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UTMB School of Public & Population Health @utmbspph.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Students, faculty, and staff, together in one room. Our first all-school luncheon on Sept. 22 looked back at four years since the school was approved and ahead to ASPIRE, our strategic plan through 2029. Thank you to everyone who joined us! Read the plan at utmb.edu/spph/aspire

Timeline titled "SPPH enters its next phase," under the label "Where we are now." 2022, school approved. 2023, full CEPH (Council on Education for Public Health) accreditation. 2026, ASPIRE implementation begins. Now, build the culture and impact that define us.

Three candid moments from the SPPH all-school luncheon. Top left, two attendees wearing UTMB lanyards talk across a round table with a blue tablecloth, with a buffet line of chafing dishes behind them. Bottom left, one attendee smiles while another writes on a card at a table with an orange runner. Right, an attendee writes on a card at a crowded table as the person beside them looks down, chin in hand, with more tables of attendees filling the room behind them.

Students, faculty, and staff of the UTMB School of Public and Population Health gather for a group photo at the first all-school luncheon, standing in rows and seated on chairs and the carpet in front of an orange accent wall and a row of tall windows.

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UTMB School of Public & Population Health @utmbspph.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Three teams of UTMB MD and PhD students spent a day turning electronic health record data into real analyses of Alzheimer's risk, then found the holes in their own work. Asked if they would pick the same research question again, every team said no. utmb.us/gme

Students and mentors talk over laptops between working sessions at the Clinical Informatics Datathon.

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UTMB Department of Population Health & Health Disparities @utmb-phhd.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Access to health is a human right. That belief runs through UTMB PHHD’s research, education and service in Galveston, across the country and around the world. Learn more at utmb.edu/phhd

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UTMB School of Public & Population Health @utmbspph.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Allie Murphy, MPH, figured she was not what Fulbright wanted. She applied anyway, then spent seven months researching in El Salvador. Now a UTMB doctoral student in Population Health Sciences, she has advice for students who hesitate. aspph.org/what-we-do/i... @aspph.bsky.social

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UTMB School of Public & Population Health @utmbspph.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

The SPPH All School Luncheon is coming up! Tuesday, September 22, 12 to 1 PM in the Levin Hall Dining Room. Stop by for free food, free swag, and a look at what the school accomplished this year and where it's headed next. All students, faculty, and staff welcome.

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UTMB School of Public & Population Health @utmbspph.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

John M. Cooks sees community members as partners who can help shape research from the initial idea through implementation and sharing the findings. Meet the Master of Public Health student in our From the Dean Student Excellence Series at utmb.us/gkj

John Cooks smiles beside a concrete column outside a campus building.

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UTMB School of Public & Population Health @utmbspph.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Three of our doctoral students presented dissertation work last month in Galveston, on farm labor as a form of identity, whether rural people can use the research they join, and what communities receive when a disaster becomes biological data. Full recap here. utmb.us/gka

Three doctoral student presenters seated side by side in front of a presentation screen during the Student Research Spotlight at Open Gates in Galveston.

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UTMB School of Public & Population Health @utmbspph.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

The School of Public and Population Health at UTMB has a new department. UTMB today established the Department of Aerospace and Exploration Medicine and named Ronak V. Shah, DO, MBA, MPH, inaugural chair. Public health, from the seas to the skies. utmb.us/gk7

Light gray graphic titled "Now five departments" under the header "UTMB School of Public and Population Health." A numbered list shows: 01 Bioethics & Health Humanities, 02 Biostatistics & Data Science, 03 Epidemiology, 04 Population Health & Health Disparities, and 05 Aerospace & Exploration Medicine, highlighted in orange with a "New" tag.

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UTMB School of Public & Population Health @utmbspph.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Patients forget up to 80 percent of what they hear at a doctor's visit. Meredith Masel, PhD, of UTMB's Oliver Center is testing whether recording the visit and replaying it at home helps older adults manage their care. Read her profile at utmb.us/gj6

Dr. Meredith Masel smiles and holds up a smartphone in front of a wall of vintage cassette decks, mixers, and speakers, a portable tape recorder in her other hand.

A smartphone recording a voice memo labeled Dr. Visit, three minutes into the appointment, with a red audio waveform on screen.

