Last month, Cornell’s Biomedical & Biological Sciences Program held its annual symposium where students, faculty, and staff from the College of Veterinary Medicine attended sessions, a keynote, and poster session throughout the day. MPH Student Alyssa Morse, Cornell MPH ’24, represented the Whittaker Lab and presented a poster titled “Intra-host…
When Anabella Pinton was first looking into public health programs, she was drawn to Cornell’s unique epidemiology concentration. “The specific focus on infectious diseases was special and intriguing,” she remembers, especially with its emphasis on animals, agriculture, and the environment. She also appreciated the smaller program size “to make connections…
“Cornell’s combination of public health and ecosystem health is a perfect fit—it marries all the elements of my research into one,” says Dr. Raina Plowright, a world-renowned ecologist and epidemiologist who joined Cornell in 2022 as a Radical Collaboration hire, Cornell Atkinson Scholar, and MPH Program professor in the new…
Since the age of five, Dr. Kevin Cummings knew he wanted to become a veterinarian. He grew up playing with his dogs and watching birds outside of Buffalo, New York. Pursuing his dream years later at Cornell’s College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM) and then in clinical practice, he was always…
In 2022, Cornell and Weill Cornell Medicine announced the new Cornell Center for Pandemic Prevention and Response (CCPPR). Addressing something as far-reaching as a pandemic requires close collaboration across historically siloed disciplines, and Cornell’s strengths position it to develop the transdisciplinary teams of faculty, students, and organizational partners necessary for…
The Pandemic Response Officer (PRO) Program was first launched in 2020 by Cornell’s COVID-19 Response Team. Co-led by the MPH Program’s associate director, Dr. Gen Meredith, the campus-wide initiative set out to limit transmission and ensure that any Cornellian with COVID-19 would feel supported. “Early on,” says Dr. Meredith, “Cornell…
Dr. Michelle Falkenbach, along with international colleagues, recently published a paper in the International Journal of Health Planning and Management that asks the question “Are health systems and their health workforce resilient in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic?” This article looks at the reactivity and proactivity of health systems,…
Growing up in South Africa, Anke Kotze was aware of public health crises every day. Droughts and fires, HIV and tuberculosis epidemics, rationed electricity, and a failing healthcare system shaped her worldview. “I realized I was in a position to make change,” reflects Kotze, who came to Cornell to learn…
In late spring of 2020, after campus shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a group formed at Cornell to plan for the potential reopening of campus in the fall. “Reopening was predicated on understanding behavioral surveillance data,” says emergency preparedness and response expert Dr. Isaac Weisfuse, adjunct faculty with…