- Faculty & Staff, Message from the Dean, Students
- September 7, 2026
Dear BUSPH Faculty, Staff and Students,
A warm welcome especially to our new community members: students, staff, and faculty. We are delighted you have joined us, and to our returning community members, a heartfelt welcome back. We are so excited to start a new academic year, begin the Fall semester and continue our 50-year-old tradition of teaching, learning and innovating for public health.
As we embark on this new semester, school leadership is writing a series of notes to introduce School functions and operations to new members of our community. We also hope that this series will serve as a helpful refresher for our long-time community members.
The school is informed by our new Strategy Map which strongly reaffirms our mission, values, and core purpose: Think. Teach. Do. For the Health of all. Our senior leadership team is structured with an Associate Dean who leads each of our core areas:
Chris Louis, our Associate Dean ad interim for Academic Affairs, works closely with faculty, department chairs, associate chairs, and program directors to ensure the School meets the educational needs of students. He oversees curriculum development, educational innovation, teaching support, program evaluation, and academic strategy.
Research, Faculty Advancement & Strategic Initiatives
The Research and Faculty Advancement Division, reporting through Michael McClean, Senior Associate Dean for Research, Faculty and Strategic Initiatives, supports faculty recruitment, appointment, promotion, development, research administration, postdoctoral affairs, the SPH Data Hub, and the School’s Think. Teach. Do. Centers, Programs, and Units. He also oversees institutional data, strategic support to the Dean, and research related business development for SPH.
Madeleine Scammell, our Associate Dean ad interim for Policy & Practice is responsible for strengthening the School’s connections to public health practice and policy. Dean Scammell oversees the Career & Practicum Office, the Activist Lab, and will be developing a Lifelong Programs Office, supporting experiential learning, workforce development, and external educational partnerships.
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Justice (DEIJ) & Wellness
Yvette Cozier, our Associate Dean for DEIJ & Wellness, is responsible for advancing an institutional culture that values diversity, equity, inclusion, justice, and well-being across the School. Dean Cozier oversees Graduate Student Life, the DEIJ Committee, Living Our Values initiatives, and related Boston University wellness and community initiatives.
Finance, Administration & Business Operations
Ira Lazic, our Senior Associate Dean for Finance, Administration & Business Operations, is responsible for the School’s major administrative, financial, and business operations. Dean Lazic oversees Budget and Finance, Human Resources, Title IX, EOO, Facilities, Advancement, Business Development and Partnerships, as well as Marketing and Communications. Her portfolio aligns the School’s operational, advancement, and communications functions to support strategic planning, financial stewardship, resource management, external engagement, and organizational effectiveness.
In addition, the school has six academic departments led by Department Chairs who are experts in their respective fields. These include:
The Department of Biostatistics is led by Professor Scarlett Bellamy. The department works to design studies, develop new methodologies, and extract and analyze information from data, to help inform decisions to promote better health.
Community Health Sciences (CHS)
Under the direction of Professor Carlos Rodriguez-Diaz, the Department of Community Health Sciences applies social and behavioral sciences to enhance the health and well-being of communities and promote health equity.
The Department of Environmental Health is led by Professor Jon Levy. The faculty of the department work to address the health effects of environmental challenges such as exposures to complex mixtures of chemicals, contaminants of water, food, and soil, air pollution, climate change, and more.
Under the leadership of Professor Maria Glymour, the Department of Epidemiology evaluates the determinants of health and disease across populations — why some individuals and communities experience more illness than others. Our faculty work to develop and apply quantitative methods for studying physiologic, social, behavioral, environmental, and structural determinants of population health.
The Department of Global Health is led by Professor Patricia Hibberd. The mission of the department is to advance the health and well-being of individuals and communities around the world (including in the US) through research, education, and outreach.
Health Law, Policy & Management (HLPM)
Directed by Professor Michael Stein, the Department of Health Law, Policy & Management is committed to leading scholarship and the public conversation about the most pressing health and social policy concerns of the day
In the coming days and weeks, each Associate Dean and Department Chair will share their own note with additional details about the work of their respective units and departments.
Warm regards and hope to see you around Talbot,
AH
Adnan A. Hyder, MD MPH PhD
Dean & Robert A. Knox Professor