Gerald M Barron

MPH
  • Associate Professor (retired)
  • Deputy Director (retired), Center for Public Health Practice

My research focus is on public health practice and involves describing and evaluating programs/initiatives to promote community health; management and administrative methods for achieving more effective and more efficient methods of operation; and to present effective approaches to issues of practice.

Mr. Barron has over 40 years of experience in public health. He received his Master of Public Health degree from the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public Health and holds a faculty position there as Associate Professor of Health Policy and Management as well as the Department’s MPH Program Director. He is also the Deputy Director of the Center for Public Health Practice. Previous to his current position he was Deputy Director for Operations of the Allegheny County Health Department. Mr. Barron is also Director of the Pennsylvania Preparedness Leadership Institute, which is one of the programs of the Center for Public Health Practice and a site visitor for the Public Health Accreditation Board. He has experience as an international public health consultant.

He assisted in the development of a community-based family practice system of healthcare for the residents of Astana, Kazakhstan in cooperation with Mercy Hospital’s International Health Program. He also was an environmental health consultant for a project for safe disposal of hazardous waste in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and environmental health officials in Katowice, Poland. He is a graduate of the National Public Health Leadership Institute and the Past President of the Pennsylvania Public Health Association and the Pennsylvania Environmental Health Association, as well as a member of many community advisory boards.

Education

Undergraduate
5/1970 | State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York | BA Biology
Graduate
5/1971 | University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health,Pittsburgh, PA | MPH

Teaching

I taught a required course for the Health Policy and Management Department, HPM 2081- Public Health Agency Management. This course is offered in the Fall semester.

Selected Publications
  1. Marx J, Barron G, Ricci E, Keane C. The Perceived Impact of Privatization on Local Health Departments. American Journal of Public Health. 2002 July; 92 (7): 1178-1180.
  2. Potter MA, Barron G, Cioffi JP. A model for public health workforce development using the National Public Health Performance Standards Program. Journal of public health management and practice : JPHMP. 2003; 9 (3):199-207. PMID: 12747316.
  3. Glad JA, Kotchian SB, Barron GM. Developing a local comprehensive environment and health tracking system: using what we know to improve health and the environment. Journal of environmental health. 2004 Jun; 66 (10):9-14, 28. PMID: 15216563.
  4. Potter MA, Burns HK, Barron G, Grofebert A, Bednarz GD. Cross-sector leadership development for preparedness. Public health reports (Washington, D.C. : 1974). 2005; 120:109-15. PMCID: PMC2569977. PMID: 16025714.
  5. Barron G, Glad J, Vukotich C. The use of the National Public Health Performance Standards to evaluate change in capacity to carry out the 10 essential services. Journal of Environmental Health. PMID: 17802813.
  6. George Huber, Gerald Barron, Linda Duchak, Martin Raniowski, Hazem Alsahlani, Margaret Potter. State Procurement Law: Facilitating the Collaboration between Health Department and School of Public Health. Journal of Public Health Management and Practice Volume 20, Number 3, May/June 2014