Rutgers School of Public Health

10/08/2025

🗞️ ➡️ Dean Perry Halkitis penned an AJMC - The American Journal of Managed Care - op-ed examining the limits of science in shaping healthier societies and urging that public health move beyond data to embrace empathy, emotion, and equity to truly protect communities.

🔗 Read more about his call to humanize public health

Rutgers Health | Rutgers University

Public health must address emotional and structural inequities, emphasizes Perry N. Halkitis, PhD, MS, MPH, dean of the Rutgers School of Public Health.

10/06/2025

Explore the findings and recommendations from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s COVID-19 Vaccine Safety Research and Communications Committee report, "Vaccine Risk Monitoring and Evaluation at the CDC", featuring insights from Dean Perry Halkitis.

🗓️Tuesday, October 7, 2025
⏰ 2:00 - 3:00 PM (ET)
📍 https://www.nationalacademies.org/event/45855_10-2025_vaccine-risk-monitoring-and-evaluation-at-the-centers-for-disease-control-and-prevention-report-release-webinar

Rutgers Health | Rutgers University

Learn more from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

10/03/2025

👏 is thrilled to announce that three faculty members will be honored at the New Jersey Public Health Association’s (NJPHA) Annual Conference & Awards Ceremony this month. 🔗 Learn more about the upcoming event: https://www.njpha.org/2025-conference-awards-dinner/

🎉 These distinguished awards celebrate exceptional leadership, service, advocacy, research, and collaboration, all of which strengthen and advance public health across New Jersey.

🏆 Slawa Rokicki, assistant professor in the Department of Health Behavior, Society and Policy, has been selected to receive the Lloyd M. Femly Award. It is presented to an individual for outstanding contribution in the media to the cause of public health in New Jersey.

🏆 Mary Hrywna, associate professor in the Department of Health Behavior, Society and Policy and a founding member of the Rutgers Institute for Ni****ne and To***co Studies, has been selected to receive the Ezra Muncy Hunt Award for outstanding service and leadership to the cause of public health.

🏆 Mitchel A. Rosen, professor in the Department of Urban-Global Health and director of the Center for Public Health Workforce Development - Rutgers SPH, will be receiving the Dennis J. Sullivan Award. The award is NJPHA’s highest honor and is named after Dennis J. Sullivan, a health officer who dedicated his life to improving New Jersey’s public health.

🔗 Read More: https://sph.rutgers.edu/news/rutgers-school-public-health-faculty-recognized-new-jersey-public-health-association

Rutgers Health | Rutgers University

Three faculty members from the Rutgers School of Public Health will be honored at the New Jersey Public Health Association’s (NJPHA) Annual Conference and Awards Ceremony on October 16, 2025. These distinguished awards celebrate exceptional leadership, service, advocacy, research, and collaboratio...

10/01/2025

🚼 A new evaluation led by Leslie Kantor, professor at , and supported by The Burke Foundation, found that the CenteringPregnancy model:
✔️ Builds trust between patients and providers
✔️ Creates social support among expectant parents
✔️ Increases breastfeeding and postpartum visits
✔️ Improves provider job satisfaction and reduces burnout

💭 "Our team of faculty, staff and community researchers had the opportunity to gather data from many perspectives and found overwhelmingly that group prenatal care has benefits for patients as well as for healthcare providers and staff," said Kantor.

🔗 Learn More

Rutgers Health | Rutgers University | Rutgers Research

CenteringPregnancy is a prenatal care model combining education and individual health assessments in group settings for women at similar stages of pregnancy. A new evaluation by the Rutgers School of Public Health demonstrates that Centering fosters important social ties among expectant parents and....

09/26/2025

🚬 Researchers found that New York City smokers are avoiding the nation’s highest cigarette taxes.

💡 A study led by Kevin Schroth, an associate professor in 's Department of Health Behavior, Society and Policy, revealed that many discarded cigarette packs in NYC originated from states with much lower to***co taxes, with Georgia now topping the list.

💭 “If something is cheaper in one place and more expensive in another, people will find ways to profit by purchasing in the cheap place and selling in the expensive one," said Schroth. "And because we can compare our findings to prior work, we can see that it may be a growing problem for New York City’s tax collection. What’s interesting, though, is that despite this trend, New York City’s smoking rates are still declining. This might mean that part of a shrinking smoking population is very determined to get cheap, untaxed cigarettes.”

🔗 Learn More

Rutgers Health | Rutgers University | Rutgers Research

New York City has the highest cigarette taxes in the nation, but Rutgers Health research indicates that many smokers illegally avoid them.

09/18/2025

👏🎉 The community proudly celebrates four members honored with 2025 Rutgers Health Chancellor Awards for remarkable achievements in research, education, mentorship, service, and lifetime contributions.

🏆 Emily Barrett, George G. Rhoads Endowed Legacy Professor and vice chair of the Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, received the Distinguished Mentor Award.

🏆 Joye Anestis, associate professor in the Department of Health Behavior, Society and Policy, received the Excellence in Education and Teaching Award.

🏆 Mary Hrywna, associate professor in the Department of Health Behavior, Society and Policy and a founding member of the Rutgers Institute for Ni****ne and To***co Studies, received the Excellence in Clinical or Health Sciences Research Award (Mid-Career Investigator).

🏆 Greta Bushnell, assistant professor in the Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology and a member of the Center for Pharmacoepidemiology and Treatment Science at the Rutgers Institute for Health, Health Care Policy, and Aging Research, received the Excellence in Clinical or Health Sciences Research Award (Early Career Investigator).

