Dean's Strategic Priority Areas

Nearly 60% of all known infectious diseases—and 75% of new or emerging ones—originate from animals, most often wildlife. Zoonotic diseases have driven most key epidemics and pandemics in recent decades, highlighting their central role in global health security. 

Through the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health One Health collaborative, we make sure communities are healthy, farms and wildlife are thriving, plants are protected, and our environment remains resilient. 

• Drive discoveries that protect brain health and reduce the effects of environmental and biological risk factors
• Strengthen clinical research to improve long-term health and function for older adults
• Translate population research into strategies that support healthier aging nationwide
• Invest in the next generation of scientists and professionals advancing health aging and well-being 

Healthy aging is an increasingly urgent public health priority. By 2030, one in five Americans will be over age 65, and adults 60 and older are the fastest-growing age group worldwide. Yet not everyone is aging equally. Among men, the wealthiest 1% live an average of 14.6 years longer than those with the lowest incomes. For women, the difference is 10.1 years. These disparities underscore how deeply social and economic conditions shape our ability to live long, healthy lives. 

The University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health leads healthy aging science to ensure individuals, families and communities can thrive as lifespans grow longer. 

• Drive discoveries that protect brain health and reduce the effects of environmental and biological risk factors
• Strengthen clinical research to improve long-term health and function for older adults
• Translate population research into strategies that support healthier aging nationwide
• Invest in the next generation of scientists and professionals advancing health aging and well-being 

Communities face rapidly evolving health threats. Emerging infectious diseases continue to pose global risks, while chronic conditions affect 6 in 10 U.S. adults and account for most health care spending. Traditional, one size fits all approaches are no longer enough. Public health needs to tools that can anticipate risk earlier, target interventions more precisely, and protect those most vulnerable. 

Precision public health uses data, technology and predictive methods to identify who is at greatest risk—and why—so we can intervene sooner. At the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health, this approach connects all departments, uniting science, technology and policy to improve population health with greater accuracy and impact. 

Pitt Public Health projects across the school are putting precision public health in action—

• Using smartphone technology to detect and monitor respiratory diseases, improving care and preventing severe complications (Biostatistics and Health Data Science)
• Growing healthier food and studying environmental "forever chemicals" in innovative aquaponics systems (Environmental and Occupational Health)
• Using wearable technology to track walking patterns and locations to identify older adults at highest risk of falls (Epidemiology)
• Expanding access to lifesaving prehospital transfusions—getting blood to patients who need it most (Health Policy and Management)
• Advancing neural protheses by putting participants at the center to shape data, tools and technology that improve lives (Human Genetics)
• Studying avian flu in domestic cats to track and prevent viruses that could threaten both animals and humans (Infectious Diseases and Microbiology)
• Developing models to identify how specific geographic features influence substance use and related harms (Behavioral and Community Health Sciences)