The news of COVID-19 in the U.S. and across the world is changing daily, but the Program in Public Health remains fully operational and committed to ensuring our current and prospective students, alumni, parents, faculty, and staff are supported during this difficult and unprecedented time. We are adhering to social distancing guidance from the university-and now local and state officials-mandating a work from home protocol for all employees. Below are links to student services and administrative personnel.
Many thanks to our administration, faculty, and staff who have stepped up and remained flexible at this time to ensure a smooth transition to remote working, teaching, and learning. We are a community first and foremost, and though we are practicing social distancing to help eliminate spread of the virus and protect our most vulnerable neighbors, we are not practicing social isolation. We recognize that many of you know or will know someone who has been affected by this virus. Program leadership remains available via email to respond to questions and concerns and to connect you with university resources for your health and mental health. We also welcome suggestions and solutions for easing the transition to working remotely and for continuing to build our program into one of the top public health schools in the nation even as we continue to work with university administration to respond to this public health crisis.
Never before has public health been so front and center in our nation. Preparing for and responding to the COVID-19 pandemic is one very big example of the real work of public health. Program in Public Health administration, faculty, staff, and students have been actively involved in campus preparedness and response since January 2020. We have surveyed thousands on campus to help the university understand how best to support and respond to concerns among our UCI community; provided education through handwashing demonstrations, preparedness advice, informational videos, and community and online forums; given the media sound, evidence-based information about the virus as the pandemic has evolved; and discussed solutions daily with campus administration, county public health officials, and local, state, and national elected officials.
You can find these resources and other COVID-19 information for our UCI community below.
We will continue to update you as we receive new and relevant information. Stay safe, healthy, and hopeful!
Dean Bernadette Boden-Albala served as a panelist for a virtual OC Forum Presentation about COVID-19 and the Orange County community, March 19, 2020 VIEW
Dr. Andrew Noymer served as a panelist on an early community forum about COVID-19, February 10, 2020 VIEW
Dean Bernadette Boden-Albala moderated a virtual town hall about UCI and COVID-19 featuring UCI Leadership, March 13, 2020 VIEW
Planning to travel during the COVID-19 outbreak? Listen to Dean Bernadette Boden-Albala discuss important considerations and best practices for staying healthy and safe. VIEW
Learn proper handwashing techniques to prevent the spread of viral illnesses with Peter the Anteater. VIEW VIDEO. MORE
Coronavirus Disease 2019 VIEW
Get to know Dean Bernadette Boden-Albala in this short video where she shares her vision for our future School of Population and Public Health. We look forward to getting to know each and every one of you better as we embark on this journey together. VIEW VIDEO VIEW
There is no better time in history to engage with public health at UC Irvine, home to innovative and resourceful public health research, practice, and education initiatives. Click here to learn more about us.
The mission of the public health program at the University of California, Irvine is to create, integrate, and translate population-based knowledge into preventive strategies for reducing the societal burden of human disease and disability through excellence in research, education, and public service. Click here to view Our Mission, Goals, and Objectives.
We currently offer a B.S. in Public Health Sciences and a B.A. in Public Health Policy; a Master of Public Health (MPH) in four emphases: Environmental Health, Epidemiology, Sociocultural Diversity and Health, and Biostatistics; and a Ph.D in Public Health with concentrations in Global Health and Disease Prevention. We also offer a minor in Public Health.
For more information on the undergraduate programs, please click here or send an email to phuao@uci.edu. For more information about the graduate program, please click here or send an email to phgo@uci.edu.
