The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health is the public health school of

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 ...

, located in the Longwood Medical Area of

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. The school grew out of the Harvard- MIT School for Health Officers, the nation's first graduate training program in population health, which was founded in 1913 and then became the Harvard School of Public Health in 1922. Harvard's T.H. Chan School of Public Health is currently ranked as the best school for public health in the world by both the ''

Academic Ranking of World Universities The ''Academic Ranking of World Universities'' (''ARWU''), also known as the Shanghai Ranking, is one of the annual publications of world university rankings. The league table was originally compiled and issued by Shanghai Jiao Tong Universi ...

'' and EduRank. It is also ranked as the second (tie) best public health school in the nation by '' U.S. News & World Report''.

History

Harvard's T.H. School of Public Health traces its origins to the Harvard- MIT School for Health Officers, which was founded in 1913. Harvard calls it "the nation's first graduate training program in public health." In 1922, the School for Health Officers became the Harvard School of Public Health. In 1946, it was split off from

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools ...

and developed its own dedicated public health and medical faculty. It was renamed the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in 2014 in honor of a $350 million donation, the largest in Harvard's history at the time, from the Morningside Foundation, run by Harvard School of Public Health alumnus Gerald Chan, SM '75, SD '79, and Ronnie Chan, both of whom were sons of T.H. Chan.

Leadership

From 2009 until 2015, the dean of the Harvard T.H Chan School of Public Health was

Julio Frenk Julio José Frenk Mora (born December 20, 1953) is president of the University of Miami and has served in this role since 2015. He is the University of Miami's first Hispanic and native Spanish-speaking president. At the University of Miami, ...

, the former the

Mexican government The Federal government of Mexico (alternately known as the Government of the Republic or ' or ') is the national government of the United Mexican States, the central government established by its constitution to share sovereignty over the republ ...

's Secretary of Health from 2002 until 2006 and current president of the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, ...

. In 2016, following Frenk's departure, Michelle Ann Williams was appointed the School's new dean. In January 2020, ''

The Harvard Crimson ''The Harvard Crimson'' is the student newspaper of Harvard University and was founded in 1873. Run entirely by Harvard College undergraduates, it served for many years as the only daily newspaper in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Beginning in the f ...

'' reported on an internal discussion by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health faculty on whether to hold a "no confidence" vote on Williams' leadership. The newspaper reported that allegations included that "Williams has punished faculty and staff in the past for expressing dissent, creating what multiple affiliates termed a 'culture of retaliation'."

Curriculum

The Master of Public Health program offers ten fields of study: * Clinical Effectiveness (CLE) * Epidemiology (EPI) * Generalist (GEN) * Global Health and Population (GH) * Health and Social Behavior (HSB) * Health Management (HM) * Health Policy (HP) * Occupational and Environmental Health (OEH) * Quantitative Methods (QM) * Nutrition (NUT) Degree programs offered by specific departments: * Biostatistics: SM,

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

* Environmental Health (EH): SM, MPH, PhD, DrPH * Epidemiology (EPI): SM, DrPH * Genetics and Complex Diseases: PhD * Health Policy: SM, MPH, PhD * Health Care Management: SM, MPH * Immunology and Infectious Diseases: PhD * Nutrition (NUT): MPH, DrPH, PhD * Global Health and Population (GHP): SM, MPH, PhD * Social and Behavioral Sciences (SBS): SM, MPH, PhD, DrPH * Population Health Sciences (Interdisciplinary PhD within departments of EH, EPI, GHP, NUT, and SBS) The Harvard Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) was launched in 2014 as a multidisciplinary degree providing advanced education in public health along with mastery of skills in management, leadership, communications, and innovation thinking. The program is a cohort-based program emphasizing small-group learning and collaboration. The program is designed for three years – two years at Harvard, plus one year in a field-based doctoral project – although some students may take up to four years to complete the program. Academic training in the DrPH covers the biological, social, and economic foundations of public health, as well as essential statistical, quantitative, and methodological skills in the first year, an individualized course of study in your second year, and a field-based, capstone project called the DELTA (Doctoral Engagement in Leadership and Translation for Action) in the final year(s) of the program. PhD programs are offered under the aegis of the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

