Faculty/Staff Newsletter

The CAHME/George and Regi Herzlinger Innovation Education Award for the Development of Educational Skills Focusing on Invention, Evaluation, and Adoption of Innovation in Healthcare honors a CAHME-accredited program that has set the standard for inventive academic rigor and preparation of the next generation of health care administration professionals.  

Assistant Professor of Global and Community Health Dongqing Wang publishes landmark analysis on the impacts of prenatal vitamins on mothers and newborns in The Lancet Global Health.

March 8 | 10-11 am | Zoom | Registration required

Cathy Tompkins and Jennifer Sturgis from the CPH Faculty Affairs Office will provide an overview and answer questions regarding CPH promotion, tenure, and renewal processes for both tenure-line and term CPH faculty. The session will familiarize you with what to expect as a candidate including timelines, basic Interfolio mechanics, strategies, resources, and writing tips.

The CPH Faculty Development Committee presents this workshop. For more information, contact your faculty development committee representative or Li-Mei Chin (lchen38@gmu.edu).

The five winners of the climate survey drawing have been selected and will contacted this week. (When you completed the climate survey and sent an email to CPH4all@gmu.edu you were eligible to win a gift card.)

All winners will be announced in next week's newsletter. A heartfelt thank you to all faculty, staff, and students who took the time to complete the survey. The final reports will be shared by March 24. 

The Faculty Activities Tool deadline has been extended. If you are a term instructional or tenure-line faculty member, you now have until February 17 to submit this form. (It may open in your downloads folder.) This is a fantastic opportunity to showcase your achievements, which will be presented in an aggregate format to the Provost’s Office in early March. We want to highlight as many faculty contributions as possible.

Contact ctompkin@gmu.edu with questions.

Do you and your students know about George Mason's Communication Center? As a result of our faculty networking session, a faculty member shared this resource that was new to many of us.

The George Mason University Communication Center supports students and faculty through one-on-one coaching focused on developing communication skills. The Center is run by both faculty and graduate students providing resources to help develop skills such as giving an elevator speech, presenting oral citations, the importance of a speaker's volume when doing a presentation, and much more. Check it out and share with your students!

Save the Date: National Public Health Week is April 7-13!

Our marquee event, Conversations and Connections, will be on April 9. The topic will be social connectedness.

Do you want to have a voice in how the activities shape up for this year’s NPHW? There’s room for you on the planning committee! We have a general outline of each day; the planning committee is more about providing ideas than the heavy lift of implementation. If you are interested, contact Kelly Beckwith at kbeckwi2@gmu.edu by February 14.

Allison Miner and Iulia Fratila invite you to a faculty-led book club featuring Inflamed: Deep Medicine and the Anatomy of Injustice by Rupa Marya and Raj Patel. This book explores the intersection of health, social justice, and environmental factors, making it an ideal read for those interested in public health, nutrition, and systemic change. There are 12 open spots. The commitment includes:

You will receive a free copy of the book, Inflamed, and an honorarium of $100 for your participation.

Sign up by February 26.

Please share with your students! Submissions for the College's Celebration of Student Scholarship are due April 4.

The 2025 Celebration of Student Scholarship Abstract Submission Form is now available and includes traditional research studies and practice-related investigations. All College of Public Health students are invited to submit an abstract to present a scientific poster of their work at the College's Celebration of Scholarship, on April 25 in Peterson Hall from 12-3:30 pm. 

CPH faculty are offering several study abroad opportunities in the summer. Please share with your students.

Congratulations, twice over: Kenneth Griffin, professor, GCH received a CDC-funded grant, “A Hybrid Program to Prevent Substance Use Risk Among Upper Elementary School Students Using a Positive Youth Development Approach,” and an NIH-NIDA funded grant, “Innovative Immersive Technologies for Evidence-based Violence Prevention Among College Students,” both in collaboration with the National Health Promotion Association.

Congratulations! Our faculty have published over 90 articles so far this academic year. The report includes publications from July 1, 2024 - January 15, 2025.

CPH interpersonal violence research pilot funding

CPH has launched an IPV Pilot research program. The goal is the development of new, collaborative cross-college research and scholarship initiatives in the area of interpersonal violence. With support from the Enochs endowment, CPH will support projects that have a high probability of generating scholarship, including high-impact publications and presentations, as well as attracting new external support for sustained scholarly contributions and impact. Through this program, CPH also seeks to foster collaborations on IPV topics among George Mason faculty and other leading scholars in the field.

Proposal Due Date: March 10. Learn more here.

Novel Artificial Intelligence Approaches to Advance Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular/Brain Health. LOI deadline is February 27. Full proposal deadline is May 1, 2025. Learn more here.

Check out this George Mason Libraries Infoguide on seeking grant funding, including non-profit funders.

Every Thursday | 12 - 12:30 pm | Peterson Lobby  

Walk with your CPH colleagues! Get updates or schedule an impromptu walk through our walking group on MS Teams.

Public Health Priorities 
February 5 | 9 – 10:30 am | Gallup DC Headquarters - 901 F St. NW, Washington, DC 20004

Gallup will present research findings on the public health priorities that Americans care about most. This event will offer data-driven insights and discuss actionable steps to address critical public health challenges. Register here.

February 5 | 12 pm | In-person and online | Bring your own lunch

The College of Public Health Staff Council is hosting a series of brown bag lunches for all staff members (including admin/professional and research faculty) throughout the spring semester. The Council hopes to build connections among all staff members for professional development, advocacy within the college, and social engagements to make CPH an even better place to work! Location, other details, and announcements will be made through the CPH Staff and Admin/Research Faculty Team on Teams. Contact Allison (Allie) McKay with any questions at amckay4@gmu.edu. 

February 10 | 12 -1 pm | Multipurpose Room | Followed by Lunch 

"Investigating PFAS exposure in community settings: The GenX Exposure Study," presented by Jane Hoppin, ScD, professor and environmental epidemiologist, NC State University, Department of Biological Sciences 

Right out of the gate, HAP is in the lead for spring 2025. MB Mitcham had the most steps for an individual this past week.

Participants may walk anywhere, anytime, within the weekly time frames, counting their steps, and then report their CPH unit affiliation along with the steps they’ve walked.

At the end of the semester, the unit with the most steps (proportionally) will be awarded a prize and take the trophy! Report your steps no later than midnight on the Monday.

Report January 27 - February 2 steps by midnight today, February 3.

PUBLICHEALTH.GMU.EDU

Access the CPH brand toolkit, including new CPH and department logos here.

View the newsletter archives here.