UAlbany School of Public Health Strategic Plan Alignment

STRATEGIC PLAN ALIGNMENT

AUTHORING OUR SUCCESS In April 2018, the University released a strategic plan, “Authoring Our Success”. The five pillars of the plan and key objectives are outlined in the following pages, along with some metrics by which our School monitors its alignment with them. You’ll also find examples of our important work in these areas that strengthen our School’s dedication to excellence and success.

The University at Albany School of Public Health is committed to providing exemplary educational opportunities to a diverse and inclusive community of students. As we continue to poise ourselves - and our student body - for transformative success in the field, we draw on our core, foundational priorities that shape offered experiences and continue defining futures.

Our Mission We relentlessly pursue possibilities, create connections, and open opportunities with a single-minded focus: To empower our students, faculty, and campus communities to author their own success.

This is the University at Albany.

STUDENT SUCCESS Our students’ success is at the heart of our community and a key driver of our environment; an investment in academic growth is an investment in the careers of the future. We promote student success with: 1 ) Advanced in-person and online programs that balance the emerging demands of students, employers, and society 2) Enhanced experiences through innovative teaching and collaborative support services 3) Integrated teaching and experiential education through research, service-learning, internships, and course-based experiences At the School of Public Health, student success is indicated by:

100%

of doctoral students are employed within 6 months of graduation

93%

of MPH students are employed or continuing their education within 1 year of graduation

85%

of MPH students are employed or continuing their education within 6 months of graduation

TOP INTERNSHIPS At both the graduate and undergraduate level, students are completing internships that help them to find direction and launch successful careers. Undergraduate student Victoria Russo, pictured right, interned at the NYSDOH in Albany, helping to ensure public health contracts were approved in a timely manner. For the MPH program, students complete 720 hours of internship work, making them stand out as competent public health professionals in the job market upon graduation.

RIGOROUS PROGRAMS At the School of Public Health, students can choose from a wide range of academic programs, including online programs designed to meet the needs of diverse students. 44% of MPH students at the School are completing their degree through the online route.

SUCCESSFUL CAREERS POST-GRADUATION Community Hospice Registered Nurse

NYSDOH Bureau of Immunization Medical Director

General Electric Clinical Operations Consultant

Wadsworth Center, NYSDOH Assistant Research Scientist

Essex County Public Health Director of Public Health

Ministry of Health Health Systems Officer

Global Foundries Safety Engineer

MVP Healthcare Wellness Coordinator

Building Performance Institute, Inc. SharePoint Administrator

Ellis Hospital Microbiology Lab Supervisor

Planned Parenthood Director of Education

Schoharie County DOH Deputy Public Health Director

New Mexico DOH Epidemiologist

CDC Public Health Prevention Service Fellow

Ohio State University Infectious Diseases Fellow

RESEARCH EXCELLENCE Our research defines innovations and advancements around the world.

We are proud and driven in this academic standing to constantly enhance our knowledge and promote university-wide discoveries. At the School of Public Health, we achieve research excellence with: 1) A recruited and retained faculty, staff and graduate community who are strongly encouraged to contribute to research initiatives that drive entrepreneurship, public-private partnership and translational application 2) An empowered university structure where all individuals are engaged in innovative research, including streamlined pre- and post- award support practices 3) Identified and supported opportunities that maintain across disciplines in the research portfolio At the School of Public Health, research excellence is indicated by:

67.5

1

million dollars in the total extramural Nobel Prize won by UAlbany SPH faculty funding garnered by SPH affliated faculty and Wadsworth Labs researcher Dr. in the 2017 fiscal year Joachim Frank

CANCER RESEARCH Pomegranate extract, derived mainly from the skin of the fruit, is known for having high levels of powerful antioxidants called polyphenols. Professor Ramune Reliene and Graduate Assistant Sameera Nallanthighal wondered if these antioxidants could demonstrate cancer-fighting effects. Their research found evidence suggesting that the same antioxidant that gives pomegranate fruit their vibrant red color can alter the characteristics of breast cancer stem cells, showing the superfood’s potential for aiding in much more than diabetes or heart disease as previously thought.

RESEARCH & TRAINING CENTERS Cancer Research Center Cardiac Data Quality & Outcomes Assessment Initiative Capital Region Medical Research Institute Center for Global Health Center for Health Workforce Studies Center for Public Health Continuing Education Center for Public Health Preparedness

SPH researchers are partnering on a $10 million initiative to address West Nile Virus and other diseases

AREAS OF EXPERTISE Researchers at the School of Public Health have varied areas of expertise, including HIV policy and prevention, cancer genomics, infectious diseases, social determinants of health, evidence-based health care, addiction and violence, maternal and child health, aging and health, and health effects of climate and the environment.