Research projects

* The Nurses' Health Study and Nurses' Health Study II, which have followed the health of over 100,000 nurses from 1976 to the present; its results have been used in hundreds of published papers. * The Health Professionals Follow-up Study, a similar study of over fifty thousand male health professionals seeking to connect diet, exercise, smoking, and medications taken to frequency of cancer and cardiovascular disease. * The International Health Systems Program, which has provided training or technical assistance to projects in 21 countries and conducts health policy research. * The Program in Health Care Financing, which studies the economics of national health care programs; evaluates the health care programs of China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and other countries; studies the effects of bringing HMO-like hospital reimbursement practices to developing countries; and applies hedonimetrics to health care. * The Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research (HPCR), which studies public health and humanitarian law and policy in the context of conflict-torn regions like the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza. ...

and transnational issues like

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

. * The Lung Cancer S.O.S. study, examining the risk factors for and prognosis of

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from transformed, malign ...

in terms of genetics and environment. * The College Alcohol Study, which examines the causes of college binge drinking and approaches to prevention and harm reduction. * The Program on the Global Demography of Aging, which studies policy issues related to economics of

aging Ageing ( BE) or aging ( AE) is the process of becoming older. The term refers mainly to humans, many other animals, and fungi, whereas for example, bacteria, perennial plants and some simple animals are potentially biologically immortal. In ...

with a focus on the developing world. * The Superfund Basic Research Program (see

Superfund Superfund is a United States federal environmental remediation program established by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA). The program is administered by the Environmental Protection Agen ...

), studying toxic waste management. * The Lee Kum Sheung Center for Health and Happiness, to "help identify how positive aspects of living can lead to better health and a longer life" and "coordinate research across many disciplines at Harvard University" and "understanding the complex interplay between positive psychological well-being and human health."

Maternal Health Task Force

Launched in 2008 with funding from the

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), a merging of the William H. Gates Foundation and the Gates Learning Foundation, is an American private foundation founded by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. Based in Seattle, Washington, it w ...

, the Maternal Health Task Force (MHTF) is a global project focused on improving maternal health through better coordination, communication, and facilitation between existing maternal health organizations, as well as with experts in related fields. The MHTF is managed by EngenderHealth, an international nonprofit organization.

Notable faculty (and past faculty)

Joseph G. Allen Joseph G. Allen is an American academic and public health expert. He is currently the director of the Healthy Buildings program at Harvard University's T. H. Chan School of Public Health, where he is also an associate professor. Early life and ...

, public health expert, director of the Healthy Buildings program *

Katherine Baicker Katherine Baicker (born May 23, 1971) is an American health economist best known for the Oregon Medicaid health experiment. She serves as the dean of the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy. Biography Baicker received her B.A. i ...

, economist, a former member of the Council of Economic Advisers *

Robert Blendon Robert J. Blendon is an American academic who is the Richard L. Menschel Professor of Public Health and Professor of Health Policy and Political Analysis, Emeritus and Acting Director for the Division of Policy Translation and Leadership Developm ...

, political strategy of health and public opinion expert * Barry Bloom, immunologist and former dean * David Bloom, economist *

David Canning David Canning is a British economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about econ ...

, economist * Douglas Dockery, epidemiologist * Francesca Dominici senior associate dean for research, professor of biostatistics, data scientist, and air pollution expert *

Arnold Epstein Arnold Epstein is an American health scholar currently the John H. Foster Professor and Chair of the Department of Health Policy and Management at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He has had over 20 authored or co-authored papers cited e ...

