At Berkeley Public Health, we take pride in our rigorous transdisciplinary research into the determinants of health and our groundbreaking achievements that shape policy, education and services around the world. Our faculty and students drive action that improves health outcomes for communities, locally and globally.

Our focus on translational research ensures that the health research knowledge we generate has a direct impact on the public. Translating research into practice to benefit communities is integral to our mission: within our school, among our colleagues across the Berkeley campus, and with our collaborators around the world. We seek to foster collective research efforts that have the greatest population health impact, which fundamentally requires studying health equity for the most vulnerable in our communities, accounting for global change, and identifying research and practice methods with the most effective and far-reaching impacts.

Global Change

The determinants and consequences of global changes profoundly shape population health. Many of these changes have long been underway, including climate change, food systems transformations, infectious disease pandemics, and population changes such as migration, urbanization and aging.

Through efforts from community-based research to environmental sciences to global policy initiatives, our world-renowned faculty and students understand that public health challenges often follow these changes and require collaborative, interdisciplinary methods to mitigate the resulting consequences.

Health and Inequality

At Berkeley Public Health, we recognize that health outcomes do not exist in a vacuum. In and outside hospital walls, inequality is a defining issue of our time and has a profound impact on health.

Our faculty and students conduct research that emphasizes the social determinants of health—how factors like socioeconomic status, racism and place determine susceptibility to certain diseases and conditions—and how to use this knowledge to help communities implement changes that foster equality and social justice.

Data Science and Technology

Unlocking the truth behind infectious disease pandemics, social determinants of health, antibiotic resistance and other public health concerns often requires harnessing big data and technological innovation.

Our faculty and students lead in methodological research integrating machine learning and causal inference, as well as high-dimensional biology like genomics and neuroimaging. We invest in these cutting-edge tools to make quantum advances in public health interventions for the unique circumstances of individuals, families and their communities.

Racism and Public Health

Berkeley Public Health is committed to research that reveals how racism drives systemic inequities within the health sciences.

Go to the Research on Racism and Public Health page

Community Engagement

It is essential that we work with the community at large—locally, nationally and internationally—to address pressing public health needs and challenges. By engaging directly with stakeholders across a variety of sectors, our faculty and students produce transformational, community-based research that promotes actionable, sustainable and positive change.

We collaborate with practitioners, policy makers and community groups by integrating their expertise in the development, implementation and assessment of our public health interventions. Our faculty and students cultivate relationships that produce meaningful outcomes and best practices for community-engaged scholarship.

Community Action Team

Our Community Action Team was developed to quickly serve our local communities in times of crisis on both a local and national scale. The team, comprised of members from diverse student, faculty, and staff groups, aims to tap into the wellspring of activism and leadership that defines who we are.

If you are an organization in need of immediate assistance or if you are a current member of the UC Berkeley community and would like to join us in our efforts, please reach out to us at EngageSPH@berkeley.edu.

Go to the Community Action Team page

Research Centers

Our students have countless opportunities to dive into the world of research and practice through our diverse array of centers and programs. Led by our prestigious faculty, these centers address a wide variety of issues, including health and societal problems like alcohol abuse, population and family planning, health technology, STD prevention, infectious diseases, emergency preparedness, healthcare markets, and traffic safety.

Research Highlights

Using big data to examine the social factors affecting child health

An African American doula assists a Caucasian pregnant woman who appears to be in labor

Though doulas are now covered by Medi-Cal, barriers exist

The data are clear: Racism harms health

Infectious disease scholar secures $1.5 million NIH award for creative, high-impact research

50 years after being outlawed, redlining still drives neighborhood health inequities

A critical window: Early malnutrition sets stage for poor growth and even death, researchers find

Cultural racism worsens health inequities between racial groups

Deadly Fungi, Toxic Tides, and Wildfire Smoke

View all Research Highlights