Dean Shortell's Welcome Message
The UC Berkeley School of Public Health's mission is to develop, apply, and share knowledge from multiple disciplines to promote and protect the health of the human population, with sensitivity to multicultural perspectives and informed by human rights. The School carries out this mission with interdisciplinary programs of teaching, research, and service based on a broad ecological view of the determinants of health.
Curricular emphasis is placed on providing all students with an understanding of biostatistics, environmental health, epidemiology, health behavior, health policy, and management, and how this knowledge can address pressing community health problems. Major programs of study in the areas of concentration are biostatistics, environmental health sciences, epidemiology, health and social behavior, health policy and management, infectious diseases, maternal and child health, medicine, and public health nutrition.
Recognizing the increasing interdisciplinary work, students are encouraged to avail themselves of the many opportunities that exist on the Berkeley campus and at the UCSF Medical Center. Learning opportunities are available in many departments and schools including anthropology, business, economics, journalism, molecular and cell biology, public policy, psychology, political science, social welfare, and sociology. In brief, public health at Berkeley extends beyond the School of Public Health embracing the resources of the world's leading public university.
Our goal as a community of teachers and learners is to gain a better understanding of the complex biological, behavioral, and environmental determinants of health as they operate across the lifespan from birth to death. We emphasize both discovery and application with the goal of pushing "knowledge into action" locally, throughout California, the nation, and our global universe. We invite you to join our faculty, staff, alumni, and friends in this important journey.