, department chair for health policy and management * Max Essex, HIV researcher *

, former dean of school of public health and former Secretary of Health of Mexico * Atul Gawande, general and endocrine surgeon *

Sue Goldie Dr. Sue J. Goldie (born 1961) is the Roger Irving Lee Professor of Public Health, the Director of the Center for Health Decision Science (Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health), Director of the Global Health Education and Learning Incubator ...

, physician and decision scientist, MacArthur fellowship recipient * John Graham, policy and decision scientist, former director of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs * Laurie Glimcher, immunologist * Alice Hamilton, occupational health and toxicology; first woman appointed to the faculty of

* David Hemenway, economist and injury prevention expert * William Hsiao, economist *

Frank Hu Frank B. Hu (; born 1966) is a Chinese American nutrition and diabetes researcher. He is Chair of the Department of Nutrition and the Fredrick J. Stare Professor of Nutrition and Epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and P ...

, epidemiologist and nutrition researcher * David Hunter, epidemiologist, Acting Dean of the Faculty and former Dean for Academic Affairs at School of Public Health *

Curtis Huttenhower Curtis Huttenhower is a Professor of Computational Biology and Bioinformatics in the Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Harvard University. Education Huttenhower gained his BS from the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in 2000 ...

, computational biologist * Ashish Jha (MPH'04 and former faculty) served as Dean for Global Strategy 2018–2020 *

Ichiro Kawachi Ichiro Kawachi is a social epidemiologist of Japanese origin who was trained in New Zealand. He is currently the John L. Loeb and Frances Lehman Loeb Professor of Social Epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health where he is a ...

, social epidemiologist *

Howard Koh Howard Kyongju Koh (Hangul: 고경주, Hanja: 高京柱; born March 15, 1952) is the former United States Assistant Secretary for Health for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), after being nominated by President Barack Obama ...

, public health researcher, the 14th Assistant Secretary for Health at the

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a cabinet-level executive branch department of the U.S. federal government created to protect the health of all Americans and providing essential human services. Its motto is " ...

. * Nan Laird, biostatistician, former head of department * Alexander H. Leighton, psychiatric epidemiologist *

Richard Levins Richard "Dick" Levins (June 1, 1930 – January 19, 2016) was an ex-tropical farmer turned ecologist, a population geneticist, biomathematician, mathematical ecologist, and philosopher of science who researched diversity in human populations. ...

, ecologist and mathematical biologist *

Xihong Lin Xihong Lin () is a Chinese-American statistician known for her contributions to mixed models, nonparametric and semiparametric regression, and statistical genetics and genomics. , she is the Henry Pickering Walcott Professor and Chair of the Depar ...

, biostatistician and mathematician, 2006 COPPS presidents' award recipient *

Jun S. Liu Jun S. Liu (; born 1965) is a Chinese-American statistician focusing on Bayesian statistical inference and computational biology. He received the COPSS Presidents' Award in 2002. Liu is a professor in the Department of Statistics at Harvard Univer ...

, biostatistician and mathematician, 2002 COPPS presidents' award recipient * Bernard Lown, co-founded the Nobel Prize-winning group Physicians for Social Responsibility; founder of the Lown Cardiovascular Research Foundation * Adetokunbo Lucas, former director of Tropical Diseases Research at the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level o ...

(WHO) * Brian MacMahon, cancer epidemiologist * Sezan Mahmud, Writer and university professor * Christopher Murray, physician and health economist * Joseph Newhouse, economist and director of the RAND Health Insurance Experiment *

Shuji Ogino is a molecular pathological epidemiologist, pathologist, and epidemiologist. He is currently Professor of Pathology at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital, and Professor in the Department of Epidemiology at Harvard T.H. Chan ...

, pioneer in molecular pathological epidemiology * Eric Rubin, editor-in-chief of

New England Journal of Medicine ''The New England Journal of Medicine'' (''NEJM'') is a weekly medical journal published by the Massachusetts Medical Society. It is among the most prestigious peer-reviewed medical journals as well as the oldest continuously published one. His ...

