TTUHSC-Julia Jones Matthews School of Population and Public Health

How should artificial intelligence shape the future of public health?

Dr. Courtney Queen, Associate Dean for Strategic Partnerships, Interim Department Chair, and Associate Professor, represented the Julia Jones Matthews School of Population and Public Health as a panelist during the opening plenary session at the ASPPH Annual Meeting, where national leaders discussed the responsible and ethical use of AI in public health education, research, and practice.

We're proud to have our leaders helping lead these important conversations.

We're proud to celebrate the contributions of two of our alumni, Tiffany Torres, MPH ('18) and Amanda Shotts, MPH, CIC ('20), both authors of a recent CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) report which examined the 2025 West Texas measles outbreak.

Tiffany and Amanda now serve with Lubbock Public Health and were instrumental in documenting many valuable lessons learned from this public health response. They will be able to share those experiences nationally among practitioners and policy makers.

In addition we would like to thank Katherine Wells, DrPH, Director of Public Health for the city of Lubbock and member of the Julia Jones Matthews School of Population and Public Health Community Advisory Board for her leadership and for contributing to this body of work.

The MMWR is considered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as one of its top scientific publication sources and is used as a trusted source of timely public health information.

National recognition for Clare Meernik, PhD, MPH, Research Assistant Professor in the Kenneth H. Cooper Institute and the Julia Jones Matthews School of Population and Public Health at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center.

Research led by Dr. Meernik on how midlife fitness impacts long-term health was recently featured by The Washington Post.

The 30-year study found that higher cardiorespiratory fitness in midlife is associated with longer life, fewer chronic diseases, and more years lived in good health after age 65.

The findings reinforce that healthy habits now can have lasting impact for decades to come.

Congratulations to Dr. Meernik and the research team on the national recognition.

Midlife fitness linked to longer, healthier lives, study finds A comprehensive study found that people who were most fit in their 40s and 50s developed major illness later, and lived longer.

Here's the final takeaway from a recent session on emergency response and disaster management.

The focus isn’t recognition. It’s the work.

Much of what happens in emergency response and public health is behind the scenes. It's supporting communities. It's solving problems. It's staying focused on the mission.

That’s how impact happens.

Here's the next takeaway from a recent session on emergency response and disaster management.

One message was clear: preparation happens before the crisis.

Showing up in the moment isn’t enough. Training, coordination, role definition, skills training...they all matter.

Even basic things like CPR or Stop the Bleed can make a difference before professionals arrive.

Dr. Deborah Birx, faculty member at the Tech University Health Sciences Center Julia Jones Matthews School of Population and Public Health, has been front and center this week in national media coverage of the hantavirus outbreak aboard the cruise ship MV Hondius.

Dr. Birx appeared on both CNN with Wolf Blitzer and NewsNation, calling for proactive molecular testing as the key to managing outbreaks before symptoms emerge. We can all draw on hard lessons from COVID-19.

We're proud to have her expertise shaping the national public health conversation.

Here's our next takeaway from recent conversations with public health professionals and alumni.

A consistent piece of advice: start building connections early.

Don't wait until you are searching for a job. Do it now.

Reach out to people doing the work
Pay attention to different career paths
Stay curious

Public health is a connected field. Relationships matter.

As a follow-up to National Public Health Week, we’re sharing a few takeaways from recent conversations with public health professionals and alumni. On Star Wars Day, here's today's takeaway:

Public health is collaborative by design.

No one takes on complex challenges alone. Not in a galaxy far, far away, and not in ours. It takes a squadron.

The work improves when you:

a) bring in different perspectives
b) ask better questions
c) share responsibility for the outcome
d) Fly an X-Wing (probably)

Seriously though, the strongest outcomes come from teams working together toward something bigger than themselves.

Stay in formation and May the Fourth be with you.

It's Graduation Day! 🎓

We're hosting our fourth commencement ceremony for our 2026 graduates TODAY at 2:00 pm at the Historic Paramount Theatre in downtown Abilene.

If you’re unable to watch your graduate celebrate in person, the events will also be broadcast on the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center live stream page and YouTube channel.

As a follow-up to National Public Health Week, we’re sharing a few takeaways from recent conversations with public health professionals and alumni. Here's takeaway #2:

Public health is about people.

The numbers behind every dataset represent a real person.�Every trend represents a lived experience.

The most effective professionals listen first, then understand context, and only then build solutions.

The most important skill is knowing when to stop talking and start listening...and it's becoming a lost art.