UC Berkeley Online Master of Public Health

01/27/2026

UC Berkeley Public Health community: Do you (or your organization) have a project that is a strong fit for an MPH student? We invite partners to host MPH students through collaborative practicum experiences, including short-term projects, summer practicums or internships, and multi-semester engagements.

Visit https://ow.ly/wcmv50Y4vBK to learn how to host and stay updated on upcoming partnership opportunities. Please share this invitation with colleagues and others in your network who may be interested. ⭐

01/22/2026

Could new dietary guidelines do more harm than good? UC Berkeley public health nutrition expert Barbara Laraia warns that emphasizing higher protein, meat, and full-fat dairy—while easing limits on alcohol and sugar—could confuse consumers and undermine long-term health goals.

https://ow.ly/Ac9L50Y0XHO

When the federal government issued its recommendations for a healthy diet last week, many nutritionists and health care providers were appalled.

01/21/2026

UC Berkeley experts outline key AI issues to watch in 2026, from regulation and environmental costs to bias and labor impacts. From UC Berkeley School of Public Health, bioethicist Jodi Halpern warns that AI companions risk eroding empathy, mental health, and civic engagement—underscoring the need for ethical guardrails and public oversight.

https://ow.ly/uFyB50Y0OJS

How will AI disrupt the labor market? What will deepfake videos mean for our understanding of truth? Are we in a bubble, and if so, will it burst?

01/20/2026

🚑 Advancing Rural Health Policy in Sacramento 🏛️: On Tuesday, January 13, over 20 UC Berkeley Public Health graduate students traveled to Sacramento for a deep dive into the policy landscape shaping rural health in California. It was an incredible opportunity to engage directly with state leaders and advocates working to close health disparities in our remote communities.

A huge thank you to our speakers for sharing their expertise on Medi-Cal, workforce challenges, and health equity:

➡️ Karen Mark, Medical Director at DHCS
➡️ Holly Laird, Rural & Disability Equity Specialist at CDPH
➡️ Dennis Cuevas Romero & Taylor Beckwith from the California Primary Care Association (CPCA)
➡️ Katie Andrew (Local Health Plans of California) and Amy Turnipseed (Partnership HealthPlan of California)
➡️ Carolyn “CJ” Nava from the Disability Action Center
➡️ Robin Schurig from the Health Alliance of Northern California
➡️ Assemblymember Heather Hadwick and more.

Discussions like these are vital for understanding the complex reality of healthcare delivery outside our urban centers.

01/19/2026

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day! ✊🏿 ✊🏾✊🏽 Today we share a view of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom held in Washington, D.C. on August 28, 1963, with a quote from Dr. King, more relevant now than ever.

“Those who love peace must learn to organize as effectively as those who love war.”

01/16/2026

New research led by Professor Emeritus Ralph Catalano found that COVID lockdowns in Nordic countries reduced deaths among working-age men, but that mortality rates for women were unaffected. Catalano suggests that future studies should look at how social roles and behavior may affect infection risk differently based upon gender.

https://ow.ly/fgqx50XXGG9

A new analysis is the first to look at how well greater restraint worked for men versus women in Nordic countries during the pandemic.

01/13/2026

⭐ Meet the 2025 Social Impact Innovation Program cohort at UC Berkeley Public Health! 🎉
These student teams are partnering with communities and receiving funding to turn bold, equity-centered ideas into action—from mental health policy advocacy to co-developing a safety training program with the Navajo Nation EPA for uranium mine remediation.

Read more about the program: https://publichealth.berkeley.edu/research/social-impact

01/12/2026

Hepatitis C is easily curable — so why is it still being ignored in many jails?

A new UC Berkeley Public Health study shows that despite high rates of hepatitis C among people in county jails, testing and treatment are rare — even though many stays are long enough to complete a cure.

"We should invest in getting people the treatment they need in the place that makes the most sense for them, and for a lot of people, that’s in jail," said Shelley Facente, Community Health Sciences assistant adjunct professor and lead author of the study.

Learn more: https://publichealth.berkeley.edu/articles/spotlight/research/hepatitis-c-ignored-in-many-jails

Estimates of hepatitis C antibodies among people incarcerated in county jails range between 12% and 35% in the United States.

01/09/2026

What does the recent overhaul of the U.S. childhood vaccine recommendations mean for families? In a Q & A, Assistant Professor of Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology Charlie Whittaker breaks it down shot by shot.

With the CDC cutting routine shots from 17 to 11, Whittaker stresses that the science behind vaccine safety hasn’t changed, but the opaque decision-making process may erode trust and complicate conversations between parents and clinicians. He encourages parents to stay informed, talk with providers, and not interpret guideline shifts as signals that vaccines are unsafe or unnecessary.

https://ow.ly/LqVy50XU85a

Infectious disease expert Dr. Charles Whittaker on why accountability matters in public health.

01/08/2026

An East Bay program is reshaping prenatal care for Black mothers. BelovedBIRTH Black Centering, operated by Alameda Health System and community partners with research support from UC Berkeley’s Wallace Center, is improving birth outcomes through culturally centered, community-based care.

“We were really gratified to see in the numbers what we know from our anecdotal discussions and qualitative research—that the program works,” said Dr. Lindsay Parham, executive director of the Wallace Center. Babies in the program were born later and heavier, with lower rates of preterm birth and low birth weight than those outside the program.

Built on the Centering Pregnancy model and founded in 2019 by certified nurse midwife Jyesha Wren for Black mothers, the program responds to deep inequities in outcomes. “Our country’s crisis in perinatal outcomes…is bad for everybody, but particularly bad for Black folks,” Wren said, describing a model that “offers a paradigm shift” in Black birth justice.

https://ow.ly/wL5N50XSFwp

UC Berkeley’s Wallace Center offers research and evaluation support.

01/07/2026

UC Berkeley Public Health Impact Fellow Thomas Goetz just launched DRUG STORY, his new podcast about the disease business - one drug at a time. The first episode, on the EpiPen and food allergies, is available now at Substack, Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Every episode tells a new story about some familiar drugs, from Zoloft to Lipitor to Xanax to Testosterone. And along the way, the podcast tells new stories about the conditions these drugs treat

Thomas worked on this podcast as his project while serving as UC Berkeley Public Health Impact Fellow and was assisted in the research by then MPH student and Social Impact Team Associate Molly Woerner.

Congrats on the launch--we can’t wait to listen in!!

https://www.drugstory.co/

A podcast about the disease business, one drug at a time. Click to read Drug Story, by Thomas Goetz, a Substack publication.

01/06/2026

From disease prevention to policy progress, this 2025 public health roundup from Your Local Epidemiologist highlights 20 reasons for hope—and why the work matters. A smart, optimistic read on what public health got right, compiled by Hannah Totte and Katelyn Jetelina.

https://yourlocalepidemiologist.substack.com/p/20-public-health-wins-in-2025

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