Dear Friends:
As GSPH Director, I welcome you all to a new academic year! This week, it will be my pleasure to meet 116 graduate students and 12 doctoral students who are joining our School!
I would like to thank Dr. Richard Gersberg for his leadership over the past two years. Dr. Gersberg stepped down as Interim Director and will be serving as Chair of the Division of Environmental Health while continuing his research and teaching. Our beloved undergraduate advisor Dr. Virginia Kreisworth retired. We thank her for her dedication and service. She will be missed by faculty, staff, and students alike!
Dr. Kristen Emory will be assuming this role. Welcome on board Dr. Emory!
This is indeed an exciting time for the Graduate School of Public Health. Last year, SDSU led by the GSPH became the first university partner of the of the County’s Health and Human Service Agency’s Live Well San Diego initiative. As partners, the GSPH will support Live Well San Diego’s mission of “Healthy, Safe, and Thriving Communities in San Diego” through academic-community partnerships, research, and education.
Last year, our faculty received over $17.5 million in extramural funding including a 5-year, $13 million SDSU/UCSD collaborative grant awarded by the National Cancer Institute to reduce the burden of cancer among Hispanics in San Diego and Imperial counties through research and community outreach (SDSU PIs: Arredondo/Sussman and UCSD PIs: Martinez/Crowe). Dr. Stephanie Brodine was recognized by SDSU President Hirschman for supporting NIH with the launch of its Ebola vaccine trial in Liberia and her leadership of the GSPH program called Viajes Interinstitucional de Integración Docente, Asistencial y de Investigación (VIIDAI) for the last 18 years. This program is a unique, international public health field experience for students and faculty. Dr. Tracy Finlayson was one of the first recipients of the Isman-Fine Oral Health Leadership Fellowship and Dr. Eunha Hoh was named among “100 Inspiring Women in STEM” from INSIGHT into Diversity magazine. Dr. Elva Arredondo of the Division Health Promotion and Behavioral Science was promoted to Professor and to Dr. JD Baek of the Division Health Management and Policy received tenure and was promoted to Associate Professor. Congratulations to our amazing faculty!
We welcome three new Health Promotion and Behavioral Science faculty this Fall: Drs. Elizabeth Reed, Jerel Calzo, and Noe Crespo. Dr. Reed, an Associate Professor, will serve as Co-Director of the SDSU/UCSD Joint Doctoral Program in Global Health. She focuses her research on the intersection of gender inequality, poverty, and health in the US, Latin America, South Asia, and Africa. Dr. Calzo is an Associate Professor and his research focuses on the development of gender and sexual orientation health disparities in adolescence and young adulthood. Dr. Noe Crespo is an Assistant Professor. His research focuses on reducing health disparities and conducting community-based interventions to prevent cardiovascular disease among Latinos and underserved populations.
I know this year will continue to be exciting! In addition, to growing our programs, research endeavors, and partnerships, our GSPH Alumni Board led by Barb Robinette has numerous events planned. For the Fall, these include a beach clean up, an alumni reception at APHA, and a homecoming football tailgate. On October 25th, the GSPH will be participating in SDSU’s first-ever Great Give day! We hope you will support us in our effort to impact public health locally, nationally, and globally.
Sincerely,
Hala Madanat, PhD
Director- Graduate School of Public Health