UT School of Public Health Offers MPH Degree at Austin Regional Campus

The Houston-based University of Texas School of Public Health (UTSPH) will offer a Masters in Public Health degree program in fall 2008 at its Austin Regional Campus (ARC).

Masters degree candidates will benefit from a world-class faculty and low student-to-faculty ratios. While earning their degrees, students will have the unique opportunity to see public health policy in action while listening to legislators at the Capitol discuss health issues and enact laws. Students also will work closely with Austin-area public health agencies on such issues as obesity, diabetes, tobacco control, health promotion, health economics and public policy.

The ARC, under its regional dean, Cheryl L. Perry, Ph.D., has 11 faculty members, as well as adjunct faculty members at The University of Texas at Austin, the Texas Department of State Health Services and the American Cancer Society.

Perry is recognized for her research in community based health promotion interventions with youth. The ARC's primary research areas are child and adolescent health promotion and epidemiology, chronic disease prevention and public health policy.

Centers and institutes affiliated with the Austin Regional Campus include the Michael & Susan Dell Center for Advancement of Healthy Living under its director Deanna M. Hoelscher, Ph.D., and co-director Steven H. Kelder, Ph.D., M.P.H.; and the Institute for Health Policy under director Eduardo Sanchez, M.D., M.P.H.

The Dell Center's flagship program, CATCH (Coordinated Approach to Child Health), was funded in 2006 by the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, allowing it to be implemented in 97 Travis County elementary schools. The program aims to prevent and control obesity through healthy eating and physical activity.

Currently the ARC offers a Certificate in Public Health, a 16-hour study program consisting of five courses covering the core disciplines of public health.

The UTSPH main campus is located in Houston's Texas Medical Center and is part of The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. UTSPH is fully accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health.

For information, call the Austin Regional Campus at 512-482-6170.

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