Suzanne Cole absorbs the energy and optimism of public health students and shares it right back with them, consistently creating an environment of positive energy in the classroom. She encourages students to consider how course materials connect to professional goals, sharpening both their intellectual curiosity and their passion for population health.
The field of toxicology within public health benefits from understanding these same mechanisms to inform how toxicity can manifest from an exposure into a health outcome affecting millions of people. That public health seeks to prevent adverse outcomes for large populations contributes to my interest in the field.
Public health isn't just one thing—it really is everything! Everything around us relates to public health in one way or another. When young people in high school and undergraduate studies see how their interests relate to population-level health, it draws them in.
Want to spend lots of time outside, meet new people, and see engineering and business processes from the inside out? Then consider studying industrial hygiene, says Sarah Gharib, who reminds us that environmental health sciences is not only an exciting field but one that empowers you to apply your science and engineering skills to help people.
Professor of Health Management and Policy Melissa Creary uses sickle cell disease as a lens to tell a broader story about policy development and attempts at achieving equity.
In eighth grade, Briana Nelson decided to improve her fitness. With personal initiative and family support, a lifetime passion for nutrition was born. “It was a total transformation,” Nelson says, and her ability to focus and move herself forward toward big goals is helping her achieve great things as a student-athlete and as an ambassador for health equity.