Harvard University
School of Public Health
Boston, Massachusetts
Overview
Harvard College was founded in 1636, and, until the establishment of professorships in medicine in 1782, it composed the whole of the institution now called Harvard University. In addition to the college, ten graduate schools are now part of the University.
Activity in professional education in the field of public health had been steadily increasing at Harvard University for more than two decades before the actual founding of the School in 1922. The primary mission of the School is to carry out teaching and research aimed at improving the health of population groups throughout the world. The School emphasizes not only the development and implementation of disease prevention and treatment programs but also the planning and management of systems involved in the delivery of health services in this country and abroad. The School cooperates with the Medical School in teaching and research and has close ties with other Harvard faculties. The School has more than 374 full-time and part-time faculty members and eleven academic departments representing major biomedical and social disciplines.
There were 1,055 graduate students (624 women and 431 men) are enrolled. Sixty-three nations are represented.
Graduates from the Harvard School of Public Health find employment in a variety of settings, depending in part upon their previous experience and in part upon department and degree programs from which they graduate. Recent graduates have found positions in research institutes, with pharmaceutical companies and governmental and nongovernmental agencies, within the health-care industry, and as faculty members of universities.
The Location and Community
Boston is a heterogeneous metropolis rich in history and charm. Athletic, cultural, and recreational activities are abundant. The School is within walking distance of museums, colleges and universities, waterways, and parks.
Programs of Study and Degree Requirements
The School of Public Health offers programs leading to the graduate degrees of Master of Public Health (M.P.H.), Doctor of Public Health (D.P.H.), Master of Occupational Health (M.O.H.), Master of Science in a specified field (S.M. in that field), and Doctor of Science in a specified field (S.D. in that field). Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degrees are offered in specific fields of study through the Graduate School of Arts and Science. Programs are offered in biostatistics, environmental health, epidemiology, genetics and complex diseases, health policy and management, immunology and infectious diseases, nutrition, occupational health, population and international health, and society, human development, and health. Some programs are designed for physicians, lawyers, managers, and other health-care professionals; some for college graduates who wish to train for health careers; and others for individuals who hold graduate degrees in medicine, law, business, government, education, and other fields who wish to apply their special skills to public health problems. Special programs include the Master of Science in occupational health or maternal and child health nursing, administered jointly by HSPH and Simmons College; the doctoral program in oral epidemiology, administered jointly by HSPH and the Harvard School of Dental Medicine; the combined M.D./M.P.H. program offered in conjunction with medical schools; and the J.D./M.P.H joint-degree program offered by HSPH and Harvard Law School. Through its Office of Continuing Professional Education, the School offers professional development courses. The School offers residency training leading to certification by the American Board of Preventive Medicine in occupational medicine.
Facilities & Resources
The main buildings of the School are the Health Sciences Laboratories at 665 Huntington Avenue, the Sebastian S. Kresge Educational Facilities Building at 677 Huntington Avenue, and the François-Xavier Bagnoud Building at 651 Huntington Avenue. The School maintains well-equipped research laboratories containing sophisticated instrumentation and supporting animal facilities. Computing and data processing resources are also available to students through the Instructional Computing Facility. The Francis A. Countway Library serves the library needs of the School. It holds more than 630,000 volumes, subscribes to 3,500 current journal titles, and houses over 10,000 noncurrent biomedical journal titles in addition to its extensive collection of historical materials, making it the largest library in the country serving a medical and health-related school.
Expenses and Aid
Full-time tuition for is $34,620 per year. Health insurance, health services, and registration fees are required, and total costs were $3,568. Books and supplies cost approximately $1,470.
Financial Aid:
Financial aid at the School of Public Health can come from a variety of sources. Some departments have training grants offering students full tuition plus a stipend. Through need- and merit-based programs, other students are offered grants that range from half to full tuition. To supplement other aid, many students borrow through one or more of the federal educational loan programs and work at part-time jobs at Harvard and in the community.
