Recognizing the Need for More Precise Community Investments to Support Youth Mental Health |
Melissa Villodas, youth mental health researcher, explores the complex influence of neighborhood amenities in shaping youth depression and anxiety.
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From Law to Federal Nutrition Science: PhD Alum Carves Out Career at USDA |
Kelly Kogan, PhD Health Services Research ’23 and Master of Nutrition ’21, applies her George Mason expertise at the intersection of nutrition and data science as a nutritionist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, collecting and analyzing data for What We Eat in America, the dietary intake survey that captures a detailed portrait of Americans’ food habits.
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January’s Wall of Wow winner is Rene Ayala. Congratulations, Rene! He was recognized with the following message: “Rene, you are so kind and committed. Thank you!”
Please continue to recognize colleagues who are truly “wowing” you! Photos of the Wall of Wow board will be taken on February 26, so stay tuned as we announce our February winner.
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TODAY: Dean's Speaker Series: A New Direction for Students in an AI World: Prosper, Prepare, Protect |
TODAY. February 9 | 11:30 am -12:30 pm followed by lunch | Multipurpose Room
Join the Dean for "A New Direction for Students in an AI World: Prosper, Prepare, and Protect," with Rebecca Winthrop, a leading global authority on education, the director of the Center for Universal Education at Brookings and an adjunct professor at Georgetown University. Winthrop is dedicated to ensuring that every child has the opportunity to thrive in life, work, and as an engaged citizen. She leads cutting-edge research and initiatives aimed at transforming education systems around the world to better support children's learning and development.
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Grand Challenge Applications Are Submitted |
CPH faculty participated in 4 Large Catalyst Grand Challenge submissions, leading two of them. In addition, CPH faculty are part of 3 proposed, small catalyst teams. The Grand Challenges funding opportunity provided numerous opportunities for faculty across colleges and departments to meet, present, learn about each other’s work, and generate new ideas. In every case the submissions reflected innovative ideas from faculty across multiple colleges. These were complex submissions, and we are excited to hear what happens next. Congratulations.
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These are First Come opportunities. If you are interested in submitting an application to a First Come opportunity, please complete your request for approval in the Wizehive platform, prior to submitting your request for assistance in RAMP to OSP.
Young Investigator Grants
Breast Cancer Alliance
Sponsor Due Date: March 31, 2026 (LOI); July 30, 2026 (Application)
Funding Level: $125,000; Two Years.
To encourage a commitment to breast cancer research, Breast Cancer Alliance invites clinical doctors and research scientists who are in the early stages of their careers, including post docs, whose current proposal is focused on breast cancer, to apply for funding for the Young Investigator Grant. This grant is intended to help advance the careers of young researchers who do not yet have their own major grant support, but who design and conduct their own independent research projects.
1 Application Accepted (either Young Investigator or Exceptional Grant)
GMU Internal Deadline: First Come
Exceptional Project Grants
Breast Cancer Alliance
Sponsor Due Date: March 31, 2026 (LOI); July 30, 2026 (Application)
Funding Level: $100,000; One Year.
Breast Cancer Alliance invites clinical doctors and research scientists at any stage of their careers, including post docs, whose current proposal is focused on breast cancer, to apply for an Exceptional Project Grant. This award recognizes creative, unique, and innovative research related to breast cancer.
1 Application Accepted (either Young Investigator or Exceptional Grant)
GMU Internal Deadline: First Come
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| The George Mason COACHE Faculty Satisfaction Survey reports and data are now available, and CPH term and tenure-line instructional faculty demonstrated exceptional engagement and strong results.
CPH recorded the highest response and completion rates among all colleges.
~ 61% University response rate
85% CPH response rate
The college's competition rate was also 20% higher than the university's too.
Across key benchmark measures of faculty satisfaction, CPH faculty reported mean scores ranging from 3.0 to above 4.0 on a 5-point Likert scale, reflecting solid overall satisfaction across evaluated domains. Faculty responded to questions regarding their satisfaction with research, service, teaching, facilities and work resources, personal and family policies, health and retirement benefits, interdisciplinary work, collaboration, mentoring, tenure policies, clarity of tenure expectations, promotion to full professor, senior leadership, divisional, departmental, and faculty leadership, trust in George Mason’s governance, shared sense of purpose, understanding institutional challenges, adaptability and productivity related to governance and collegiality, as well as engagement and quality of experience at the department level.
EXPLORING THE DATA
We invite all faculty to explore the available data. Thank you to Terri Ann for creating this brief video to help guide us in navigating the COACHE data. You can access the data here on the OEIP website.
About halfway down the page, click Access the Summary Reports and Survey Results. You will be prompted to complete two-factor authentication (use your Mason password and Duo).
Once logged in, you will see two PDF files at the top under 2025 Summary Reports: (1) Mason COACHE Leadership Team: 2025 Executive Summary and (2) Harvard COACHE 2025 Faculty Satisfaction Preview Report.
NEXT STEPS
CPH administrative leadership, in partnership with Faculty Council, Faculty Senate representatives, and other interested faculty, will continue to review CPH-specific data as it becomes available from the Provost’s Office and will develop strategies to share the results of these findings and act on these findings. Our shared goal is to strengthen CPH as a workplace that supports, values, and advances the work of all faculty.
Learn more about the George Mason COACHE partnership here.
