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Message from the Director

Welcome to the Center for Public Health Initiatives! The Center was launched by the University of Pennsylvania's Provost Office in 2007 to expand and strengthen public health education, research and practice, foster cross-disciplinary collaboration, and promote meaningful community/academic partnerships. The Center, which houses Penn's Masters in Public Health program, represents a major opportunity for the Penn community to coordinate and raise the visibility of our public health research and practice and expand our ability to produce new public health leaders.

The 2007/2008 academic year was an exciting and productive time for our Center. We launched several new initiatives aimed at encouraging interdisciplinary public health research and education such as:

A public health speaker series, which featured leading public health experts such as Dr. Donald Schwarz, Deputy Mayor for Health and Opportunity for Philadelphia and Dr. David Blumenthal, Director, Institute for Health Policy and Physician at The Massachusetts General Hospital/Partners HealthCare System in Boston.
The formation of interdisciplinary working groups addressing issues such as obesity and its relationship to “food deserts” and improving health in West Philadelphia.
A funding program for interdisciplinary public health research projects.
The Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Public Health Institute, which offered continuing education units for public health professionals.

In 2008/2009, we are collaborating with the Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion to develop a continuing education series centered on the PBS documentary “Unnatural Causes,” which explores the underlying causes of health disparities. We are also developing a Qualitative and Mixed Methods Winter Institute and working with the Peace Corps to establish a Peace Corps Fellows Program. We hope our current and planned work inspires you to come join our efforts as we continue to grow!