Dr. Udo conducted the first national study since 2007 of the prevalence of eating disorders among U.S. adults

SPH researchers are tackling the environmental sustainability and public health impacts of local food waste

DIVERSITY & INCLUSION

Our university’s culture of diversity - in our people and our ideas drives a stark sense of excellence in everything we do and represents everything we are. Our commitment to diversity and inclusion can be seen with: 1) Recruitment of faculty, staff, administrators and students who better reflect the multidimensional diversity of our undergraduate students 2) An inclusive campus climate that consistently celebrates individual differences and encourages open and free dialogue and idea exchanges 3) A cultivated and holistic learning environment, which actively incorporates diversity initiatives into curricular and co-curricular activities for all to experience

At the School of Public Health, diversity is indicated by:

54%

underrepresented minority undergraduate students in 2017

20%

underrepresented minority graduate students in 2017

DIVERSE ONLINE CLASSROOMS Our online MPH makes education accessible to full-time workers, remote learners, and those who are advanced in their careers. 42% of our online learners have completed a previous graduate degree and the age of students ranges from 20-65. Dr. Parth Shah, pictured right, is a practicing dentist in New York who furthered his education through our online MPH.

INTERNATIONALIZATION We strive, with every initiative, to prepare our students to be globally engaged citizens, while continuing to expand our university’s worldly impact and international visibility. We accomplish this with: 1) An advanced curriculum that initiates students’ global engagement with intercultural learning opportunities for all disciplines 2) A supported institutional process that facilitates internationalization across teaching and research opportunities 3) Increased student access to education abroad, while still fostering a supportive campus environment for all international students and scholars

At the University at Albany, internationalization is indicated by:

80+

study abroad programs available for students

30+

countries host study abroad programs

39

countries represented by the School of Public Health student body

“This summer, I had the opportunity to intern at Engeye Health Clinic in rural Uganda.

I educated the Ugandan clinical staff on program development and evaluation to continue public health program initiatives.

I worked closely with members of the Village Health Teams (VHTs), and attended household visits in the community in which I interviewed the VHTs to help strengthen the overall program. It was a true cultural learning experience that I am so thankful for!”

- Giana Calabrese, MPH Student

INTERNSHIPS ABROAD MPH student Lindsey Riback, pictured right, interned abroad in Liberia at Population Services International, working on a nationwide program providing sexual health education to sex workers, gay men, and transgender individuals. She analyzed data to determine what might account for low rates of HIV and STI service utilization.

VOLUNTEER WORK ABROAD International MPH student Teresa Huang, pictured right, volunteered for the Peace Corps in Malawi Africa, focusing on behavior change activities and education to set a foundation of better health for young community members.

INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH MPH student Namratha Gurram interned with researchers at the Sun Yat-sen University School of Public Health in Guangzhou, China. She worked alongside researchers and students to analyze a large population based cross-sectional data set from the Seven North Eastern Cities Study. Her research support work focused primarily on investigating the effect of various exposures on respiratory function in children.

PHOTO

ENGAGEMENT & SERVICE We take pride in engaging with our community as we commit to servicing the common good and serving as an integral regional, national and international institution. We achieve this through: 1) Publicly engaged scholarship and research opportunities that address societal challenges and enact collaborative work in relevant thematic areas 2) The facilitation of productive, mutually beneficial synergies between UAlbany and regional, state, national, and international partners 3) A promoted participation of on-campus events, programs, and activities through the inclusion and engagement of neighbors, community members, friends, and alumni

At the School of Public Health, engagement and service is indicated by:

100%

of SPH faculty participate in publicly engaged scholarship and research

720

internship hours completed by each MPH student (highest hour requirement in the U.S.)

ELIMINATING HEPATITIS C SPH has spent the past 25 years building HIV and infectious disease research capacity in Eastern Europe and Central Asia by training international researchers in Albany who take their expertise back home to improve public health.

CANCER RESEARCH

Drs. Kamkamidze and Butsashvili at NeoLab, one of the leading clinics in Georgia focusing on infectious diseases

Faculty at the Cancer Research Center are dedicated to providing a collaborative research environment within the School of Public Health to foster the training of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in cancer biology and to enhance the knowledge of cancer. SPH faculty focus on cancer genomics and Vitamin D and cancer.

ASSISTING THE STATE School of Public Health expertise is coveted by the state. Dean Holtgrave has been appointed by Governor Andrew Cuomo to join a workgroup that will draft legislation for a regulated adult-use marijuana program. He has also been appointed to a task force that will advise the state on a plan to eliminate Hepatitis C. Associate Professor Eli Rosenberg has been named to a work group of this task force. In addition, Assistant Professor Julia Hastings has been appointed to the NYS Tobacco Use Prevention and Control Board to help advise the NYSDOH.

UAlbany’s Cancer Research Center Health Sciences Campus

David Holtgrave, PhD Dean, School of Public Health

THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT OF THE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH For more information, visit albany.edu/sph