2024: A Look Back at Our Accomplishments
Advancing Research & Impact
Our faculty and students secured 15 new National Institutes of Health awards totaling $13.2 million, advancing groundbreaking public health research and impact.
Supporting Student & Alumni Engagement
The Office of Student Experiences and Alumni Affairs (SEAA) completed its first full year as a combined office. Their efforts included hosting 90+ events fostering student growth, connection, and career opportunities. They also launched the inaugural Wellness PHirst Ambassadors program, prioritizing student leadership and well-being.
Growing Our Faculty
We welcomed new talent and celebrated well-deserved promotions, with several ongoing national searches for open-rank faculty positions, including for an Endowed Chair in LGBTQ+ Public Health and Vice-Dean to further enhance our leadership and impact.
The Rutgers University Board of Governors appointed Dr. Emily S. Barrett as the George G. Rhoads Endowed Legacy Professor for her research on the early origins of health and disease, and Dr. Nir Eyal as the inaugural Dr. and Mrs. Stanley S. Bergen Jr. Chair in Biomedical Ethics for his work in population-level bioethics, health inequalities, and research ethics.
Uplifting Public Health & Public Presence
Our faculty, staff, and students have participated in and/or been quoted in 350+ news articles, stories, or features across local, national, and international media outlets. They spoke to breaking research findings on how the 2024 election will impact public health.
Celebrating Milestones in Education
Our First DrPH Graduates
In 2024, we proudly graduated our first cohort of DrPH students since the program's re-launch—shaping the next generation of public health leaders.
Reaccredited for Seven Years
The school received a 7-year CEPH reaccreditation with flying colors —a testament to our ongoing commitment to excellence in public health education.
New Online MPH Options
While fully launching in 2025, we’re excited to offer three 100% online MPH options, including the MPH in Public Health Practice, starting Spring 2025.
Global Collaboration
Our Food and Sustainability course, in partnership with our Greek colleagues, was launched right here in New Jersey—bridging local and international public health efforts. Listen to our first cohort’s podcast here. In 2025, we’ll find our passports stamped in St. Lucia and Colombia.
Recognizing Standout Faculty & Staff
This is not an exhaustive list of awardees.
Rhonda Barnes
Rhonda Barnes, admissions coordinator, received the Sustained Service Rutgers Health Chancellor Award for significantly and continuously contributing to the quality of Rutgers across her 35-year career at the university. Four additional distinguished members of the Rutgers School of Public Health community were also recognized with 2024 Rutgers Health Chancellor Awards for their outstanding contributions. These awards honor exceptional achievement in research, education, mentorship, service, and lifetime contributions.
Mitchel Rosen
Dr. Mitchel Rosen, associate professor in the Department of Urban-Global Public Health and director of the Center for Public Health Workforce Development at the Rutgers School of Public Health, has been elected as a fellow to the Collegium Ramazzini.
Iris Udasin
Dr. Iris Udasin, a professor at the Rutgers School of Public Health, received the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Foundation’s “Service Above Self” award on behalf of law enforcement officers nationwide, presented at the National Law Enforcement Museum in Washington, D.C.
Laura Liang
Dr. Laura E. Liang, associate professor in the Department of Health Behavior, Society, and Policy and Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the Rutgers School of Public Health, received the esteemed ASPPH Teaching Award for her outstanding commitment to teaching and mentoring in public health.
Perry N. Halkitis
Dean of Rutgers School of Public Health, Dr. Perry N. Halkitis, received the prestigious Helen Rodriguez-Trías Social Justice Award—an APHA honor recognizing exceptional contributions to health equity and social justice.
Ranking Among the Best in the Country: Rutgers School of Public Health Shines in Top 25
The Rutgers School of Public Health has been ranked No. 25 among the 2024 Best Graduate Schools in Public Health by U.S. News & World Report.
Designed for prospective students looking to further their education beyond college, the Best Graduate Schools rankings evaluate programs in a variety of disciplines, including business, education, engineering, law, medicine, and public health.
Departmental Snapshot
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Our Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology positioned themselves as national leaders in pharmacoepidemiology. They also spent 2024 advancing research to solve New Jersey’s perinatal health disparities, developing and applying causal machine learning methods, and working on innovative clinical trial designs.
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Our Department of Environmental and Occupational Health and Justice, focused on driving impactful change in public health by exploring planetary and human health to advance health equity and improve the quality of life locally and globally, has been busy conducting community outreach and research. Department faculty who are part of the NJ Safe Schools Program and Field Research Dry Lab, with staff and MPH students, published 20 papers and trained hundreds of New Jersey secondary school teachers and facilities/operations staff on topics concerning safety, child labor laws (wages, hours, hazardous orders), respiratory health, and physical and mental wellness.
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Our Department of Health, Behavior, Society, and Policy developed the first online MPH concentration in Population Aging in the United States, in addition to the first MPH concentration in Population Mental Health in the tri-state area. They are currently working on developing a program catalog focused on the commercial determinants of health for 2025.
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Our Department of Urban-Global Public Health remained at the forefront of addressing critical public health issues in 2024. Faculty secured a $3.2 million NIH grant to study connections between social networks, activities, and cognitive health in aging Black and Latino sexual minority men. Researchers advanced access to reproductive healthcare in New Jersey and provided key insights on gun violence prevention and suicide risk reduction in local and national media, including CBS News.