Working together to combat community health problems and disparities in care
The University of Texas System Board of Regents has approved plans to create a School of Public Health, a collaboration between The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, also called UT Health San Antonio, and The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). The new graduate school will provide academic instruction relevant to public health and serve as a focus of research activities directed toward community health problems, as it maintains and grows relationships with all entities interested in public health.
UT Health San Antonio and UTSA offer collective strengths to serve as a strong foundation for advancing public health education and service to South Texas. Building on efforts to advance community health and wellness, both institutions share a rich and collaborative history in meeting the unique health needs of the region’s diverse population. These include:
- Federal designation as Hispanic-serving Institutions by the U.S. Department of Education;
- Established joint programs including a Ph.D. in translational science, Ph.D. in biomedical engineering and an M.D./M.P.H. dual degree program in medicine and public health;
- A robust undergraduate public health degree program;
- Demonstrated history of collaboration in research with the National Institutes of Health, the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, the Center for Innovative Drug Discovery, the Clinical and Translational Science Awards Program, and the San Antonio Partnership for Precision Therapeutics.
Accepting students in 2024
The University of Texas School of Public Health San Antonio will begin accepting students in 2024, offering advanced graduate degrees. Located on the Greehey Campus of UT Health San Antonio will provide optimal access to the region’s major medical and academic health facilities. Through its coursework, it will provide a unique public health education by integrating advanced health research, collaborating on new academic programs to serve a diverse population and building public health leaders who understand and are dedicated to finding positive interventions to mitigate our greatest public health challenges. The first doctoral students will be admitted in 2025.
Quickfacts
100
jobs will be added specifically to support the UT School of Public Health San Antonio
$20 million
is estimated to be generated by the school's academic and research missions
400
students per year will be supported by the school's programs
San Antonio, an optimal location
As the seventh-largest city in the U.S., San Antonio is a prime location for a school of public health. It is the epicenter of health care in South Texas and is the largest city in the United States without an independent school of public health.
To learn more, please contact:
Vasan Ramachandran, MD, inaugural dean of The University of Texas School of Public Health San Antonio“Launching the new School of Public Health in San Antonio is a transformative opportunity of a lifetime. We are using the partnerships between UT Health, UTSA, San Antonio, Metro Health, and Bexar County to harness the brain trust and human power to address public health problems. Everything that we do will have the focus of the community at its center.”
William L. Henrich, MD, MACP, president of UT Health San Antonio“Unique health challenges of our region include infectious diseases, diabetes, maternal and child health, mental health and substance use disorders, health care disparities, cancer and injury prevention. Our faculty will propose innovative public health solutions to these problems.”
Taylor Eighmy, Ph.D, president of The University of Texas at San Antonio“UTSA and UT Health San Antonio are urban serving universities that are deeply committed to meeting the unique public health needs of South Texas’ diverse population by preparing our region’s next generation of public health leaders and advancing transdisciplinary research and policy that ensures healthier communities.”
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