Housing/Living Expenses:
For the academic year, it is estimated that a single student needs a minimum of $15,390: $8,685 for rent and utilities and $6,705 for other expenses. Limited housing is available in the Shattuck International House, with preference given to international students. Most students arrange for housing in the adjacent communities.
How to Apply / Application
Applicants must submit a completed application form, including all postsecondary and graduate school transcripts, three letters of recommendation, and a $60 nonrefundable application fee. All applicants to the School are required to submit scores from the GRE; applicants are urged to take the test no later than November, since applications are not considered without the scores. Applicants may submit the DAT, GMAT, or MCAT, as appropriate to the applicant’s background, in lieu of the GRE. Lawyers applying to the M.P.H. program may submit LSAT scores. Applicants with prior test scores may submit them with their application materials. In addition, applicants must persuade the Committee on Admissions and Degrees of their ability to meet academic standards and of their overall qualifications to undertake advanced study at a graduate level. Students should visit the School’s Web site for information concerning the deadline to apply for admission and to apply online.
As a matter of policy, law, and commitment, Harvard University does not discriminate against applicants or students in admission, educational policies, or scholarship and loan programs on the basis of race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, marital or parental status, veteran status, national origin, color, creed, handicap, or age. Members of minority groups are strongly encouraged to apply.
Who to Contact
Vincent W. James, Director
Admissions Office
Harvard School of Public Health
677 Huntington Avenue
Boston, Massachusetts 02115-6096
617-432-1031
E-mail: admisofc@hsph.harvard.edu
Departments and Faculty Chairs
Biostatistics (617-432-1056)
• Chair: Stephen Lagakos, Ph.D. The program combines both theory and application of statistical science to analyze public health problems and further biomedical research. Students are prepared for academic and private-sector research careers. Faculty research spans both methodological developments on new statistical techniques and important subject-matter applications that lead to significant advances in the health sciences. Current departmental research on statistical and computing methods for observational studies and clinical trials includes survival analysis, missing-data problems, and causal inference. Other areas of investigation include environmental research; statistical aspects of the study of AIDS and cancer; quantitative problems in health-risk analysis, technology assessment, and clinical decision making; statistical methodology in psychiatric research and in genetic studies; and statistical genetics and computational biology.
Environmental Health (617-432-1270)
• Chair: Douglas Dockery, S.D. The mission of the Department of Environmental Health is to advance the health of all people in the United States and around the world through research and training in environmental health. The department emphasizes the role of air, water, the built environment, and the workplace as critical determinants of health. Faculty members in the department study the pathogenesis and prevention of environmentally produced illnesses and act as catalysts for scientifically based public health advances. Research approaches range from the molecular to the epidemiologic. Teaching and research activities of the department are carried out through three concentrations: exposure, epidemiology, and risk; occupational health; and physiology.
Epidemiology (617-432-1050)
• Chair: Meir Stampter, M.D., Dr.P.H. Epidemiology, the study of the frequency, distribution, and determinants of disease in humans, is a fundamental science of public health. Epidemiologists use many approaches, but the ultimate aim of epidemiologic research is the prevention or effective control of human disease. Current research involves the role of viruses in the etiology of cancer; the connection between diet and risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and other major chronic diseases; the relationship between exposure to chemicals in the workplace and the development of cancer; the epidemiology of infectious disease; factors in early life predisposing individuals to chronic diseases; and causes of human infertility.
Genetics and Complex Diseases (617-432-0054)
• Chair: Gökhan Hotamisligil, M.D., Ph.D. The complex interplay of biological processes with environmental factors as they apply to chronic, multigenic, and multifactorial diseases is the emphasis of the Department of Genetics and Complex Diseases. Research programs in the department focus on molecular mechanisms of adaptive responses to environmental signals to elucidate the mechanisms underlying the intricate interaction between genetic determinants and their divergent responses to stress signals. Alterations in these integrated adaptive mechanisms have a major impact on the health of human populations. The diseases under study include nutritional and metabolic diseases (obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases), cancer, and aging, both at the mechanistic level and in the context of population studies.
