Center of Excellence in Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health secures $1.8 million five-year federal funding
- 3 min. read ▪ Published
The UC Berkeley School of Public Health’s Center of Excellence in Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health has secured a five-year renewal of federal funding totaling approximately $1.8 million over five years.
The competitive grant renewal was issued by the Health Resources and Services Administration, Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) and supports UC Berkeley’s long-standing commitment to excellence in maternal, child, and adolescent health (MCAH) education and training.
The Center of Excellence provides interdisciplinary graduate training, continuing education, technical assistance, and research and service opportunities. The program has trained more than 1,300 alumni who now work across the country and around the world to improve maternal, child, and adolescent health outcomes.
The renewed funding will allow the program to continue to educate MPH students in MCAH, fund and train MCAH students through leadership opportunities and summer practicum placements, provide technical assistance to MCAH organizations, and implement MCAH-related educational events.
This grant was first awarded to the school of public health in 1954—making UC Berkeley one of the first schools of public health to receive federal MCAH funding.
“I am thrilled that we can provide the infrastructure to maintain a leading-edge and supportive training environment for our brilliant MPH students to enhance the MCAH workforce,” says Dr. Julianna Deardorff, director of the UC Berkeley Center of Excellence in MCAH and Program Head of the Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health program at UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health.
With the funds from this grant renewal, the Center of Excellence will pursue three primary goals over the next five years: 1) graduate at least 110 students with advanced degrees in public health with an MCAH concentration, including students from historically underrepresented groups and rural communities; 2) CoE staff will provide professional development and leadership opportunities to prepare public health and health care professionals to be leaders in MCAH; 3) mobilize large-scale efforts to reduce and ultimately eliminate health disparities affecting MCAH populations, in conjunction with partner organizations.
The program’s key partners include UCSF’s academic medical school and Leadership and Education in Adolescent Health program, as well as UC Berkeley centers such as the Wallace Center for Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health and the Maternal and Child Nutrition Traineeship program. Its advisory board includes 15 Bay Area maternal, child, and adolescent health leaders.
“Building on our strengths, I am excited that we will continue to support students in learning about MCAH and launching their career paths in public health,” says Jessica Ross, assistant director of the Center of Excellence and alumna of the program.
Training Excellence and Alumni Success
The center’s comprehensive, evidence-based program develops critical workforce capabilities in trainees through rigorous academic preparation combined with hands-on experience. Students acquire skills in applied epidemiology, quantitative analysis, community-engaged research and practice, and leadership for the evolving public health landscape.
The program’s impact is demonstrated through its strong alumni network. Recent graduates have secured positions as research analysts at leading universities and academic medical centers, epidemiologists in city, county and state health departments, and leaders at influential public health organizations, nationally and globally.