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UTMB School of Public & Population Health @utmbspph.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Brian Downer has been attending the Gerontological Society of America's annual meeting since his first year of doctoral study 16 years ago. Its members just elected him to the Board of Directors, and he starts January 1. utmb.us/gj3 @geronsociety.bsky.social

Brian Downer, wearing a light blue striped shirt, beside the white UTMB shield on a navy panel, with an orange vertical line dividing the navy and white background.

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UTMB Sealy Center on Aging & NIA Pepper Center @utmbscoa.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

🧠 Could an annual wellness visit help catch memory problems earlier? A recent study found that older adults who received their Medicare Annual Wellness Visit were more likely to have mild cognitive impairment identified sooner. utmb.us/gi7

utmb.us

Annual wellness visits, cognitive function, and early dementia diagnosis

Could an annual wellness visit help catch memory problems earlier? A recent study found that older adults who received their Medicare Annual Wellness Visit were more likely to have mild cognitive impa...

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UTMB School of Public & Population Health @utmbspph.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Public health shapes the air we breathe, the water we drink and the places where we live and work. In the first excerpt from our conversation with Dr. Kristen Peek, she explains why the need to keep people safe and healthy continues.

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UTMB Department of Population Health & Health Disparities @utmb-phhd.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

In the latest Get to Know Us video, Meredith Masel, PhD, MSW, describes how her team turned popular patient safety checklists into short videos for patient rooms, funded by the UTMB President's Cabinet, and talks about testing whether the videos lower fall rates. Watch utmb.us/gdv

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UTMB School of Public & Population Health @utmbspph.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Maternal health. Mental health. Prevention. Health education. Access to care. Our newest SPPH students arrived with a wide range of public health interests—and described this new chapter as exciting, motivating and a little nerve-racking.

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UTMB School of Public & Population Health @utmbspph.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Community partners can tell you what a study is missing before you run it. Tomorrow, three UTMB researchers spend an hour on building those partnerships, running a Community Advisory Board, and turning findings into tools people use. 1 to 2 p.m. on Teams. events.utmb.edu/event/commun...

Illustration of four people pushing large puzzle pieces together to form a complete circle.

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UTMB School of Public & Population Health @utmbspph.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Day two of orientation for our newest students. Human bingo, program director breakouts, a welcome from the student association, staff and faculty introductions, and trivia at the faculty and student mixer. Master's and doctoral students, one cohort.

Orientation participants pose for a group photo outside the UTMB Health Education Center on a sunny day.

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UTMB School of Public & Population Health @utmbspph.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Orientation starts Monday, and a new class arrives with it! We asked faculty, staff, and a current student what they would tell someone in their first week. And if you've already been through a first week here, leave the one thing you wish someone had told you.

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UTMB School of Public & Population Health @utmbspph.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Neil K. Mehta, PhD, MSc, MA, has received UTMB’s Sheridan Lorenz Distinguished Professorship in Aging and Health. He plans to use the five-year appointment to build collaborative teams studying adverse population health trends among older Americans. Explore his work at utmb.us/geb

Neil Mehta, wearing a light blue shirt, beside the white UTMB shield on a navy-and-white background with an orange dividing line.

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UTMB School of Public & Population Health @utmbspph.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Monique R. Pappadis, PhD, MEd, FACRM, is the inaugural holder of UTMB’s Edgar Gnitzinger Distinguished Professorship in Aging. She plans to use the five-year endowment to support future aging scholars and expand community-engaged aging research. Explore the full story at utmb.us/ge7

Dr. Monique Pappadis smiles in a light blazer beside the orange UTMB shield, with a navy and orange graphic band across the lower background.

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UTMB Department of Population Health & Health Disparities @utmb-phhd.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Get to Know Us continues with Meredith Masel, PhD. She shares what interviews with patients and care partners are revealing in her audio-recording studies, including a surprising number of older adults with multiple chronic conditions managing their care independently. Watch utmb.us/gdu

Meredith Masel, PhD, talks with Brent E. Masel, MD, in a studio space with a video camera light and purple interview stool visible.

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UTMB School of Public & Population Health @utmbspph.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

A new science of aging is focused on healthspan, the years people stay healthy and independent. UTMB bioethicist Dr. Alberto Aparicio and geriatrics researcher Dr. Alan Landay explore the shift from treating the diseases of aging to understanding aging itself. www.utmb.edu/spph/about-u...

Dr. Alberto Aparicio stands at a classroom podium with computer monitors, speaking to students during a bioethics lecture, with a chalkboard behind him.

