Department of Public Health and Health Sciences

Empowering the next generation of public health professionals, researchers, clinicians, and healthcare leaders

The Department of Public Health and Health Sciences provides a world-class education in a broad range of public health and clinical careers that promote the health and well-being of individuals, communities, and populations in culturally diverse contexts. We also train the next generation of clinicians by providing a strong foundation in health science, along with comprehensive pre-med and pre-health advising.

We are committed to evidence-based research and research translation to eliminate health disparities. Our department is a unique, transdisciplinary setting that incorporates teaching, learning, and serving, in a rapidly evolving, multicultural environment.

PreMed and PreHealth

Our comprehensive degree programs provide students the resources they need to become medical professionals through application guidance, workshops and presentations, course mapping and more. Prepare yourself for PreMed/PreHealth with the Bouvé experience.

Northeastern and community members discussing matters of international public health

Northeaster health sciences student Alyson Dahlberg doing her co-op at a hospital emergency setting

Research

With cancer rates falling, new research credits the HPV vaccine. Here’s why one expert says you should get vaccinated

Cancer rates have fallen by as much as 33% in the U.S. over the last three decades, according to a new report from the American Cancer Society.

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Research

Video games might be better for balance rehab than conventional physical therapy

New research from a team at Northeastern University found that active video games are more effective for improving balance than conventional forms of physical therapy.

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Northeastern associate professor of communication studies and health sciences Amy S. Lu and director of the Health Technology Lab Dagmar Sternad play an interactive video game

Student walking amongst the reflections and light at the Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Complex at Northeastern's Boston campus.

Northeastern University’s Department of Public Health and Health Sciences is connected to a rich cluster of evidence-based learning institutes and centers.

Students have the opportunity to gain hands-on learning through a number of health science-focused institutes.

Health Science Centers and Institutes

These include:

Northeastern University Public Evaluation Lab
(NU-PEL)

The Center for Community Health Education, Research, and Service (CCHERS)

The Center for Health Policy and Healthcare Research

The Institute of Health Equity and Social Justice Research

The Social Science Environmental Health Research Institute

Video: Meet Ouarida Benatia, BS Health Sciences

Bouvé-News

Find your program

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Graduate

Undergraduate

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Meet the Department Chair

Rob Leeman

Dr. Leeman is an experimental psychologist with a public health focus. He has leadership roles in several national and international professional societies and is chair of the Health Science department at Northeastern University.

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Faculty Spotlight

About Us

Our mission in the Department of Public Health and Health Sciences is to educate the next generation of leaders in public health and clinical health professions; to conduct cutting-edge research on causes of negative health outcomes and ways to prevent them; and to contribute to our communities locally, nationally, and globally.

Our undergraduate major in Health Sciences is among the most popular at Northeastern and our major in Public Health is an outstanding option for students with an interest in sociocultural factors shaping health, public health policy or administration. Undergraduates in our majors learn hands-on through exciting co-op placements, mostly in the Greater Boston area – a hub of public health and clinical activity.

Our Master of Public Health (MPH) and other master’s programs share a commitment to experiential learning and offer unmatched levels of interaction between students and expert faculty. The Population Health PhD program offers close faculty mentorship and has an enviable track record of placement of students into faculty positions at top universities. The innovative PhD program in Personal Health Informatics, conducted jointly with the Khoury College of Computer Sciences, is a model of interdisciplinary education.

Though our faculty have a variety of backgrounds and foci, a passion for advancing health equity is a strong, unifying factor that permeates our research, teaching, and community involvement. These efforts take on many forms, including the activities of our Social Justice Steering Committee; efforts to advance LGBTQ+ health; and to mitigate negative impacts of racism and other prejudices.

I believe the more you learn about our department, the more excited you will become about what our faculty, staff and students have accomplished, but even more so about what can be accomplished in the future.

BA in Public Health

Outcomes

Upon satisfactory completion of the Public Health Program, graduates should be able to:

Critique how the healthcare system and public policies impact healthcare access, quality, and outcomes.
Apply the core values, concepts, and functions of public health and their role in addressing public health challenges.
Explain the socio-economic, behavioral, biological, environmental, and other factors that impact human health and contribute to health disparities.
Describe the basic concepts, methods, and tools of public health data collection, use and analysis.
Design a project that uses the fundamental concepts of program implementation including planning, assessment, and evaluation to address a public health challenge.
INT 1. Effectively apply data science principles, tools, and techniques within the context of another discipline

BS in Health Sciences

Outcomes

Upon satisfactory completion of the Health Sciences Program, Graduates should be able to:

Critique how the healthcare system and public policies impact healthcare access, quality, and outcomes.
Apply the core values, concepts, and functions of public health and their role in addressing public health challenges.
Explain the socio-economic, behavioral, biological, environmental, and other factors that impact human health and contribute to health disparities.
Describe the basic concepts, methods, and tools of public health data collection, use, and analysis.
Design a project that uses the fundamental concepts of program implementation including planning, assessment, and evaluation to address a public health challenge.
INT1. Effectively apply data science principles, tools, and techniques within the context of another discipline.
INT 2. Apply a communication theory and method to the design of a health communication project.
INT 3. Apply methods drawn from Health Science & Sociology to a complex problem.
INT 4. Explain the value of combining modes of inquiry and methodologies from Health Science & Sociology.

