UMass Amherst School of Public Health and Health Sciences

09/18/2026

Last month, Health Promotion and Policy doctoral candidate Mariana Pinto-Alvarez teamed up with the Bogotá District Health Secretariat to host “Your Story Matters” (“Tu historia importa"), an exhibit showcasing the participants’ photos and stories. The exhibit was part of her dissertation research, an international collaboration between UMass and political and educational leaders in Bogota, Colombia, aimed at showcasing the experience of older adults in different socioeconomic groups through the photographs they take. The study focused on how these individuals experience aging, belonging, and mental well-being within the city’s socially stratified environment.

“Seeing the final exhibition made me feel very happy, proud, and emotional,” Pinto-Alvarez said. “What touched me the most was seeing how happy and proud they were to share their work with their families and other visitors.”

https://www.umass.edu/public-health-sciences/news/hpp-study-share-stories-older-colombian-adults

09/16/2026

Kinesiology's Judi LaBranche has been selected to serve as Faculty-in-Residence in the Commonwealth Honors Residential Community for the 2026-27 academic year. Organized by Residential Life and the Commonwealth Honors College, the Faculty-in-Residence program seeks faculty members who have interest in and ability to relate well with students and possess an abiding interest in their academic and personal learning.

Judi Bruno LaBranche has been selected to serve as Faculty-in-Residence in the Commonwealth Honors Residential Community for the 2026-27 academic year.

09/14/2026

Today UMass Amherst announced that a $30 million gift from Paul and Diane Manning, given through their family foundation, will be one of the financial cornerstones of a $120 million Future of Food initiative. The initiative will bring together industry experts, farmers, and researchers to take on some of the biggest modern problems: food safety concerns, climate change, diet, nutrition, and global supply chain disruptions.

As part of this initiative, the university will create the Paul and Diane Manning Center for the Future of Food and a new, state-of-the-art 36,000 square foot “Paul and Diane Manning Food Innovation Hub” that is slated to break ground on campus in late 2027.

The School of Public Health and Health Sciences is proud to join the campus community in this initiative. This $120 million investment strengthens UMass Amherst’s leadership at the intersection of food, public health, biotechnology, and health span science, areas that are central to our mission and to the future of global well being.

The initiative also represents a powerful opportunity to deepen our leadership in Food Is Medicine, strengthen interdisciplinary collaboration, and expand applied learning experiences for our students. Our faculty bring expertise in nutrition, chronic disease prevention, environmental health, health equity, and community engagement, disciplines essential to shaping a healthier and more resilient food future.

Learn more about the initiative >> https://www.umass.edu/news/article/umass-amherst-launches-historic-transformational-120-million-future-food-initiative

Food shapes our health, our cultures, our communities, our economie...

09/11/2026

Professor of Nutrition Lorraine Cordeiro, along with Nutrition alumna Bi-sek Hsiao ’22PhD, a research fellow with the UMass Amherst Center for Research on Families, have been awarded a Public Service Endowment Grant (PSEG) to support a project centered on bridging education and employment to enhance undergraduate work-based learning for the modern workforce. Cordeiro will partner with the Hitchcock Center for the Environment in Amherst, Mass.

Lorraine Cordeiro has been awarded a Public Service Endowment Grant to support a project with the Hitchcock Center for the Environment in Amherst, Mass.

09/08/2026

Happy FDOC! We hope you all had a fabulous first day of classes. Thanks to everyone who stopped by for our first annual FDOC photo stop! We will have a printed copy for you to pick up the year you graduate, at your “50 Days until Commencement” event! ✨

09/04/2026

As we welcome students back to campus this week, three of them tell us how they thrived in their summer internships with support from the SPHHS Office of Career Planning through Summer '26 Unpaid Internship and Unpaid Practicum Scholarships. Members from each group received $2,000 as a financial boost while they focused on an internship or practicum related to their career area of interest, major, or life goals.

Among the students the OCP awarded scholarships were MPH student Kayanna Franklin, rising senior Shakira Cadet, and rising junior Ella McTasney. Learn more about their experiences at the link.

Students had the opportunity to focus primarily on their unpaid internships with a boost from a scholarship from the Office of Career Planning.

09/03/2026

A recent review led by Jamie Hartmann-Boyce and published by the non-profit Cochrane has found e-cigarettes containing ni****ne are more effective in helping people quit smoking than other ni****ne replacement therapies, such as gum or patches. The analysis, part of an ongoing living systematic review that is updated as new evidence becomes available, examined 80 randomized controlled trials involving 29,861 participants, nine of which were new to this update.

Smoking is the leading cause of preventable disease and death, resulting in more than seven million deaths per year, including 1.6 million non-smokers who are exposed to second-hand smoke, according to the World Health Organization.

“We have very strong evidence that regulated ni****ne e-cigarettes are substantially less harmful than smoking,” Hartmann-Boyce, said. “Based on the consistency of the findings here, it’s clear that they are a proven and viable option for people wishing to quit traditional cigarettes.”

A new review of research has found e-cigarettes containing ni****ne are more effective in helping people quit smoking than other ni****ne replacement therapies.

09/02/2026

Interested in building your professional skills? Our one-credit skill-building seminar series offers opportunities for current and future professionals to develop new competencies and hone their expertise in subject areas designed for today's workforce.

Learn how to enroll in our one-credit seminar series this fall >> https://www.umass.edu/registrar/non-degree-enrollment

Contact us for more information: Office of Professional Programs UMass School of Public Health and Health Sciences: [email protected]

09/01/2026

The School of Public Health and Health Sciences has announced the appointment of Professor Elizabeth Evans as Chair of the Department of Health Promotion and Policy effective September 1, 2026. Evans previously served in an interim capacity and as associate chair for the past year. She takes over the position from Sarah Goff.

Evans joined the department in 2017. During this time, she’s been awarded multiple federally-funded grants, including multi-million-dollar awards through NIH’s Justice Community Opioid Innovation Network (JCOIN) initiative.

Read more >> https://www.umass.edu/public-health-sciences/news/evans-appointed-chair-health-promotion-and-policy

09/01/2026

In her August message, Dean Anna Maria Siega-Riz welcomes new faculty and staff and honors their promotions, highlights September events, and discuses the new art installations exhibited in the SPHHS Hub, including a Photovoice project from recent graduate Mira Weil '26PhD and a painting donated by artist Saleem Nasrullah and her son, kinesiology alumnus Imran Nasrullah '87.

"More artwork is coming in September as part of our NeuroArts campaign to make connections between the arts and wellbeing," she writes. "Take time to enjoy these exhibits."

Read her monthly message >> https://www.umass.edu/public-health-sciences/news/deans-message-august-2026