School Notes: School of Public Health
September/October 2023

Yale School of Public Health welcomes new dean

Megan L. Ranney began her term as dean of the Yale School of Public Health on July 1. An emergency medicine physician and former deputy dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, Ranney brings to Yale a remarkable track record of driving innovations in public health teaching, research, and practice. Her career is distinguished by a deep commitment to working with communities to identify and address complex public health challenges, especially those that burden historically underserved or marginalized populations. Her funded research focuses primarily on developing, testing, and disseminating technology-augmented interventions to prevent violence and related behavioral health problems, such as substance use and mental illness. She is most widely known for her work on firearm injury as a public health problem. A leading public voice on urgent topics in health and medicine, she is a frequent media commentator and author of op-eds for outlets ranging from PBS, the BBC, and CNN to Fox News, the Wall Street Journal, and the New York Times. 

New pipeline for public health professionals

The Yale School of Public Health is partnering with the Connecticut Department of Public Health to create a pipeline of future public health workers to address a workforce shortage in the state. The program supports students in high-quality public health field placements throughout Connecticut and provides them with $3,500 stipends.

“Many people working in public health are approaching retirement and more are considering leaving the field due to stresses heightened by COVID-19, which is presenting serious workforce challenges,” said Nikole Allen, associate director of the fellowship program. “Workforce challenges in public health take time and coordination, and we need to address it as soon as possible in an intentional and collaborative way.”