Plans are underway to transform the acclaimed UCI Program in Public Health into the UCI School of Population and Public Health. We are dedicated to educating the public health leaders of the future, fostering high-impact research that reduces the societal burden of human disease and disability, and transforming the health and wellness of communities on local, national and global scales. In partnership with colleagues in the Susan and Henry Samueli College of Health Sciences and UCI Health, we are raising the quality of life for people around the world, while also championing the principles of evidence-based integrative health. At our core, we encourage inclusive excellence in intellectual pursuits. LEARN MORE DONATE NOW
Experts are now looking into coronavirus immunity testing. The test would tell people whether they’ve already had the coronavirus and have developed antibodies. “The antibody test will be perhaps our most important tool as we eventually ease the lockdown,” said UC Irvine Public Health Professor Andrew Noymer. Noymer said it’s possible that flu-like illnesses people experienced in late winter may have actually been the novel coronavirus. … Dr. Philip Felgner, Director of UCI’s Vaccine Research and Development Center, gets a couple of calls a day from healthcare workers wanting to know if they are protected [by immunity] when they go into the hospital.
The crisis has become so disturbing that Andrew Noymer, a University of California Irvine associate professor of public health and live-music aficionado who recently bought tickets for an upcoming Best Coast show, says concertgoers must assess their risk tolerance before even going out. “I can’t give you an airtight guarantee that there’s no risk, even though a lot of people want to say ‘just keep calm and carry on,'” he says. “Coronavirus is spreading and it’s going to spread more. A soccer game in Italy was played in an empty stadium for only TV cameras. So I don’t want to say it’s unreasonable to exclude going to crowd events.”
Dustin Moore, a registered dietician working towards a doctorate in public health at University of California, Irvine, and Caren Moore finally were on a flight home with their adopted baby girl in their arms. … a flight attendant named Bobby approached the Moores, inquiring about their little girl. … “Five minutes later, Bobby came on the intercom” …. The flight attendant announced that he’d be passing out napkins and pens for anyone who wanted to jot down a message for the new parents. The cabin erupted into cheers and applause. A steady stream of people came by to coo and congratulate the couple.
Get to know Dean Bernadette Boden-Albala in this short video where she shares her vision for our future School of Population and Public Health. We look forward to getting to know each and every one of you better as we embark on this journey together.
"I worry about people making their own sanitizer as it will be difficult to make sure that the concentrations are correct," Daniel Parker, assistant professor of public health at the University of California, Irvine, told CNN of the trend. … The best way to prevent transmission of the novel coronavirus is still with good old water and soap. Parker advises that people wash their hands thoroughly for at least 20 seconds, avoid touching their face, cover their mouth when sneezing or coughing, and regularly clean surfaces.
Prof. Brittany Morey was awarded the ICTS Pilot Studies Award! Details about the award application are below. The title of her funded research project is "Neighborhood Risk and Resilience for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Respiratory Health Disparities." Out of 39 applications across UCI, she was one of 8 that were awarded. The amount of the award is about $25,000, which will largely go to supporting a PhD graduate student researcher for 12 months.
Local coronavirus data reported in coming days will be crucial in determining if Orange County is on the same path as Italy in the spread of the virus and its impact on local hospitals, according to two UC Irvine professors studying confirmed cases of COVID-19. In their analysis, based on the number of case counts per 1 million people, colleagues Dominik Wodarz [professor of public health], who studies the dynamics of infectious diseases, and Natalia Komarova, a math professor, put Orange County about 20 days behind the date when Italy’s hospital system became overwhelmed by the number of COVID-19 cases in that country.
University of California Irvine Epidemiology Dr. Karen Edwards joins Yahoo Finance’s Seana Smith to discuss the developments surrounding the coronavirus, as the U.S. overtakes other countries for the most confirmed cases in the world.
There are two realistic paths to achieving this "population-level immunity." One is the development of a vaccine. The other is for the disease to work its way through the population, surely killing many, but also leaving many others -- those who contract the disease and then recover -- immune. "They’re just Teflon at that point," meaning they can’t get infected again and they won’t pass on the disease, explains Andrew Noymer, a public-health professor at the University of California at Irvine. …"Prematurely ending severe social distancing would be an incredible blunder that would have major human consequences," Noymer told me. "What is ‘prematurely’? The truth is, we don’t know yet, exactly, but it’s longer than a fortnight. It could be eight to 12 weeks."
