UMNA Food Drive 2021

Each fall, the student-run UMass Nutrition Association hosts a Thanksgiving Food Drive. This year, they partnered with the SPHHS for their largest food drive ever - an effort that resulted in over 850 pounds of donations delivered to the Amherst Survival Center.

An Uncommon Path to UMass

MPH student Sam Tarplin's path to UMass is unlike most of his classmates'. As a former counselor specializing in addiction recovery, Tarplin takes his experience and uses it to forge his own path in addiction research at the School of Public Health & Health Sciences at UMass Amherst.

Public Health in Action: Chrismery Gonzalez '18MPH

Alumna Chrismery Gonzalez '16, ’18MPH is on a mission to create a more equitable and healthy community in the city of Springfield, MA through her leadership position in the Office of Racial Justice and Health Equity. In this profile, she explains how her time in the SPHHS at UMass Amherst helped her become an effective leader in change.

UMass Gives 2021: SPHHS Student Emergency Fund

In the wake of COVID-19, it's more clear than ever that supporting students who are most in need of help is an all-in process. Emergency funding will become an even bigger part of making college success happen for our students. Please join us in this year’s UMassGives Campaign to support School of Public Health and Health Sciences (SPHHS) students by making a gift to our newly established SPHHS Student Emergency Fund.

Beyond the Classroom: HEART in Holyoke

In January 2021, the Holyoke District Court launched the Holyoke Early Access to Recovery and Treatment (HEART) program. The program is designed to provide access to healthcare for individuals with an opioid use disorder who come before the court. The program is administered by the Honorable Judge William Hadley '80 in collaboration with community stakeholders and with support from Associate Professor Elizabeth Evans and her team of student interns.

Why UMass? SPHHS Graduate Students Tell Us

Graduate students from across all SPHHS departments tell us why they love UMass, why they chose to attend, and what their education has given them.

Achieving Health Equity: Upward Bound to Success

In summer 2020, the School of Public Health and Health Sciences launched its Summer Health Equity Fellowship program. The fellowships paired high school students enrolled in the Upward Bound program with SPHHS faculty mentors. The goal is to prioritize workforce development in achieving health equity through paid summer internships.

Healing Harmonies Sings On

Healing Harmonies is a choir created by members of the Department of Communication Disorders. It is dedicated to helping those who struggle to communicate due to a neurological diagnosis. In March, when much of the country had to shut down due to COVID-19, the choir had to end its in-person rehearsals and cancel its second annual concert. But, despite this change, the choir decided to sing on.

Beyond the Classroom: Crossing Borders

Audiology graduate student Dominique DeFrancesco recounts her trip to Panama to help improve the lives of people experiencing hearing loss. NOTE: This interview and Dominique's travels occurred shortly before the coronavirus outbreak.

Elder Companionship Project: Message for Residents

Students from across all majors and disciplines within the UMass Amherst School of Public Health and Health Sciences share words of comfort with the residents of nursing and rehab facilities, assisted-living residents, and retirement communities.

Elder Companionship Project: Message for Staff

Students from across all majors and disciplines within the UMass Amherst School of Public Health and Health Sciences share words of encouragement and appreciation for the staff caring for residents living in nursing and rehab facilities, assisted-living residents, and retirement communities.

Beyond the Classroom: Forging Her Future

Kinesiology senior Katelyn Pennell is forging her future by taking advantage of all the School of Public Health and Health Sciences has to offer. Through her experience gained from her Athletic Training Internship with the UMass Amherst Football team trainers, she was able to create her own internship focusing on strength and conditioning.

SPHHS Students Intern at Brigham and Women's Hospital

Public Health Sciences majors Ashley Rice and Alyssa Devlin spent a semester-long internship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston during the spring 2019 semester - an experience which blossomed into a paid internship that continued over the summer.

From Dining Halls to Community Tables

Nutrition students in the Food Recovery Network are combating food waste and insecurity by volunteering their time to share leftover food from UMass dining halls with those who could use the additional meal.