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UTMB School of Public & Population Health @utmbspph.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Correctional health is public health. At UTMB’s inaugural Center for Correctional Healthcare Excellence Symposium, speakers connected care inside facilities with the health of families and communities. Read the SPPH story: utmb.us/gdn

From left, Kristen Peek, Patricia Blair, Jacques Baillargeon, Olugbenga Ojo, Lannette Linthicum, Owen Murray, Jeff Farroni and Joseph Penn pose together at the CCHE Symposium.

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UTMB School of Public & Population Health @utmbspph.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Seena Fazel of the University of Oxford presented RAPSS at UTMB, a model estimating the probability a prison suicide risk-management plan reopens within 90 days. He argued a score is useful only when connected to treatment and safety planning. utmb.us/gck

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Bridging assessment and care in correctional settings

Oxford researcher Seena Fazel presented RAPSS at UTMB, a model estimating the chance a prison suicide risk-management plan reopens within 90 days, and made the case for probability over risk labels.

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UTMB School of Public & Population Health @utmbspph.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

About 95% of people in prison are eventually released. Olugbenga Ojo leads UTMB's Center for Correctional Healthcare Excellence, and he treats correctional health care as public health care. www.utmb.edu/news/article...

Olugbenga Ojo stands with his arms crossed in an open barred gate, with a corridor and a second run of bars behind him.

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UTMB School of Public & Population Health @utmbspph.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

A new pro baseball team in Boston is named for Harriot Kezia Hunt, a physician who applied to Harvard Medical School in 1847. MedPage Today asked our Dr. Miriam Rich to explain who Hunt was and how medicine worked in the 1840s. www.medpagetoday.com/special-repo...

medpagetoday.com

Women's Baseball Team Named for Trailblazing Doctor

She was the first woman to apply to Harvard Medical School nearly 200 years ago

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UTMB Department of Population Health & Health Disparities @utmb-phhd.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

Leadership is built long before the difficult decisions arrive. This week’s Open Gates session welcomed Dr. Patrice Buckner Jackson for a conversation on building healthy, sustainable teams. Faculty, and staff, explored how shared purpose, trust, and intentional leadership create stronger teams.

Dr. Patrice Buckner Jackson speaks to faculty, staff, and learners gathered around round tables during the Open Gates leadership session. Participants listen and take notes in an elegant meeting room as a presentation on building team capacity is displayed on a screen, highlighting a collaborative discussion on sustainable leadership and preventing burnout.

Dr. Patrice Buckner Jackson poses with leaders from the Department of Population Health and Health Disparities and the School of Public and Population Health following the Open Gates leadership session. Standing in front of a presentation titled "Building Team Capacity," the group smiles while forming a diamond shape with their hands, symbolizing collaboration, shared purpose, and a commitment to building healthy, sustainable teams.

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UTMB School of Public & Population Health @utmbspph.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

Dr. Patrice Buckner Jackson brought a four-hour workshop on team capacity to Open Gates this week. Groups wrote their own mission statements before tackling a single problem, then used them to decide between competing demands that all arrived labeled urgent.

SPPH faculty and sfaff stand together with Dr. PBJ in front of a screen displaying the session title, Building Team Capacity, in the Open Gates parlor.

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UTMB School of Public & Population Health @utmbspph.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

14 confirmed cyclospora cases in Galveston County. Dr. Philip Keiser, our Associate Dean for Public Health Practice and the county's Local Health Authority, says wash produce, cook fresh herbs and greens, and wash hands before food prep. www.kwbu.org/news-from-ac...

kwbu.org

Galveston County health officials investigate rise in cyclospora cases

Health officials reported 14 confirmed cyclosporiasis cases in Galveston County with four other potential cases under investigation as of Monday.

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UTMB School of Public & Population Health @utmbspph.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

More than 3,500 people attended Galveston ISD’s Back to School Fair. Amber Anthony and Jackie Riggs packed donated supplies, and Amber later volunteered at the fair. Krista Bohn and Claire Hallmark also supported the effort. Special shoutout to Claire, one of our MPH alumni! 📚

Amber Anthony speaks with an attendee at a St. Vincent’s House distribution table while other attendees move through the Back to School Fair inside the Central Middle School gym.

Claire Hallmark, Jacqueline Riggs, Krista Bohn and Amber Anthony gather around two large bins filled with notebooks, index cards and other donated school supplies before the event.