* James Robins, epidemiologist and biostatistician * Pardis Sabeti,

computational biologist Computational biology refers to the use of data analysis, mathematical modeling and computational simulations to understand biological systems and relationships. An intersection of computer science, biology, and big data, the field also has f ...

medical geneticist Medical genetics is the branch tics in that human genetics is a field of scientific research that may or may not apply to medicine, while medical genetics refers to the application of genetics to medical care. For example, research on the caus ...

and evolutionary geneticist *

Amartya Sen Amartya Kumar Sen (; born 3 November 1933) is an Indian economist and philosopher, who since 1972 has taught and worked in the United Kingdom and the United States. Sen has made contributions to welfare economics, social choice theory, economi ...

, economist, Nobel laureate in Economics * Gita Sen, feminist scholar and specialist in international population policy *

Frank E. Speizer Frank Erwin Speizer (born 8 June 1935) is an American physician and epidemiologist, currently Professor of Environmental Health and Environmental Science at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and Edward H. Kass Distinguished Professor ...

, physician and epidemiologist * Andrew Spielman, public health entomologist *

Frederick J. Stare Fredrick John Stare (April 11, 1910 – April 4, 2002) was an American nutritionist regarded as one of the country's most influential teachers of nutrition. Life and career Stare was born in Columbus, Wisconsin, and educated in chemistry a ...

, controversial chair of Nutrition Institute * James H. Ware, biostatistician * Thomas Huckle Weller, Nobel laureate in Physiology and Medicine *

George C. Whipple George Chandler Whipple (March 2, 1866 – November 27, 1924) was an American civil engineer and an expert in the field of sanitary microbiology. His career extended from 1889 to 1924 and he is best known as a co-founder of the Harvard School of P ...

, cofounder of School in 1922 * Walter Willett, physician and nutrition researcher

Notable alumni

There are over 13,484 alumni. *

Anthony Irvine Adams Anthony Irvine Adams AM is an Australian public health physician. He was the Australian Chief Medical Officer between 1988 and 1997. Biography Early life Anthony Adams studied medicine at the University of Adelaide graduating in 1959. He under ...

, 2001 Alumni Award of Merit for a distinguished service in public health practice *

James B. Aguayo-Martel James Benjamin Martel is a physician, surgeon and scientist. He is former Chair of Surgery, Mercy San Juan Medical Center, former Chief of Ophthalmology, Otolaryngology (ENT), and Plastic Surgery, Sutter Roseville Medical Center. He is the forme ...

, pioneer in ophthalmology * Gro Harlem Brundtland, former Prime Minister of Norway, former Director-General of the

Nadine Burke Harris Nadine Burke Harris (born 1975) is a Canadian-American pediatrician who was the Surgeon General of California between 2019 and 2022; she is the first person appointed to that position. She is known for linking adverse childhood experiences and to ...

, pediatrician and first Surgeon General of California * Eli Capilouto, twelfth president of the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a public land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky, the university is one of the state's ...

William Foege William Herbert Foege (; ''-ghee''; born March 12, 1936) is an American physician and epidemiologist who is credited with "devising the global strategy that led to the eradication of smallpox in the late 1970s". From May 1977 to 1983, Foege serve ...

, MPH 1965, physician, former Director of the

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 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, Georg ...

Mandy Cohen Mandy Krauthamer Cohen is an American physician and public health official. From 2017 to 2021, she served as the secretary of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. Prior to serving as Health Secretary, Cohen was the chief o ...

, physician, Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services * Humayun Chaudhry, President and CEO of the Federation of State Medical Boards * Winston Dang, head of

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northe ...

