Greetings from the Chair

Our city is recovering from the greatest natural disaster in US history.  Hurricane Katrina claimed over a thousand people’s lives and has left tens of thousands of people displaced or homeless. But today New Orleans is not only alive, it is vibrant. People are coming back to rebuild and there is a level of civic activism that is astounding. As we recover from this tragedy, we have a historic opportunity to recreate the city in new ways that promote health. 

Our department has always had strong ties to local public health agencies, nonprofit organizations, and community groups.  We pulled through the storm with our facilities, faculty, staff - and relationships - intact. Since Hurricane Katrina we have been working with our students and all of our local colleagues to create a better, healthier new New Orleans (View our student produced video). If you are considering a career in public health or want to get involved in the real work of health promotion, there is no better time and place than in New Orleans now.  If you want to be part of all this, give us a call or come on down for a visit.

Visit our Rebuilding New Orleans site for more information on our department's involvement in the rebuilding efforts.

Vision and Mission of the Department

We envision a time when all people in all communities can reach their full potential and enjoy physical, mental, and social well-being.  We believe that this vision can be achieved through public health interventions and research that focus on public policy, the environment, social relationships, communities, and organizations.

Our mission is to develop community-oriented solutions to global public health problems. We strive to close the health gap among diverse communities in New Orleans, in Louisiana, and in the United States.

Our goals are:

• To train people from diverse communities to become effective public health leaders;
• To promote community health and empowerment through the application of public health knowledge and practice;
• To conduct community-oriented research to create knowledge that influences practice and public policy; and
• To create an open, supportive, collaborative environment for faculty, students, and community partners.

History of the Department

We began as the Department of Applied Health Sciences, which combined the traditional public health disciplines of Health Education, Maternal and Child Health, and Nutrition. Both Maternal and Child Health and Nutrition had a mainly clinical focus.

In 1996 we underwent strategic planning in which we refocused our curriculum and research around the issues that these three areas have in common - working in and with communities to promote health - and renamed ourselves as the Department of Community Health Sciences.

We have proudly maintained our emphasis on working on the front lines of public health and integrating our work closely with local public health agencies. We are committed to not just studying disease or teaching about risk factors, but rather to finding, implementing, and evaluating practical solutions to the most important health problems of our era. We are constantly reviewing and trying to improve our curriculum so that students leave with the skills they need to be effective in any public health organization.