Even professionals find themselves scratching their heads over the emerging statistics. “They’re confusing not just to the general public but even to people working in the field,” said Andrew Noymer, an associate professor of public health at the University of California at Irvine. … Noymer is looking for fuller data from countries like South Korea that have “more of a tradition of transparency” and the experience of an imported disease. Those countries will show what the potential effects might be for the United States, which has time to anticipate and plan for imported cases.
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COVID-19 Could Make a Resurgence This Fall, Depending on U.S. Response - featuring Prof. Karen Edwards (Yahoo! Finance)
UC Presidential Chair and founder of UCI’s Population Health & Disease Prevention Department - Professor Oladele Ogunseitan discusses where we are on another momentous day with COVID-19. He also gives us his long-term perspectives on recovery. One thing he knows for sure - public health professionals are being stretched to the max, but are rising to the occasion in their mission of "helping others in need"!
How will the coronavirus pandemic end? We are learning more about several possible paths. One is a vaccine in the works. Another is the concept of herd immunity. Andrew Noymer, a public heath professor at University of California, Irvine, explained how herd immunity works. … "Herd immunity is the concept that once a certain proportion of the whole population is immune, the virus has a really hard time bouncing from person to person. And so, what we want to get to eventually is a situation where most people are immune and then the epidemic will die out," Noymer said.
Ted Gideonse, an [assistant] professor at the University of California, Irvine’s Program in Public Health, who specializes in substance abuse and public health ethics, said he doubts many would fall for the trap. But the problem with fake news coming straight from a police department is that these “stories end up getting lives of their own,” existing “in the underbelly of the Internet where people don’t actually question things.”
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"A very small proportion of those aged under 19 years have developed severe (2.5%) or critical disease (0.2%)," the WHO’s report on China's outbreak stated. Some people interpreted those findings to mean they were safe. But "I’m just not sure we can extrapolate from the published Chinese data to what the experience will be like in the USA," said Andrew Noymer, an associate professor of public health at the University of California at Irvine.
Why the NBA Cancelled Kings-Pelicans Amid Coronavirus Chaos - featuring Prof. Karen Edwards (NBC Sports)
Dr. Andrew Noymer offers compelling scientific reasoning on what YOU should do as the coronavirus spreads. KNOWLEDGE IS POWER! Professor Noymer is an associate professor of public health at UCI. He is a population health scientist whose focus is on infectious disease. His research straddles the biological & social domains to get a clearer understanding of pandemic patterns, such as COVID-19.
Everyone should listen to this IMPORTANT interview!
"Florida is like an uber-Italy," says Andrew Noymer, [UCI associate professor, public health], who wasn’t involved in this research. "Florida is going to be a tough situation, I would predict." In a place with so many elderly people, many of them living close together in retirement homes, social distancing will be extra important to avoid disaster. "It’s not destiny to say Florida is going to be absolutely clobbered by this," Noymer says. "There is time with social distancing to flatten the peak. Maybe we can make this the dog that didn’t bark, so to speak."
Whether you must travel soon or your travel plans can wait until COVID-19 cases subside, there are tips you can follow to keep yourself healthy. In fact, these suggestions can apply anytime, says Bernadette Boden-Albala, director and founding dean of the program in public health at UC Irvine in Irvine, California. A frequent traveler, Boden-Albala says she follows common-sense precautions year-round to stay healthy while on the road.
UCI Public Health is a member of Orange County's Healthier Together, a community-wide initiative that aligns public and private resources within the public health system to improve health for all communities in Orange County.
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Orange County Partnerships to Improve Community Health (OC PICH) is a collaborative project with non-profits, cities, the local health agency, and educational institutions in Orange County, CA. Our project focuses on increasing the community's access to healthy foods, physical activity, active transportation, and water consumption.
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