Public health at Brown shapes our lives
Brown’s Public Health Program became the Brown University School of Public Health in July of 2013 and was accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health in 2016. The School is the natural evolution of several years of growth in education and in research, with more than 200 faculty and 275 undergraduate and graduate students, and over $50 million in annual external research funding.
The Brown University School of Public Health takes a “lifelong health” approach to improving people’s lives. It begins before conception, through research on environmental exposures that affect fertility and cause birth defects. It continues through the prime of life: public health at Brown targets the behavioral choices that threaten well-being—tobacco and substance abuse, obesity, risky sexual behaviors—and encourage wellness and healthy aging—physical activity, nutrition, injury prevention. And at the end of life, Brown researchers advocate for a patient-centered, research-based approach to terminal illness that considers a person’s values and beliefs. This work has an impact on people around the world thanks to partnerships forged locally and globally, from Providence’s South Side to South Africa.
The School of Public Health’s 12 nationally renowned research centers and institutes focus training and research on key areas including evidence based medicine, HIV/AIDS, statistical sciences, global health, primary care, preventive medicine, and community health. The centers’ interdisciplinary nature gives them a broad, influential voice in the national dialogue, and offers students meaningful opportunities to conduct research and effect change. Although the Brown University School of Public Health is new, it is among the top 10 school's of public health for NIH funding in 2016.
Through research, education, and public service, the four public health departments, strive to improve the health of individuals as well as populations. With close ties to Alpert Medical School, the Rhode Island Department of Health, the University, and the wider community, students benefit from substantial opportunities to gain and apply knowledge, while faculty put their findings into practice to impact local, state, and national policy.