🔗 Learn More

Rutgers University | Rutgers Research

Four distinguished members of the Rutgers School of Public Health community have been recognized with 2025 Rutgers Health Chancellor Awards for their outstanding contributions. These awards honor exceptional achievement in research, education, mentorship, service, and lifetime contributions.

09/12/2025

researchers analyzed the broader, indirect effects of Nurture NJ—the statewide initiative launched in 2019 by First Lady Tammy Murphy to improve maternal and infant health and reduce racial disparities—and shared their findings in the new report, "Ripple Effects: Exploring the Indirect Influence of Nurture NJ." 🔗Learn More: https://sph.rutgers.edu/news/how-indirect-effects-nurture-nj-bolster-maternal-health-initiatives

Laura Lindberg, who led the analysis and is a professor in the Department of Urban-Global Public Health at , spoke with New Jersey 101.5 about the findings.

Rutgers Health | Rutgers University | Rutgers Research

09/04/2025

🔎 Backed by support from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the UL Chemical Insights Research Institute, researchers will launch a study on the recent Los Angeles wildfires to better understand their potential impact on public health and the environment.

🔬 The project will be led by:
- Philip Demokritou, Henry Rutgers Chair and professor in nanoscience and environmental bioengineering at and director of the Rutgers Environmental Health Nanoscience and Advanced Materials Center (NAMC).
- Jose Guillermo Cedeño Laurent, assistant professor at and director of the Rutgers Climate Adaptive and Restorative Environments Lab.

💭 “The study's findings will equip public health officials, environmental agencies and local leaders with much-needed data to better protect communities, not only during active wildfire events but in the aftermath as well,” said Demokritou.

🔗 Learn More: https://www.rutgers.edu/news/researchers-examine-los-angeles-wildfires-and-their-implications-public-health

Rutgers Health | Rutgers University | Rutgers Research | EOHSI (Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences Institute)

Backed by funding from a federal agency and a nonprofit safety science organization, Rutgers Health researchers are taking a closer look at the recent Los Angeles wildfires and their impact on public health and the environment.

09/02/2025

👋 Happy first day of the Fall 2025 semester to all our students, faculty, staff, and partners! The start of a new academic year is a moment to reflect on the values that unite our community: courage, compassion, and justice.

Dean Perry N. Halkitis will formally accept the J. Michael McGinnis Leadership Excellence Award at next week’s IAPHS annual conference. In his upcoming speech, he calls on public health leaders to keep humanity at the center of their work.

💭 "At Rutgers School of Public Health, we will not cower. And we will not step away from commitments to: environmental justice, reproductive rights, maternal and child health, mental health, substance use, and violence prevention. Through science, education, and community engagement."

🔗 Read the full speech: https://sph.rutgers.edu/news/dean-deliver-remarks-national-conference-future-public-health-leadership

Rutgers Health | Rutgers University | Interdisciplinary Association for Population Health Science - IAPHS

At the Rutgers School of Public Health, we’re educating leaders, putting research into practice, and developing public health solutions rooted in our deep commitment to health equity, social justice, and advocacy.

08/31/2025

📰 The Fall 2025 edition of The Scarletter, ’s quarterly newsletter, has arrived!

🔗 Read The Scarletter: go.rutgers.edu/koepgft7

➡️ Inside, explore student and faculty achievements, SEAA Welcome Weeks events, new research, and expert commentary in national media. This issue highlights a faculty appointment to APHA’s Governing Council, the Dean receiving the IAPHS Leadership Excellence Award, Summer 2025 practicum capstone presentations, new faculty members, and updates on academic programs and career development opportunities. Hear from members of our community making an impact in public health and beyond.

🔗 Read The Scarletter: go.rutgers.edu/koepgft7
🔗 Prefer a PDF? Download here: go.rutgers.edu/tnt5jk4x

Rutgers Health | Rutgers University

08/30/2025

Derek Shendell, DEnv, MPH, professor in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health and Justice at the Rutgers School of Public Health and RCEI Affiliate, is co-author of a new study published in the Journal of Environmental Health.

In this study, the authors translated an existing online course on climate change, sustainability, and environmental justice into Spanish. The course, created by the New Jersey Safe Schools Program, includes five modules that teach students about climate science, the role of human activities, and why environmental justice matters locally.

By offering this course in Spanish, the project helps include more students from immigrant and Spanish-speaking families in climate education. This can increase public awareness and empower young people to share knowledge in their communities, supporting efforts to address local climate challenges and health impacts.

Read more and find the full study at https://rcei.rutgers.edu/teaching-climate-change-in-spanish-helps-reach-more-students/

08/27/2025

The following message regarding today’s tragedy in Minneapolis is shared on behalf of the Executive Director of the New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center at Rutgers.

Dear Rutgers School of Public Health Community,

Today’s shooting at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis was indescribably tragic. Once again, we are faced with a story involving children dying from gunshot wounds in a place where safety should not even have to be on our minds.

At the New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center (GVRC), we are devoted to finding solutions to this problem, to preventing as many tragedies as possible, and helping as many people as we can when tragedies do occur. The science of gun violence prevention is under threat right now, just like so much of the other work done at the School of Public Health. However, we must remain committed to serving as data-driven voices of hope. Gun violence is preventable, but there is so much more work left to be done.

Tragedies like this should not be such a common story, but we are a community devoted to the values of public health, and the work that we do can bring change.

For those in need of support, the university offers services to School of Public Health faculty, staff, and students, recognizing the impact that community violence has on our physical, mental, and social health: go.rutgers.edu/14lbh4dr

Sincerely,

Michael Anestis, PhD
Executive Director, New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center
Professor, Rutgers School of Public Health