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UTMB School of Public & Population Health @utmbspph.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

Who controls genetic data after a consumer submits a DNA sample? Dr. Alberto Aparicio examines privacy, consent, family implications and biological-age testing while previewing UTMB’s Fall 2026 genomics ethics course. Explore the story at utmb.us/gak

Dr. Alberto Aparicio gestures while delivering a seminar from a classroom lectern.

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UTMB School of Public & Population Health @utmbspph.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

Dr. Soham Al Snih’s new five-year professorship recognizes nearly three decades of aging research and mentorship. She plans to use much of its support to help students attend scientific meetings and publish their work. Read the story at utmb.us/gae

Dr. Soham Al Snih stands beneath flowering trees outdoors, wearing a dark blazer and looking toward the camera.

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UTMB School of Public & Population Health @utmbspph.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

Reaching a seminar means trusting building engineers, elevator inspectors and crosswalk signals you never think about. Dr. Jacob Moses used that to introduce Science and Technology Studies, and to preview BHH 6312 this fall. Full recap — utmb.us/gac

Dr. Jacob Moses delivers a seminar from a lectern in a UTMB classroom.

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UTMB Department of Population Health & Health Disparities @utmb-phhd.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

The details of a medical visit can be hard to remember once a patient gets home. Dr. Meredith Masel shares how the Oliver Center tests audio recordings and other patient-centered programs, gathers feedback, fixes problems and builds on what works. Watch: utmb.us/g76

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UTMB School of Public & Population Health @utmbspph.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

Seventeen undergraduates spent seven weeks in Galveston turning real biomedical data into eight research posters, from kidney transplant rejection to the bloodwork of research macaques. Meet the 2026 cohort at UTMB's Summer Institute in Biostatistics and Data Science. utmb.us/g9k

The 2026 SIBDS cohort and mentors pose together on the steps of a UTMB building.

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UTMB School of Public & Population Health @utmbspph.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

Artificial intelligence is making diagnosis faster, but UTMB bioethicist Dr. Jacob Moses says the human side of medicine still matters. He explains why AI should strengthen trust, ethics, and privacy rather than replace physicians. utmb.us/g9c

Dr. Jacob Moses sits at his office desk, typing at a keyboard in front of two monitors, with a bookshelf of research volumes and stacked books surrounding his workspace.

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UTMB School of Public & Population Health @utmbspph.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

Klarisa Lopez studied how medical interpretation shapes patient care, a question she had lived as an ER scribe and as the family member who interpreted for her grandmother. Her MPH capstone reviewed the research and surveyed Spanish-speaking patients across two Texas counties. utmb.us/g8s

Klarisa Lopez smiles in graduation regalia and a medal while standing on a dark wooden staircase.

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UTMB Sealy Center on Aging & NIA Pepper Center @utmbscoa.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

🏆 The Sealy Center on Aging is proud to share that Neil Mehta, PhD, Associate Dean for Research, Professor and Inaugural Chair, Department of Epidemiology, has been appointed to the Sheridan Lorenz Distinguished Professorship in Aging and Health at UTMB. utmb.us/g7c

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Congratulations to Dr. Mehta on Distinguished Research Professorship

The Sealy Center on Aging is proud to share that Neil K. Mehta, PhD MA MSc, Associate Dean for Research, Professor and Inaugural Chair, Department of Epidemiology, has been appointed to the Sheridan L...

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UTMB School of Public & Population Health @utmbspph.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

The Principles of Aviation and Space Medicine course paused mid-session at Space Center Houston this week to watch a graduate of the UTMB Residency in Aerospace Medicine launch to the space station — then heard from medical leaders at six commercial spaceflight companies. utmb.us/g7z

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UTMB School of Public & Population Health @utmbspph.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

Dr. Cara Pennel helped build the UTMB School of Public and Population Health, led it through accreditation, and joined the UT System's Shine Academy in 2025. She's the latest honoree in our From the Dean faculty excellence series. More on her work in Galveston and beyond at utmb.us/g7v

Dr. Cara Pennel smiles outdoors beside palm plants.

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UTMB School of Public & Population Health @utmbspph.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

When U.S. life expectancy stalled, many blamed opioids. Dr. Neil Mehta's research pointed to slowing progress against heart disease. He now chairs Epidemiology at SPPH and is this year's Excellence in Research winner. www.utmb.edu/spph/about-u...

