UC Berkeley Online Master of Public Health

Congratulations 🎉 to this year's recipients of the UC Berkeley Public Health Staff Special Awards! 🌟

These annual awards recognize staff members who go "above and beyond", requiring a nomination from fellow staff or faculty. Named after former staff members and supporters, these awards celebrate outstanding contributions to customer service, DEIB, school core values, student experience, emotional support, and community collaboration.

This year's awardees:

🌟 Megan Olivera, Manager of Community Partnerships, RISE: Careers and Leadership Office: Abbie Smith Customer Service Award
🌟 Khirin Carter, Director for Graduate Academic Success, DREAM Office: Abby Rincón Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Award
🌟 Lucas Carlton, Director of Operations & Finance, Online MPH Program: Alfred Wheeler Childs Award for Staff
🌟 Claire Trias, Program Manager, Division of Epidemiology: Angela Waxman Enriching Student Experience Award
🌟 Lori Nalbandian, Admissions and Recruitment Manager, Student Services & Admissions: Carol Wong Memorial Staff Award
🌟 Zoe Blalock, Program Manager, Online MPH Program: Sally Bellows Community Building Award

The awardees received their certificates and kudos at this year's Staff Luncheon held at Alumni House on May 9.

Hi, I'm Evan vanDommelen-Gonzalez, Academic Director of UC Berkeley's Online Master of Public Health program and Faculty Lead for the Interdisciplinary Program Option. 🐻

Public health is a social change profession. That belief shapes everything I bring into my courses and advising.

I draw from communities I have worked with, learned from, and have been a part of throughout my career. I encourage students to collectively grapple with what it means to practice cultural humility, unlearn and dismantle factors that place communities at risk, and incorporate systems thinking to create multilevel approaches working in partnership with community members and organizations.

The Interdisciplinary Program Option has the most students of any track in the program. I think that is not only because an interdisciplinary orientation is appealing, but also because it allows students to tailor their course map in a way that meets their unique learning and professional goals based on the professional and lived experiences they bring to our learning community. 🐻

UC Berkeley Public Health is excited to welcome its third cohort of Impact Fellows, bringing together 10 accomplished leaders from health care, policy, entrepreneurship, and philanthropy! 🎉

During the 2026–27 academic year, the fellows will collaborate with faculty and students, mentor the next generation of changemakers, and develop innovative solutions to some of the most pressing challenges in health. The program reflects our commitment to turning knowledge into action and advancing health for all. 💡 🩺

https://ow.ly/4eJZ50ZazcN

UCBPH welcomes third cohort of Impact Fellows The Impact Fellows program is grounded in the belief that universities exist to create change in the world by bridging the gap between knowledge and action.

According to a new study led by UC Berkeley Public Health postdoctoral scholar Lisa Couper, warming temperatures from climate change are making California increasingly hospitable to the dengue virus and the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes that transmit it.

Although local transmission has historically been rare, areas in Southern California and the Central Valley are approaching optimal temperatures for the virus to thrive and circulate. Consequently, public health researchers expect cases of this painful illness to grow as the state's urban environments become more climate-suited for the disease.

https://publichealth.berkeley.edu/articles/spotlight/research/as-california-warms-cases-of-dengue-fever-are-expected-to-grow

As California warms, cases of dengue fever are expected to grow A warming climate is making parts of the state more hospitable to the dengue fever — and the mosquitoes that carry it.

UC Berkeley Public Health Professor of Community Health Sciences Jodi Halpern is featured in a new PBS documentary on the health benefits of human social connection. Halpern, a bioethicist, is an expert on how chatbot companions can endanger social health.

Said Halpern, "The companies design the bots to keep your eyes on the application as much as possible, and they know that can create dependence and addiction. nAnd what happens in many cases is then people withdraw from their other relationships."
https://ow.ly/o7ig50Z94sZ

Wired For Connection Scientists now link friendship to a remarkable range of benefits—both physical and mental.

Hi, I'm John Rodrigo, MD, MPH, alumni of UC Berkeley's Online Master of Public Health program concentrating in Epidemiology and Biostatistics. 🐻

My path to public health grew out of working across different parts of the health care system and seeing how closely connected they are. I began in emergency medicine in the prehospital setting, went on to complete medical school in Europe, trained in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology at UC Davis, and later moved into clinical research focused on diagnostics, point of care testing, and infectious disease.

Public health felt like the natural bridge between my clinical background, research interests, and desire to improve systems of care beyond one patient encounter at a time.

The MPH helped me put language and structure around things I had experienced throughout my career. It also helped me see that public health is not separate from clinical medicine. It is part of the framework that determines whether clinical care is effective, equitable, and scalable. 🐻

Congratulations to the UC Berkeley Online Master of Public Health Class of 2026! 🐻🎓
Last Tuesday, we gathered to celebrate our graduates and all they have accomplished on this journey.

You balanced work, life, and graduate school with dedication and heart, and you made it to this moment. We are so proud of you and excited for the impact you will make in the world.

Fiat Lux and Go Bears! 💛💙

In a Q&A, UC Berkeley Public Health infectious disease expert Charlie Whittaker discusses the current Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda.

Said Whittaker: "The first thing worth saying about this outbreak is that it’s already the third largest Ebola outbreak ever recorded.

And it started that way, which is the worrying part. For an outbreak to be that big the moment we notice it means the virus had been spreading quietly for some time before anyone recognised what was happening."

He warns that the specific Bundibugyo strain lacks the advanced vaccines and treatments available for other variants. However, the risk to the American public remains very low due to the virus's non-airborne transmission and the effectiveness of established containment protocols.

Read more: https://publichealth.berkeley.edu/articles/news/commentary/how-worried-should-you-be-about-ebola

How worried should you be about Ebola? Infectious disease expert Dr. Charles Whittaker on how public health can stop a pandemic.