Jaspal S. Sandhu, PhD
- Professor of Practice, Center of Excellence in Maternal Child & Adolescent Health
Biography
Jaspal S. Sandhu works at the intersection of design innovation, social entrepreneurship, and health equity. He is a Professor of Practice in Maternal, Child & Adolescent health at the University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health, where he has designed and taught globally unique, interdisciplinary public health innovation courses since 2010. He currently teaches The Art of Public Health. Now in its fifth year, the course explores the multifaceted roles of art and artists in public health, including public engagement, activism, and creative problem-solving.
From its founding in 2016 until 2021, he served as the faculty lead for the Fung Fellowship at UC Berkeley, a program that originally merged digital health, human-centered design, and health equity, and that now includes a focus on environmental sustainability.
Dr. Sandhu is President and CEO of Hopelab, a researcher, convener, and science translator dedicated to fostering greater mental health and well-being outcomes for Brown, Black, and Queer young people. He leads a multidisciplinary team focused on uncovering knowledge and evidence, investing in innovators, and funding youth-centered solutions.
Before joining Hopelab, he co-founded and led Gobee, one of the world’s first social impact design companies. Through work in 25 countries, Gobee drove the adoption of human-centered design across global health. Gobee’s flagship efforts include the creation of Reimagine Lab, a multi-year program that developed creative approaches to prevent family and domestic violence across California’s diverse communities for the long term.
Dr. Sandhu holds a PhD in design from the University of California, Berkeley, and master’s and bachelor’s degrees in engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He received a Fulbright Scholarship to work with rural health systems on technology and innovation in Mongolia. He speaks Punjabi, Spanish, and Mongolian.
Research Interests
- Human-centered design for public health and healthcare innovation
- Emerging technologies for community health
- Interdisciplinary, team-based models for educating public health entrepreneurs and innovators
Education
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PhD – Design
University of California, Berkeley -
SM – Engineering
Massachusetts Institute of Technology -
SB – Mechanical Engineering
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Publications
- Google Scholar
- PubMed
- View Selected Publications
Sandhu JS, Hosang RN, Madsen KA. Solutions That Stick: Activating Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration in a Graduate-Level Public Health Innovations Course at UC Berkeley. American Journal of Public Health. 2015; 105(S1):S73-S77.
Vechakul J, Shrimali BP, Sandhu JS. Human-Centered Design as an Approach for Place-Based Innovation in Public Health: A Case Study from Oakland, California. Maternal & Child Health Journal. 2015; 19(12):2552-2559.
Sandhu JS, New Opportunities for Home Cooks: A new California law legalizes sales of home-cooked food, bringing new food experiences and meaningful economic opportunity, Edible East Bay. Winter 2018: 25-27.
Sandhu JS & Kim A, Using Human-Centered Design to Address Domestic Violence, Blue Shield of California Foundation Blog. April 2019.
Johnson T, Sandhu JS, Tyler N, The Next Step for Human-Centered Design in Global Public Health, Stanford Social Innovation Review, October 22, 2019
Courses Taught
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- PH 290
- The Art of Public Health
- PH 298
- Humanizing Life Course
- PH188
- Fung Fellowship Core Course
- PH 214
- Eat.Think.Design.
- Designing Innovative Public Health Solutions