After four decades teaching and researching at UC Berkeley School of Public Health, Dr. Art Reingold has retired from the daily routine of teaching classes and mentoring students.
But his lifetime of work devoted to the prevention and control of infectious diseases at the national and international levels will live on, through the hundreds of students he’s mentored and the focus on global health that he brought into every corner of the Berkeley campus—from advising law and engineering students to mentoring Mastercard Fellows from sub-Saharan Africa to co-founding the Center for Global Public Health.
Few individuals have shaped the field, mentored across borders and disciplines, and changed lives as profoundly as Reingold.
Now, the world is at a pivotal moment for global health. The combination of emerging diseases, climate disruption, funding constraints, increasing health inequities, and growing geopolitical fragmentation is threatening the vision of a healthy global human population.
And yet, the demand for implementation science, systems leadership, and equity-centered innovation in global health has never been greater.
That’s why, to honor Reingold’s lifelong dedication to saving lives globally and building capacity in the world’s most vulnerable communities, the UC Berkeley School of Public Health is launching the Reingold Institute for Global Health.
An initial gift of $1.5 million from alum Sue Desmond-Hellmann, MPH ‘89, MD—former chancellor of UCSF, former CEO of the Gates Foundation, and one of many former Reingold mentees who credit him for launching their careers—and her spouse, Nick Hellmann, MD, a UCSF-trained infectious diseases physician whose career has spanned academia, industry, and global health, is the first step toward making the institute a reality.
Dean Michael C. Lu (left) and Professor Art Reingold (right) with donors Nick Hellmann, MD, and Sue Desmond-Hellmann, MPH, MD, at an event celebrating Dr. Reingold’s career in public health.
“We are thrilled to support the newly inaugurated Campaign for the Reingold Institute for Global Health, which will recognize the substantial contributions of Dr. Reingold as an outstanding public and global health leader, visionary, and teacher and enhance collaboration between two of the world’s preeminent public health institutions, UC Berkeley School of Public Health and UCSF,” said Desmond-Hellmann.” It is our hope and expectation that the initiatives at the Reingold Institute will have a significant positive impact on health challenges and inequities worldwide.”
The vision for the Reingold Institute is to translate interdisciplinary research into policy, practice, and impact, along with advancing UC Berkeley’s educational mission by training the next generation of global public health changemakers.
This institute would deepen the UC Berkeley School of Public Health’s commitment to decolonizing global health. With the Reingold Institute we will be able to mobilize UC Berkeley’s full force—across disciplines, sectors, and geographies—to meet the urgency of now. This is UC Berkeley not just as a thought leader, but as a change agent.
The Reingold Institute for Global Health will bring together the best and brightest faculty, staff, and students—not only from Berkeley Public Health, but from across the UC Berkeley campus, across the Bay with our partners at UCSF, and across the world with our partners around the world to tackle some of global health’s greatest challenges,” said UC Berkeley School of Public Health Dean Michael C. Lu. ”It will also train the next generation of global health leaders and changemakers. This is such a meaningful way to honor Art’s legacy— his lifelong commitment to solving global health challenges through mentorship, partnership, and collaboration.”
The Institute will be housed at UC Berkeley and led by a new, ladder-rank faculty member, recruited as a global health expert, and will spark new, interdisciplinary research, including funding for “Grand Challenge” projects that will bring together faculty, students, and global partners to solve the world’s most pressing health problems.
The Institute will take advantage of UC Berkeley’s close relationship with UCSF, with research partnerships and educational opportunities taking place at both institutions. While here at UC Berkeley School of Public Health, the institute will place master of public health (MPH) students in immersive global health fieldwork as well as funding students in low- and middle-income countries, both in Berkeley and through our lauded Online MPH degree program.
To make sure that the Institute has real-life impact, we will bridge the persistent gap between research and implementation by aiming to launch a nonprofit affiliate—an “implementation” arm to translate research into practice and policy.
Art Reingold has always believed that rigorous science, coupled with deep humility and authentic partnerships, can change the world. He’s proven it—again and again—through the students he’s mentored, the lives he’s saved, and the systems he’s helped build.
