The Bloomberg School in 2019

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

I am always invigorated by the new year’s potential and am sure you share my feelings of anticipation and hope for what we will collectively achieve in 2019.

The Bloomberg School begins this year well-positioned to advance public health. In 2018:

• We expanded student enrollment by more than 300 students, and the proportion of students receiving aid increased by 10 percent. Even so, we have retained our remarkably low student-faculty ratio and ethos of close mentorship.
• We launched three Master of Applied Science programs through our Online Programs for Applied Learning.
• We increased global access to knowledge with more than 100,000 people completing one of our free or low-cost courses on Coursera.
• We continue to do groundbreaking research that is influencing the public’s health. We documented the impact of handgun licensing laws in reducing firearm deaths in urban counties, demonstrated how algorithms can better predict a chemical’s toxicity than standard animal tests, revealed insurers’ roles in the opioid crisis and convened the world’s largest academic conference on family planning.
• As the year drew to a close, the Bloomberg American Health Initiative convened leaders and big thinkers for a summit on American health that sharpened our focus on solutions to our nation’s greatest health challenges.

1.9 

Number of Students per faculty member

$439 million

Annual extramural support for research and practice in 2018

1,383

Faculty spanning 10 departments, from Mental Health to Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

There is much work to do. Our new strategic plan challenges us to look beyond our traditional boundaries and partner to unleash the power of public health. In the coming year, we will prioritize activities that further the power of education, science, partnerships, people and advocacy. To succeed in this ambitious five-year plan, the School is committed to providing the resources needed to achieve the plan’s objectives. These may include dedicated project funding, targeted hiring of project leaders and increased fundraising around critical activities. We are eager to continue partnering with you on the strategic plan and will keep you posted on exciting developments and ways to become involved.Through such achievements, we have set the pace for schools of public health across the world. Our 2,650 students, our 24,582 alumni, our $439 million in annual research funding, and our work in Baltimore and more than 100 countries make our institution unique. Our unparalleled scale and reach give us a special responsibility to advance our field, which now has more than 66 accredited schools of public health and 121 accredited programs. I am especially looking forward to growing the number of collaborative projects with our peer institutions in the coming years.

I look forward to working with you and all of our faculty, staff, students, alumni and partners as we realize the power of public health in 2019—and beyond.

Sincerely,

Ellen J. MacKenzie, PhD ’79, ScM ’75

Bloomberg Distinguished Professor
Dean
Bloomberg School of Public Health
The Johns Hopkins University

PS – If you’d like to connect further, please contact me at JHSPH.deansoffice@jhu.edu.