Health Policy and Management (617-432-1090)
• Chair: Arnold Epstein, M.D. The department is mission-oriented in its concern with improving the health-care delivery system and mitigating public health risks in the United States and abroad. It is dedicated to resolving major management and health policy problems through original research, advanced training, and dispute resolution. Research priorities are organized into nine broad areas, including health financing and insurance, management of health hazards, study of the causes and etiology of injury, management of health-care organizations, evaluation and management of medical technology, business and labor in health, international health, quality of health-care, and health-care reform.
Immunology and Infectious Diseases (617-432-2334)
• Chair: Max E. Essex, D.V.M., Ph.D. The department focuses on the biological, immunological, epidemiological, and ecological aspects of viral, bacterial, protozoan, and helminthic diseases of animals and humans and the vectors that transmit some of these infectious agents. Emphasis is on research identifying basic pathogenic mechanisms that may lead to better diagnostic tools and the development of vaccines and other interventions for prevention and control of infections and disease, as well as the identification of new targets for antiviral and antiparasitic drugs.
Nutrition (617-432-1333)
• Chair: Walter C. Willett, M.D., Dr.P.H. The department’s mission is to improve human health through enhanced nutrition. It strives to accomplish this goal through research aimed at improved understanding of how diet influences health, the dissemination of new knowledge about nutrition to health professionals and the public, the development of nutritional strategies, and the education of researchers and practitioners. Department research ranges from molecular biology to human studies of cancer and heart disease, including the conduct of population-based intervention trials. Current research covers a wide range of topics, including large prospective studies of dietary factors in relation to heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and ophthalmologic disease; development of methods to assess nutritional status by analysis of body tissue; the interaction of nutritional factors with genetic determinants of disease; and the interaction of nutritional factors and infectious agents.
Population and International Health (617-432-1232)
• Chair: David Bloom, Ph.D. The department seeks to improve global health through education, research, and service from a population based perspective. Research interests span a wide spectrum of topics, including social and economic development, health policy, and demography; design and financing of health-care systems; women’s health and children’s health; and prevention and control of infectious and chronic diseases. The department has a special concern with questions of health equity and human rights, particularly in relation to health and population issues in developing countries.
Society, Human Development, and Health (617-432-1135)
• Chair: Lisa Berkman, Ph.D. The mission of the Department of Society, Human Development, and Health is to improve health throughout the lifespan, including a special emphasis on children and adolescents. This mission is achieved through research to identify the social and behavioral determinants of health, development and evaluation of interventions and policies leading to the improvement of population health, and the preparation of professionals and researchers who fill leadership positions in advocacy and public service. The department’s educational mission is to train both scholars and practitioners: scholars whose research illuminates basic social determinants of health and who identify and test innovative social policy and service interventions, and practitioners who are skilled in designing, implementing, and evaluating health-enhancing interventions in action settings.
Division of Biological Sciences (617-432-4470)
• Director: Dyann F. Wirth, Ph.D. The Division of Biological Sciences is an umbrella organization encompassing the HSPH Departments of Environmental Health, Genetics and Complex Diseases, Immunology and Infectious Diseases, and Nutrition. In most of these departments, two doctoral degrees are offered: the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) and the Doctor of Science (S.D.). The Ph.D. programs generally center on laboratory-based investigation in the biological sciences, whereas the S.D. programs emphasize epidemiological analysis. The Ph.D. programs are administered by the Division of Biological Sciences.
Master of Public Health Program (617-432-0090)
• Director: Richard R. Monson, M.D., Associate Dean for Professional Education. The program is designed to provide both a general background and flexibility of specialization in public health. The seven areas of concentration are clinical effectiveness, family and community health, health-care management, international health, law and public health, occupational and environmental health, and quantitative methods.