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Teaching with AI Recordings Available |
Two fantastic AI presentations were held recently for CPH faculty. First, Laina Lockett from the Stearns Center presented AI Teaching Strategies for CPH faculty. View the recording here.
The College Faculty Development Committee hosted Best Practices in Using AI in Teaching, moderated by Stefanos Tyrovolas. Watch the recording here. Speakers included:
- Kat Scafide (Nursing) shared how she integrates AI into her course on systematic reviews. She demonstrated how the app Elicit can help students jumpstart the literature search process based on research questions, emphasizing that AI is used only at the exploratory stage and that students remain responsible for conducting the full review
- Abdul Hafeez (HAP) presented his use of AI agents available through the PatriotAI website in their course. These AI agents functioned as intelligent tutors, helping students navigate course content at their own pace. They reported positive student feedback, with an 80% approval rate favoring AI-supported learning over traditional lectures due to its flexibility and student-paced design.
- Sang Daniel Choi (GCH) and Megan Warner (PhD student) presented findings from their study comparing manual grading by instructors with AI-assisted grading using Copilot AI. Their results showed that AI significantly reduced grading time; however, AI tended to grade more harshly than human instructors, raising important questions about equity and feedback quality.
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CPH Faculty Annual Performance Reviews |
Annual performance reviews are due on February 16, 2026. As a reminder, the link below will lead you to the CPH annual performance review guidance. Scroll down and click on performance and development.
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Lightning Talks - Rescheduled |
The Lightning Talk originally scheduled for February 13 is being rescheduled for March.
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Research Affiliate Program at the Center for Advancement of Well-Being (CWB) |
The CWB offers a collaborative community for George Mason faculty, research staff, and graduate students to share new knowledge and opportunities relating to well-being research. Fostering this network of scholars enables CWB to better advance, support, and celebrate interdisciplinary well-being research across the university.
CWB's use of “Research Affiliate” embraces all scholars—those engaged in traditional research, creative practice, or any other form of academic or scholarly inquiry.
Benefits of becoming a Research Affiliate include access to resources, networking and funding alerts, showcase your work, be featured in a CWB Research Affiliate Directory, and receive stories, newsletters, and reports related to well-being research and accomplishments. Learn more.
Apply here
If you have any questions, contact Ali Weinstein, the Director of Research and Scholarship for the Center for the Advancement of Well-Being.
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Spring 2026 Staff Council Business Meeting |
February 23 | 1:30 - 3 pm | Zoom in calendar invite
For a CPH wage staff, classified staff, and AP faculty. This meeting is a great opportunity to stay informed, share your voice, and connect with colleagues.
Have topics, ideas, or questions you'd like addressed? We encourage you to submit them in advance using this Microsoft form. We're pleased to share that Dean Perry will be joining us for a portion of the meeting and will be available to answer questions as well. Contact Allie McKay (amckay4@gmu.edu) with questions.
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Patriots Thriving Together - George Mason’s Mental Health and Well-Being Initiative |
Patriots Thriving Together is George Mason’s initiative supporting mental health and well-being for all students, faculty, and staff across our university. Explore resources, find support, and access tools that support your well-being. As part of this work to ensure an environment where everyone can thrive, Patriots Thriving Together will share information about upcoming events, programs, resources, and mental health and well-being messaging. Please share relevant information with students as well. Learn more.
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Nominate Your Colleague for a CPH Award |
CPH Emergency Funding for Students |
College of Public Health (CPH) Emergency Funding is available for students experiencing extenuating circumstances. Students should first apply for Stay Mason Funding. If they are denied or require additional support, you may refer them to Troy Lowery (tlowery2@gmu.edu) to apply for CPH Emergency Relief Funding. Please note that awards typically do not exceed $1,200.
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Nominate an Outstanding Alum |
Help us celebrate the incredible impact of CPH alumni. We’re seeking nominations for the College of Public Health Distinguished Alumni Award — a graduate who exemplifies leadership, service, and dedication to advancing public health.
Submit your nomination here. Deadline: February 20, 2026
Read more about our 2025 Awardees. Have additional questions? Please reach out to our Development Team at cphdev@gmu.edu
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February 13-15 | Johnson Center
PatriotHacks and HackFax invites College of Public Health students and faculty to participate in and help support our upcoming hackathon at George Mason. Last year, PatriotHacks welcomed 500+ students from across the DMV, and this year is an even bigger, more interdisciplinary experience this year with a hackathon, a CTF (Capture the Flag) cybersecurity competition, hands-on workshops, and sponsor-led sessions.
Participant Registration
Volunteering /Judging
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All CPH employees can join in—this includes adjuncts, GRAs, and wage staff. Participants may walk anywhere, anytime, within each weekly time frame, counting their steps, and then report the steps they’ve walked by midnight the immediately following Monday.
Report your steps no later than 11:29 pm on the Monday after each Monday-through-Sunday challenge week. The first week of walking is February 9-15. Report steps on February 16. Report your preceding week’s steps here.
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Submit Info to the CPH Student Newsletter |
OSA publishes a Weekly Student Newsletter for both Undergraduate and Graduate students. We invite you to submit announcements to this newsletter via our submission form. Announcements can include events, internships, research opportunities, academic deadlines, jobs, etc.
The newsletter is sent to students each Thursday, and submissions are due by Tuesday at 5 pm to ensure they are included in that week’s edition. Any questions, please contact cph@gmu.edu.
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