The Brown University School of Public Health is the

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...

school of Brown University, a private

research university A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are the most important sites at which knowledge production occurs, along with "intergenerational kn ...

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but it ...

. It is located along the

Providence River The Providence River is a tidal river in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. It flows approximately 8 miles (13 km). There are no dams along the river's length, although the Fox Point Hurricane Barrier is located south of downtown to protect t ...

, down the hill and about a quarter mile from Brown's central campus on College Hill. The School of Public Health grew out of the Department of Community Health at Brown's

Alpert Medical School The Warren Alpert Medical School (formerly known as Brown Medical School, previously known as Brown University School of Medicine) is the medical school of Brown University, located in Providence, Rhode Island. Originally established in 1811, ...

and was officially founded in 2013 as an independent school. The school offers undergraduate, graduate, doctoral, and certificate programs as well as dual degree programs in conjunction with Brown's Alpert Medical School and

Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs The Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs is an interdisciplinary research center at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. Its mission is to promote a just and peaceful world through research, teaching, and public engagement ...

. Academics are organized around four departments:

behavioral Behavior (American English) or behaviour (British English) is the range of actions and mannerisms made by individuals, organisms, systems or artificial entities in some environment. These systems can include other systems or organisms as we ...

and

social sciences Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of so ...

, biostatistics,

epidemiology Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population. It is a cornerstone of public health, and shapes policy decisions and evide ...

, and health services,

policy Policy is a deliberate system of guidelines to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. A policy is a statement of intent and is implemented as a procedure or protocol. Policies are generally adopted by a governance body within an orga ...

& practice. Among schools of public health in the United States, the school receives the fourth most funding in NIH awards.

History

Brown traces its School of Public Health to 1916, when the Corporation established a course of study leading to a Doctorate in Public Health. In 1971, Brown founded the Department of Community Health as a constituent department of the university's Alpert Medical School. The Program in Public Health was relocated from Brown's main campus on College Hill to a downtown location at 121 South Main Street in 2006. Further programs were developed over the subsequent decades, culminating with the establishment of the School of Public Health in February of 2013. The school was awarded CEPH accreditation in 2016. In 2017, the school established a center for the study of mindfulness. The center draws on experts in the fields of psychiatry, the social sciences, and epidemiology to examine the effects of contemplative practices such as mindful meditation. The Mindfulness Center also offers evidence-based mindfulness training.

Expansion and COVID-19 scholarship

In 2021 Brown acquired the adjacent property to accommodate future growth of the school. The same year, amid the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, the school saw a 116% increase in applications for its Master's in Public Health Program. Accordingly, the school announced a planned expansion of the program to roughly 90 students. In August of 2021 the University established the Long Covid Initiative with a $1 million grant from the Hassenfeld Family Foundation. The initiative will compile and communicate research on post-COVID-19 syndrome and develop policy recommendations. The same month, researchers at the school were awarded a $4.9 million grant from the

CDC The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency, under the Department of Health and Human Services, and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgi ...

to study the duration of protective immunity offered by

COVID-19 vaccines A COVID19 vaccine is a vaccine intended to provide acquired immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2), the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID19). Prior to the COVID19 pandemic, an est ...

among nursing home residents. In 2022 the school announced the launch of an online-only Master of Public Health program.

Deans

Since the school's founding, three individuals have served as deans. Terrie Fox Wetle served as the school's inaugural dean from 2013 to 2017. In 2017. she was succeeded by Bess Marcus who served as dean until 2020.

Ashish Jha Ashish Kumar Jha (born December 31, 1970) is an Indian-American general internist physician and academic serving as the White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator. He is currently on a short-term leave from the Brown University School of Public H ...

was appointed the school's third dean in 2020. In March 2022, Jha was selected by Joe Biden to serve as the White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator; during Jha's assignment, Ronald Aubert will serve as interim dean of the school. In 2021, Megan Ranney was appointed inaugural academic dean of the school.