MS in Exercise Science

Outcomes

Successful completion of the MPH program enables graduates to:

Apply advanced principles of exercise physiology including acute and chronic responses to endurance and resistance training of the cardiopulmonary, respiratory and musculoskeletal systems
Describe the role of physical activity and exercise in health, well-being and disease states
Integrate scientific rational and proven guidelines for the assessment and development of physical activity and exercise programs
Utilize the fundamental principles and concepts of conducting scientific research
Integrate and apply exercise science principles to design and conduct a research study
Demonstrate proficiency in written, oral and visual communication skills for scientific communications
Describe the fundamental concepts and principles of public health
Plan, develop, and evaluate primary prevention programs
Construct a needs assessment in an urban community

Master of Public Health (MPH)

Successful completion of the MPH program enables graduates to:

Apply epidemiological methods to the breadth of settings and situations in public health practice
Explain basic principles and tools of budget and resource management
Select methods to evaluate public health programs
Discuss multiple dimensions of the policy-making process, including the roles of ethics and evidence
Propose strategies to identify stakeholders and build coalitions and partnerships for influencing public health outcomes
Advocate for political, social or economic policies and programs that will improve health in diverse populations
Evaluate policies for their impact on public health and health equity
Apply principles of leadership, governance and management, which include creating a vision, empowering others, fostering collaboration and guiding decision making
Apply negotiation and mediation skills to address organizational or community challenges
Select communication strategies for different audiences and sectors (CNV on compliance report)
Communicate audience-appropriate public health content, both in writing and through oral presentation
Select quantitative and qualitative data collection methods appropriate for a given public health context
Describe the importance of cultural competence in communicating public health content
Perform effectively on interprofessional teams
Apply systems thinking tools to a public health issue
Analyze quantitative and qualitative data using biostatistics, informatics, computer-based programming and software, as appropriate
Interpret results of data analysis for public health research, policy or practice
Compare the organization, structure and function of health care, public health and regulatory systems across national and international settings
Discuss the means by which structural bias, social inequities and racism undermine health and create challenges to achieving health equity at organizational, community and societal levels
Assess population needs, assets and capacities that affect communities’ health
Apply awareness of cultural values and practices to the design or implementation of public health policies or programs
Design a population-based policy, program, project or intervention

All graduates fulfill the competencies that guide the MPH Program.

MS in Health Informatics

After completion of the Health Informatics MS program, graduates will be able to:

Produce systems, tools, processes, and analyses to collect, retain, interpret, visualize, and disseminate all types of healthcare data, including clinical, administrative, financial, consumer, and business intelligence, and place it into context.
Manage the collection, retention, analysis, visualization, and dissemination of all types of healthcare data including clinical, administrative, financial, consumer, and business intelligence.
Implement and explain the impact of data, systems, and processes to enhance interaction between clinical, administrative, and other potential users.
Explain and describe our national imperative that health care must be patient-centered, as well as the demographic and cultural changes, cost of care, technology advancements, and policy adjustments that have contributed to a more patient-empowered shift in care over the last century.

MS in Real World Evidence in
Healthcare and Life Sciences

After completion of the Health Informatics MS program, graduates will be able to:

Describe the value and process of the ethical use of observational health data to answer clinical questions.
Illustrate how different forms of observational health data are collected, organized, and standardized to generate accurate, reproducible, and well-calibrated evidence
Use state-of-the-art statistical software and methods to combine and analyze large-scale federated health data from diverse sources (e.g. EHRs) while preserving privacy.
Construct and take part in a team to conceptualize, analyze, and communicate the results of a study using observational health data to answer a clinical question.
Evaluate strengths and weaknesses of an observational health analysis

PhD in Population Health

After completion of the Population Health PhD program, graduates will be able to:

Explain public health history, philosophy and values.
Explain the social, political and economic determinants of health and how they contribute to population health and health inequities.
Explain how globalization affects global burdens of disease.
Explain an ecological perspective on the connections among human health, animal health and ecosystem health (e.g. One Health).
Demonstrate in-depth knowledge of the research methods utilized in population health including epidemiology, biostatistics, population health theories and methods, ethics, and economic analyses.
Use in-depth knowledge in the field of population health to conduct original research that advances the field.
Demonstrate skills in research methods: formulating a research question, finding appropriate theoretical frameworks, designing a study’s methods, conducting data analyses, writing a publishable paper, and disseminating findings.
Demonstrate knowledge of research ethics, especially ethical questions that arise with population health research questions and methods.
Identify the core functions of public health and the 10 Essential Services*.
Explain the role of quantitative and qualitative methods and sciences in describing and assessing a population’s health.
List major causes and trends of morbidity and mortality in the US or other community relevant to the school or program.
Discuss the science of primary, secondary and tertiary prevention in population health, including health promotion, screening, etc.
Explain the critical importance of evidence in advancing public health knowledge.
Explain effects of environmental factors on a population’s health.
Explain biological and genetic factors that affect a population’s health.
Explain behavioral and psychological factors that affect a population’s health.

Department of Public Health and Health Sciences
360 Huntington Ave
316 Robinson Hall
Boston, MA 02115
617-373-3666

Health Sciences Majors
Samantha Garbers, PhD
[email protected]

MPH & MPH Dual Degree Programs
Neil Maniar, PhD, MPH
617-373-5925
[email protected]

Exercise Science MS Program
Rui Li, PhD, MS
617-373-5925
[email protected]

Population Health PhD
Beth Molnar, ScD, SM
617-373-5925
[email protected]

Public Health and Health Sciences