Environmental Protection Administration The Environmental Protection Administration, Executive Yuan (EPA, ) is a cabinet-level executive agency responsible for protecting and conserving the environment in the Republic of China (Taiwan). This also includes, air quality, noise control, m ...

from 2004 to 2008 * Jonathan Fielding, Director

Los Angeles County Department of Public Health The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (DPH) provides public health services to Los Angeles County residents. Barbara Ferrer is the Director for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. Muntu Davis, MD, MPH is the Los Angele ...

, editor in chief of the Annual Review of Public Health *

Janina R. Galler Janina R. Galler is Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and Psychiatrist in the Chester M. Pierce MD Division of Global Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital. She co-founded the 45-year Barbados Nutrition Study in the Lesse ...

, PI and Director of 45+-year

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate ...

Nutrition Study in the

Lesser Antilles The Lesser Antilles ( es, link=no, Antillas Menores; french: link=no, Petites Antilles; pap, Antias Menor; nl, Kleine Antillen) are a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea. Most of them are part of a long, partially volcanic island arc bet ...

, in the Americas, a longitudinal study showing the intergenerational legacy of poverty and disadvantage from

childhood malnutrition Undernutrition in children, occurs when children do not consume enough calories, protein, or micronutrients to maintain good health. It is common globally and may result in both short and long term irreversible adverse health outcomes. Undernutr ...

. * Steven K. Galson, former Acting

Surgeon General of the United States The surgeon general of the United States is the operational head of the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps (PHSCC) and thus the leading spokesperson on matters of public health in the federal government of the United States. Th ...

* Atul Gawande, surgical safety pioneer, MacArthur Fellow, Rhodes Scholar *

, MacArthur Fellow and decision scientist * Timothy Johnson, chief medical correspondent for ABC News *

Karl Lauterbach Karl Wilhelm Lauterbach (; born 21 February 1963) is a German scientist, physician, and politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) who has served as Federal Minister of Health since 8 December 2021. He is professor of health e ...

, German politician ( SPD), served as Federal Minister of Health since 8 December 2021 *

Alberto P. León Alberto P. León (1909-2001) was the Secretariat of Health, Secretary of Health of Mexico beginning in 1939. He is the 1991 holder of the Mexican National Prize on Medicine and Health. Biography León was born in Irapuato, Mexico, on July 12, 19 ...

, MD, MPH, former Secretary of Health, Mexico *

John S. Marr John S. Marr (born April 1940) is an American physician, epidemiologist, and author. His professional life has concerned outbreaks of infectious disease and thus his subsequent writing career has focused on that topic, particularly historical ep ...

, MD, MPH, epidemiologist and author. * Jonathan Mann, former head of the

global HIV/AIDS program * James O. Mason, former Acting Surgeon General of the United States, former Director of the

, pioneer in molecular pathological epidemiology * Endang Rahayu Sedyaningsih, former Minister of Health of

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

David J. Sencer David Judson Sencer (November 10, 1924 – May 2, 2011) was an American public health official who orchestrated the 1976 immunization program against swine flu. Between 1966 and 1977, he was the longest serving director of the Centers for Di ...

, longest-serving Director of the

* Rochelle Walensky – Director,

References

External links

*
Professor Andrew Speilman, Professor Tropical Public Health, Harvard School of Public Health
Freeview Issues programme on Malaria by the Vega Science Trust.

Centers and Institutes

Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment (Harvard Chan C-CHANGE)
*

Jay Winsten Jay Winsten is an associate dean at the Harvard School of Public Health and the Director of the School's Frank Stanton Center for Health Communication. He is best known for his work in social marketing, spearheading high-profile national social c ...

br>Center for Health Communication

François-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights

Harvard Center for Cancer Prevention

Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies

Harvard Injury Control Research Center

Harvard School of Public Health AIDS Initiative
(HSPH HAI)
Cyprus International Institute for Environmental and Public Health

John B. Little Center for Radiation Sciences
{{Authority control Educational institutions established in 1913 1913 establishments in Massachusetts T.H. Chan School of Public Health Schools of public health in the United States