Academics

Brown's School of Public Health offers undergraduate, graduate, doctoral, and dual-degree programs. Two of Brown's undergraduate majors are offered through the School of Public Health: Public Health (A.B.) and Statistics (Sc.B.). The school also offers undergraduate students the opportunity to pursue a Master of Public Health degree during a fifth year. At the postgraduate level, the school offers masters programs in Public Health (MPH), Biostatistics (Sc.M.), and Clinical and

Translational Research Translational research (also called translation research, translational science, or, when the context is clear, simply translation) is research aimed at translating (converting) results in basic research into results that directly benefit humans. ...

(Sc.M.). Doctoral (Ph.D.) programs are offered in Behavioral and Social Health Sciences, Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and

Health Services Research Health services research (HSR) became a burgeoning field in North America in the 1960s, when scientific information and policy deliberation began to coalesce. Sometimes also referred to as health systems research or health policy and systems resear ...

. Dual degrees offered by the School of Public Health include an M.D./MPH program offered in conjunction with the

and a MPH/

MPA MPA or mPa may refer to: Academia Academic degrees * Master of Performing Arts * Master of Professional Accountancy * Master of Public Administration * Master of Public Affairs Schools * Mesa Preparatory Academy * Morgan Park Academy * Mou ...

program offered in conjunction with the

Rankings

The Brown University School of Public Health is ranked as the 16th best public health school in the nation by '' U.S. News & World Report.'' In 2022 ''U.S. News'' ranked Brown's biostatistics program the 13th best in the United States. The '' Academic Ranking of World Universities'' ranks the school 15th nationally—tied with the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

. In 2021,

Niche Niche may refer to: Science *Developmental niche, a concept for understanding the cultural context of child development *Ecological niche, a term describing the relational position of an organism's species *Niche differentiation, in ecology, the ...

ranked Brown 3rd—behind

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

and

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...

—on their list of Best Colleges for Public Health in America. In 2021, the school received $65,319,136 in NIH awards, the 4th most of any school of public health in the United States.

Notable people

Faculty

* Judson A. Brewer, Director of Research and Innovation at the Mindfulness Center, and Professor of Behavioral and Social Sciences * Lorin Crawford, RGSS Assistant Professor of Biostatistics * Alison Field, Professor of Epidemiology * Constantine Gatsonis, Henry Ledyard Goddard University Professor of Biostatistics, Chair of Biostatistics and Founding Director for the Center for Statistical Scientists *

, Dean, Professor of Health Services, Policy and Practice; White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator (2022–) * David C. Lewis, Professor Emeritus of Community Health, Donald G. Millar Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Alcohol and Addiction Studies *

Simin Liu Simin Liu () is an American physician researcher. He holds leadership positions internationally in the research of nutrition, genetics, epidemiology, and environmental and biological influences of complex diseases related to cardiometabolic healt ...

, Professor of Epidemiology * Bess Marcus, Professor of Behavioral and Social Sciences and former dean of the school * Peter Monti, Donald G. Millar Distinguished Professor of Alcohol and Addiction Studies and Director, Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies * Jennifer Nuzzo, Director of the Center for Pandemic Preparedness and Response * Scott Rivkees, Professor of the Practice, Surgeon General of Florida (2019–21) * David A. Savitz, Professor of Epidemiology * Christopher H. Schmid, Chair of the Department of Biostatistics * Ira Wilson, Professor and Chair of Health Services, Policy and Practice

Alumni

* Khaled Almilaji (2016–17), Syrian doctor and medical humanitarian * Cheryl A. M. Anderson (B.A. 1992), Founding Dean,

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego is t ...

School of Public Health * Nicole Alexander-Scott (M.P.H., 2011), Director,

Rhode Island Department of Health The Rhode Island Department of Health is a state government agency located in Providence, Rhode Island. The interim Director of the Department of Health is James McDonald, who succeeded Nicole Alexander-Scott in January 2022. Mission The Depa ...

* Tiara Mack (B.A. 2016), Member of the

Rhode Island Senate The Rhode Island Senate is the upper house of the Rhode Island General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Rhode Island, the lower house being the Rhode Island House of Representatives. It is composed of 38 Senators, each of wh ...

from the 6th district (2020–) * Megan Ranney (MPH 2010), Academic Dean, Brown University School of Public Health

References

{{Brown University Schools of public health in the United States Medical and health organizations based in Rhode Island 2013 establishments in Rhode Island Brown University