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UTMB School of Public & Population Health @utmbspph.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

Many of Dr. Soham Al Snih's former trainees now publish as her co-authors. Over two decades at UTMB she's mentored fellows, doctoral and medical students, and international scholars. She's this year's Excellence in Mentoring Award winner. www.utmb.edu/spph/about-u...

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UTMB School of Public & Population Health @utmbspph.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

Dr. Kyriakos Markides built the Hispanic EPESE study and founded the Journal of Aging and Health. Cyprus elected him to its national academy last fall. He's this year's Lifetime Achievement in Research winner. www.utmb.edu/spph/about-u...

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UTMB School of Public & Population Health @utmbspph.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

Monserrat Hinojosa, MPH, studied more than 3 million patient records and found higher rates of heart disease, diabetes, pneumonia and malnutrition among people with chronic kidney disease and latent tuberculosis infection. She also asks who never reaches the dataset. utmb.us/g5x

Monserrat smiles with her arms crossed in a university building while wearing a purple blouse.

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UTMB Department of Population Health & Health Disparities @utmb-phhd.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

How does a growing department know it is moving in the right direction? Dr. Meredith Masel shares how faculty input and lessons from peer population health leaders help PHHD assess its priorities and prepare for growth. Watch utmb.us/g3p

Dr. Meredith Masel smiles and looks toward an off-camera interviewer while wearing glasses and a green blouse against a plain gray background.

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UTMB School of Public & Population Health @utmbspph.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

The new issue of UTMB Magazine is here! A PhD student connects moderate leisure-time activity to lower stroke odds, a master's student helps track flu that jumps between animals and people, and a professor's new book revisits 19th-century medical history. Read it at www.utmb.edu/magazine

Three open spreads from UTMB Magazine arranged on a tan background. The top spread, titled Monstrous Conception, shows a dark-haired woman seated at a table surrounded by antique books. The middle spread, titled Bitten by the Science Bug, shows a researcher in a teal gown and blue gloves using a pipette in a lab, next to a close-up photo of a grasshopper. The bottom spread, titled Lean Into Leisure, with the line "Researcher's rehabilitation experience informs stroke prevention study," shows a person walking on an outdoor track and another seated on exercise equipment.

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UTMB School of Public & Population Health @utmbspph.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

Our team spent this week in Bonita Springs with public health schools from across the U.S. at the 2026 ASPPH Sections Retreat. We talked through using AI responsibly in the classroom, the future of the MPH, and what public health practice means today. A full roster, every section represented.

Members of the UTMB School of Public and Population Health team together at the 2026 ASPPH Sections Retreat in Bonita Springs, Florida.

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UTMB School of Public & Population Health @utmbspph.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

Griffin Baillargeon completed his Master's in Biostatistics and Data Science at UTMB. For his capstone, he and mentor Dr. Jeong Hoon Jang built a method to responsibly bring external data into clinical trials. He now works as a data analyst at UTMB Correctional Managed Care. utmb.us/g1q

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UTMB School of Public & Population Health @utmbspph.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

Dr. Vibhuti Gupta received the UT System Rising STARs award, funding his new DIVA-AI Laboratory at UTMB. The lab is building multimodal AI models to unify patient data across imaging, genomics, wearables, and clinical records. utmb.us/g0z

Abstract poster featuring transparent glass cubes floating against a black background, with a large hollow glass cube in the center and white text near the bottom reading “DIVA-AI Lab,” separated by a thin copper line.

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UTMB Department of Population Health & Health Disparities @utmb-phhd.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

Get to Know Us begins a new faculty feature with Meredith Masel, PhD, whose work centers patient safety, communication, and self-management. In this video, she shares what newer population health departments can learn from established peers. Watch utmb.us/g0x

Dr. Meredith Masel, left, smiles while seated across from Dr. Mandy Hill during a filmed interview, with a video camera visible in the foreground.

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UTMB School of Public & Population Health @utmbspph.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

A nineteenth-century medical manual had a section on what to do at the birth of "monsters." That passage launched a decade of research. Dr. Miriam Rich's first book, Monstrous Conceptions, traces that history. Columbia University Press, July 2026. utmb.us/g0n @columbiaup.bsky.social

Dr. Miriam Rich smiles while holding several copies of Monstrous Conceptions beside a table stacked with additional copies of the book.

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