Building a Healthier Future Together
Six decades equates to a blink of an eye in the context of human history. But for the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, which recently celebrated 60 years as a school, it’s been a period of remarkable consequence, characterized by far too many impactful moments to fit into a single issue of this magazine.
Throughout the school’s history, thousands of individuals — FSPH students, faculty, staff, graduates, and collaborators — have educated, researched, and applied their public health knowledge and skills in partnerships with communities, policymakers, and leaders across a wide range of professions and organizations. They have done so in service to the betterment of the public’s health and well-being, at home in Los Angeles and around the world.
FSPH embarks on its next six decades at a time of monumental public health challenges. Never has the work of building a healthier future together carried more importance. And as the school’s community members, collaborators, and allies build on the foundation established during the school’s first six decades, UCLA Fielding is poised for even greater impact in the years to come.
Progress and Promise
The following articles reflect on some of the dramatic strides in public health since FSPH was established in 1961 — including just a few of the school’s many historic and ongoing contributions to that progress — as well as looking to the promise ahead.
Pairs of UCLA Fielding faculty with overlapping public health interests discuss how their fields have evolved and advanced, today’s challenges, and where they derive hope. Dean Ron Brookmeyer and Dr. Yifang Zhu, who recently concluded her tenure as senior associate dean for academic programs, assess FSPH’s overall impact along with opportunities for the future, and current Associate Dean for Research James Macinko and his predecessor, Dr. Zuo-Feng Zhang, consider the vital role of FSPH research. Finally, UCLA Fielding students and 2023 graduates write about what compelled them to pursue their chosen area of public health, the difference they hope to make, and how their FSPH experience has prepared them.
DEAN
MAGAZINE STAFF
Carla Denly
Executive Editor & Associate Dean for Marketing and Communications
Dan Gordon
Editor & Writer
Rent Control Creative
Design Direction
Eileen Si
Editorial Assistant
Anna Elgart
Photography Coordinator
UCLA Public Health magazine is published by the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health for the graduates, faculty, students, staff, and friends of the school. Copyright 2023 by The Regents of the University of California. Permission to reprint any portion must be obtained from the school. Please send requests to marcomm@ph.ucla.edu.
EDITORIAL BOARD
Haroutune K. Armenian, MD, DrPH Professor-in-Residence, Epidemiology; Thomas R. Belin, PhD Professor, Biostatistics; Pamina Gorbach, DrPH Professor, Epidemiology; Moira Inkelas, PhD Associate Professor, Health Policy and Management; Marjorie Kagawa-Singer, PhD, MN Professor Emerita, Community Health Sciences; Cathy Lang, PhD Director for Research Administration; Adjunct Assistant Professor, Community Health Sciences; Michael Prelip, DPA Professor and Chair, Community Health Sciences; Beate Ritz, PhD Professor, Epidemiology and Environmental Health Sciences; May C. Wang, DrPH Professor, Community Health Sciences; Zuo-Feng Zhang, MD, PhD Associate Dean for Research; Professor, Epidemiology; Yifang Zhu, PhD Associate Dean for Academic Programs; Professor, Environmental Health Sciences; Frederick Zimmerman, PhD Professor, Health Policy and Management; Joana (JoJo) Fernandez and Geneva Vogelheim Past Co-Presidents, Public Health Student Association; Lori S. Pelliccioni, JD, MPH '96, PhD '02 Past President, Public Health Alumni Association
PHOTOGRAPHY & ILLUSTRATION
Sébastien Thibault: front cover. Jane Houle Photography: Dean’s Message; p. 37: Heymann, person holding fruit; p. 44: student in garden; p. 51: Brookmeyer; p. 56; pp. 76-77: FSPH exterior. Alexandra Foley Photography: TOC: Gee and Darling-Hammond, Bastani and Zewde, Banerjee and Zhou, Epidemiology students, Transformative Investments photo; pp. 7, 10, 11, 15, 18, 19, 23, 26, 27, 31, 34, 35, 39, 42, 43, 47; p. 51: celebration; pp. 53, 66, 74; p. 76: Commencement address; back cover. Unsplash/Patrick Perkins: TOC: wildfire; p. 59. Unsplash/Todd Kent: pp. 4-5. UCLA Library Special Collections: p. 12: campus map. Unsplash/Clique Images: p. 21: person running up stairs. 123rf/senkhammoo: p. 28. Unsplash/Martin Adams: p. 29: L.A. skyline. Margaret Molloy: p. 37: Paul Torrens Health Forum. Unsplash/Chris Henry: p. 45: Black Lives Matter sign. iStock: p. 45: park-closed sign, vaccination; pp. 60-63; p. 64: climate change; p. 65; pp. 84, inside back cover. Morgan Shidler Photography: p. 51: Commencement. Adobe Stock/Juliabatsheva: p. 64: equity. L.A. County Department of Public Health: p. 75: Aliso Canyon. © Academic Press: Reference Module in Food Science, Encyclopedia of Human Nutrition, 4th Edition: p. 79: book cover for Chen chapter. © Routledge: Handbook of Classroom Management: p. 79: book cover for DarlingHammond chapter. Annual Reviews: p. 79: Fielding book cover; Kaplan/Hayes book cover. © University of California Press: Equality Within Our Lifetimes: p. 79: Heymann/ Sprague/Raub book cover. © Springer Cham: Handbook of Substance Misuse and Addictions: p. 79: book cover for Mimiaga chapter. © AIHA: Biological Monitoring: A Practical Field Manual: p. 79: Que Hee book cover. COURTESY OF: FSPH Archive: TOC: students in front of sign; all photos for A History of Impact section not otherwise credited. Jacquelyn Kaster: p. 37: Torrens black-and-white photo. Dr. Alina Dorian: TOC: COVID-19 billboard; pp. 57-58. Arlecia Powell-Halley: TOC: School Work photo; p. 75: conference photos. NYU Medical Archives: p. 13: Milton Roemer. Dr. Abdelmonem A. Afifi: p. 21: Afifi. Dr. Linda Rosenstock: p. 28: Rosenstock. Gerald F. Kominski: p. 72.
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