Message From The Chair

Christopher Morley, PhD, MA

Public Health is about all of us, working together, to shape a just, equitable, society that allows its members to achieve the highest possible level of health. We do so by focusing upon the social, environmental, economic, and political determinants of health, and seek to prevent illness and injury.

Within the Department of Public Health & Preventive Medicine, our faculty and professional staff embody these values not only through the conduct of rigorous research across a wide range of scientific methodologies from medicine, biology, the social sciences, education, psychology, and the humanities, but also through service to the community around us, and through the active practice of empathy and care as we teach our students. As you explore our web pages and interact with our team, please take a moment to consider what Public Health means to you, and for you.

Our MPH program spans concentrations in Public Health Methods, Global Health & Translational Sciences, and Population Health for Clinicians, as well as a certificate of advanced study, joint MD/MPH training, and the Public Health Scholar special pathway into medicine. I i invite you to explore The Spring 2023 issue of the Upstate Medical Alumni Journal, which highlighted our public health educational activities. Our research covers a broad range of disciplines and methodologies, and you can see hundreds of our department’s publications here. Our Center for Research and Evaluation serves the biostatistical and methodological needs for researchers from the entire Upstate community and beyond. We teach medical students via the Health Systems Science course, preventive medicine electives, and community-engaged learning, and we teach a variety of students through the Consortium for Culture and Medicine.

Through these activities and others, we strive to serve our community, advance public health and preventive medicine knowledge, and train our learners to strive for greater equity in health outcomes in the populations we serve.

Christopher Morley, PhD, MA
Professor and Chair of Public Health and Preventive Medicine,
Professor of Family Medicine
Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Chair, Upstate Institutional Review Board