A new herd of Bulls is entering the USF College of Public Health (COPH) on Monday, Aug. 23. Whether you’re a student, faculty or employee on campus, we are ready to be together—in person again—with safety precautions and measures in place.

Safety comes first

Though some of the mitigation guidance has changed based on our evolving understanding of the virus (its transmission, vaccination effectiveness, etc.), all members of and visitors to the university community on any campus should continue to follow any posted signs and placards relating to COVID-19 mitigation. 

To help provide high-quality classes, student services, extracurricular activities and athletic programs in a healthy environment, USF strongly recommends that eligible individuals get vaccinated before arriving on campus. The university also expects everyone to wear a mask indoors, especially those who are not vaccinated. Masks with be available at the COPH’s front desk.

Since the onset of the pandemic, USF’s successes are a result of its campus communities accepting a shared responsibility for their health and well-being and practicing recommended precautions. Being vaccinated can protect your health and others and will help avoid disruptions.

Free, voluntary COVID-19 testing is available on our campuses. It is critically important that individuals experiencing COVID-19 symptoms do not come to campus, except to get tested for the virus.

Individuals who are experiencing symptoms may report them through the Daily Symptom Checker or by emailing assessCOVID@usf.edu, which will prompt a response from USF clinical staff. They will help you schedule a test, complete contact tracing in conjunction with the Florida Department of Health and provide guidance on any needed isolation or quarantine. 

Information is subject to change based on guidance from the University’s Executive Policy Group and external sources, such as the Florida Department of Health  and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

View latest COVID-19 guidance here. For more return to campus updates and FAQs, click here.

New faces at the COPH

The COPH is welcoming 769 new students enrolled for the fall 2021 semester with 436 undergraduates, 302 masters and 31 doctoral students.

Students will also see some new faces in the college among the faculty and staff.

Faculty

Dr. Kelli Barr joined the COPH in June as an associate research professor in global health and infectious diseases. Barr’s research interests center around virus transmission and infection control.

Read more about her here.

Dr. Imran Mahmood is a full-time senior research fellow at the USF Center for Global Health and Infectious Diseases Research. His research interests include computational epidemiology, scientific software engineering, modeling and simulation, geo-spatial data science, geo-spatial visual analytics, analysis and formal verification of complex systems and innovative Information and communication technologies.

Dr. Brianne Stanback is an instructor with a focus on vulnerable populations, aging, ethical and legal issues, and multidimensions of health. Her teaching experience also includes professional development seminars, internships and service-learning courses. She has published about the use of strengths-based advising for students.

Dr. Megan Barry joined the COPH on Friday, Aug. 20, as a postdoctoral fellow on Dr. Ellen Daley and Dr. Cheryl Vamos’ research team. Dr. Elizabeth Sheldon is also a new postdoctoral fellow working with Dr. Lynn “Marty” Martin.

Staff

Dominique King serves as an academic program specialist for the USF COPH Office of Academic and Student Affairs. She previously worked at the USF Office of the Registrar on the space planning team for three years. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree at USF in public administration.

Cyrus Stewart is a graduate academic advisor primarily focusing on the global health, global health disease, global disaster management, humanitarian relief and homeland security, infection control, genomics, and epidemiology concentrations. Stewart’s interests are student development and mentorship. His primary objective is to enhance the student journey any way his platform allows.

Desiree Lara is the new research support specialist for the USF Genomics program. She is a COPH alumna, graduating in 2019 with her MPH in global health practice. Lara is a public health scholar and researcher focusing on global health, health disparities, access to health care, women’s health and the impacts of natural disasters on health outcomes.

Carley Davis is the newest member of the USF College of Public Health’s human resources team. Davis works as a unit HR coordinator and is currently pursuing a master’s in health administration at the COPH.

MHA program continues to grow

This past year, the COPH master of health administration (MHA) program has grown 450 percent!

The MHA program prepares students for private and public sector leadership positions, giving them clinical and community perspectives and professional skills. Students develop an understanding of organizational models and management principles applied to health settings, health care financial management and economics, quality and performance improvement, health policy and policy analysis, strategic planning and marketing, and health law and ethics.

“The COPH is the ideal home for the MHA program because our values represent the future of the healthcare industry,” said Dr. Zachary Pruitt, COPH alumnus and associate professor of health administration. “Government policy and competitive pressures require that future health care managers understand the value of prevention. Tomorrow’s leaders will not only need to treat people in hospitals but also keep them from getting sick in the first place. Our students learn public health competencies, such as epidemiology, along with core management skills, such as finance, analytics and human resources.”

Pruitt said that he believes the program saw such a large boost due to the strong leadership of Dr. Donna Petersen, dean of the COPH, especially during the challenging COVID-19 pandemic.

“I am really excited to see how our incoming MHA class has responded to the coronavirus pandemic. Instead of withdrawing with discouragement, uncertainty or fear, they’ve asked the COPH to help them become leaders,” Pruitt said. “As their professor, I am incredibly inspired by them. I can’t wait for the semester to start!”

A first for the new genomics PhD program with Jan Dahrendorff

COPH student Jan Dahrendorff graduated this past summer with his MSPH in genomics. He’ll be taking the next step as the first student to enter the newly established genomics PhD program.

The USF genomics programs are comprised of an interdisciplinary team of researchers actively engaged in genomics research. It is a uniquely collaborative environment in which representatives from a variety of academic disciplines use a wide range of approaches (e.g., bench work, bioinformatics, computational modeling, systems biology) to promote understanding of genome structure and function and to use genomic sciences to answer complex questions relating to health, disease and environmental challenges.

Dahrendorff moved to the U.S. in 2013 from Germany after being recruited for swimming at Saint Leo University in St. Leo, Fla. There he earned his undergraduate degree in psychology.

After graduation, Dahrendorff found a job at USF working for Dr. Laura Blair, assistant professor in the USF Morsani College of Medicine. At her laboratory studying the biology of degenerative diseases, he worked as a laboratory technician and became interested in the interplay of genes and psychiatric disorders.

He decided to reach out to the COPH’s Dr. Monica Uddin, professor of psychiatric genomics, who encouraged him to apply to the MSPH in genomics program.

While the COVID-19 pandemic created challenges for Dahrendorff in the last year of his MSPH degree, he said that he’s so grateful for the program’s support and the experience he was able to gain.

As the PhD program is so new, Dahrendorff with be starting his PhD degree in the global communicable diseases concentration and will then transfer over to the genomics program.

“I’m very excited about the new program! Everything is new, so I don’t really have a reference of how things are going to go. But if I have an interest in something research wise, I’m going to pursue it,” he said.

Dahrendorff said that the field of genomics gives him a lot of research options.

“Because of the interdisciplinary nature of genomics, you are able to work with people from so many different backgrounds together as a team. It’s a very good experience,” he said. “I think in terms of career outlooks, you have so much flexibility and are able to do and research what you want.”

Story by Caitlin Keough, USF College of Public Health