Healing Harmonies

Healing Harmonies is an all inclusive choir for those who have trouble expressing themselves verbally. It was founded in the summer of 2018 by members of the SPHHS Communication Disorders department. They will have their first public performance on Saturday March 30, 2019 at 1:00pm in the Northampton Center for the Arts.

Securing food for families

This holiday season Public Health Peer Advisors & the UMass Nutrition Association led individual food drives to secure Thanksgiving meals for families around the Pioneer Valley. Together they managed to donate over 500 pounds of food to the Western Mass Food Bank in Hatfield, MA.

My summer at the CDC

Public Health Sciences senior Mahad Gudal recaps his summer internship experience at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, GA through Morehouse College's Project IMHOTEP.

Reaching beyond our borders

Through hands-on activities and demonstrations, graduate students in the Department of Kinesiology introduced concepts of applied kinesiology to a group of international high school students.

From food to field

Nutrition majors and student athletes are taking what they learn in the classroom and helping UMass Athletics on the field through their work in the Athletic Nutrition Student Advising Program.

Class of 2018 says goodbye to UMass

Members of our SPHHS Senior Class look back at their four years at UMass Amherst and those who helped shape them. Congratulations, Class of 2018!

Celebrating our students and alumni

The UMass Amherst School of Public Health and Health Sciences celebrated its students and honored alumni Howard Shane MA '72 and Efosa Guobadia '07 during the 2017 SPHHS Fall Celebration.

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) recognition training

Communication Disorders graduate students spent the last several months volunteering their time to create a presentation educating the Hadley Police Department on how to recognize a person with a traumatic brain injury.

Communication Disorders students connect with Parkinson's community

Pioneer Valley residents with Parkinson's Disease learn vocal training techniques from UMass Amherst Communication Disorders graduate students, instructed by Clinical Assistant Professor Lisa Sommers.

Bridging the gap between chronic disease and dietary patterns

Nutrition graduate student Mina Frederick is helping to bridge the knowledge gap between chronic disease and dietary patterns.

Scientific solutions for big problems

Public Health major Sarah Kuruvilla examines scientific solutions for big problems.

Eliminating health disparities and promoting health equity

Nutrition major Bria Gadsden is working to eliminate health disparities and promote health equity.

Fostering conversations with communities

Public Health major Naomi Fedna fosters conversations with communities in Haiti.

Improving diet through intervention

Nutrition major Rob Dunn is improving diet through intervention.

Creating a dialogue for change

Public Health major Ryan Barry is creating a dialogue for change.

LabTV profiles epidemiology doctoral student Mary Diaz Santana

LabTV profiled doctoral student Mary Diaz Santana, a member of the Reeves Lab at UMass Amherst. Mary's research studies how chemicals found in plastics affect our health, with the goal of determining how specific chemicals relate to the development of breast cancer.

LabTV profiles epidemiology doctoral student Serena Houghton

LabTV profiled doctoral student Serena Houghton, a member of the Bertone-Johnson Lab at UMass Amherst. Serena's research studies how nutrition and treatment options affect women's health, with the goal of creating nutritional guidelines for women based on research.

LabTV profiles audiology student Gabrielle Merchant

Meet Gabrielle Merchant, a graduate student in the The Psychoacoustics Lab at UMass Amherst. Gabrielle's research studies age-related hearing loss and speech recognition, with the goal of fully understanding speech recognition. Visit LabTV for more profiles.

LabTV profiles environmental health sciences doctoral student Haotian Wu

LabTV profiled Haotian Wu, a Ph.D student in Rick Pilsner's Environmental Epigenetics Lab at UMass Amherst. Haotian's research studies how environmental factors can be passed down and inherited between generations, with the goal of learning how epigenetics affects reproduction.

LabTV profiles biostatistics doctoral student Stephen Lauer

LabTV profiled Biostatistics doctoral student Steve Lauer, a graduate researcher in the Reich Lab at UMass Amherst. Steve's research studies can help us predict and deal with epidemics, with the goal of using computer models to predict outbreaks of Dengue fever. Learn more at the LabTV website.