is made.
We head to the United Nations headquarters in New York to learn firsthand about the World Health Organization, the U.N.’s public health branch that works to combat the spread of contagious diseases such as AIDS and tuberculosis. Just one of many real-world experiences we create for our minors.
Critical ideas on health care come from this important field. We strategize to prevent disease, disability and accidents. We organize delivery of health care services. We educate. We advocate social policies for a standard of living that permits healthy lifestyles. And we strive to protect the environment.
You could become an epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control monitoring outbreaks of West Nile virus. You could become a researcher at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health studying workplace hazards. You could collaborate with chemists at the EPA to develop better indicators of air quality.
You will also find challenging opportunities in city and state government—the New York City Department of Health makes headlines weekly for their initiatives to curb smoking and obesity—as well as research funded by organizations such as the Rockefeller or Bill and Melinda Gates foundations.
Passionate Faculty
Joslyn Cassady
Associate professor of anthropology
I conduct medical anthropological fieldwork with Inuit communities in Alaska on issues of public health and environmental pollution.
Ph.D., University of Wisconsin–Madison
Passionate Faculty
Roger Knowles
Associate professor
My research lab has successfully harvested placental stem cells from rats, and our recent experiments have suggested that these stem cells can promote a protective environment in the brain. Our hope one day is to use these cells as a therapy for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s. Yankees fans alert: I’m a die-hard Red Sox fan.
Ph.D., Harvard University
Passionate Faculty
Joanna Miller
Assistant professor
I’m a molecular biologist with an interest in RNA interference. Right now I’m developing new course materials to help students improve their writing skills. In my spare time, I kickbox.
Ph.D., Northwestern University
Passionate Faculty
Jonathan Reader
Baker Professor of Sociology
I’ve written widely on topics from community disasters to corporate mergers to innovations in medical technology. My teaching specialties include political sociology, sociology of health and illness and sociology of management.
Ph.D., Cornell University
Passionate Faculty
Linda Van Blerkom
Professor of anthropology
I’m a biological and medical anthropologist specializing in human evolution and the co-evolution of humans and their infectious diseases.
Ph.D., University of Colorado
Imagine Studying
factors contributing to disease emergence and measures for control in “Emerging Infectious Diseases”