Next information sessions

View More

Public health degree programs

Centered in the nation's largest urban medical district, our work starts at home in Chicago neighborhoods. Across numerous CDC, NIH and World Health Organization projects and global collaboration spanning 65 countries, our mission remains the same: to confront and mitigate social, economic and political barriers to health through research, teaching, service, and practice.
An aerial view of the Illinois Medical District, with the Chicago skyline and Lake Michigan in the background.

Our latest efforts

SPH Welcomes Michele McCay as Interim Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs
Tuesday, June 17, 2025
Welcome Michele McCay, DrPH, MPH to her new role as Interim Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs. For nearly 25 years, Dr. McCay has led public health initiatives for addressing leadership and administrative needs to improve maternal and child health.
Zoomed in map of Asia and the Philippine Sea with Taiwan in the center of the image with a red push pin stuck through Taipei
Building Global Research Ties Through Young Visiting Scholar Program
Monday, June 16, 2025
Dr. Nathaniel Tran recently traveled to Taiwan as part of a Young International Visiting Scholar Program–a multi-institutional exchange between the University of Illinois system and Taiwanese universities.
Crissy Turino Headshot
SPH Alum Crissy Turino Honored with UIC Rising Star Leadership Award
Tuesday, May 20, 2025
Crissy Turino, MPH ’16, has been named a recipient of the University of Illinois Chicago’s prestigious Rising Star Leadership Award, recognizing her exceptional leadership, dedication to public health, and commitment to advancing equity in healthcare

Policing and public health

The deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor in encounters with police captured the nation's conscience in 2020. But even these high profile cases cannot alone illuminate the scale of the effects on public health that can be caused by law enforcement activity. SPH faculty are building a surveillance system for Chicago, Illinois and the nation to systematically track and describe civilian injuries and deaths in interactions with law enforcement.
Timeline graphic that displays a chronological sequence of events.

Law Enforcement Epidemiology Project

An underpass on Chicago's south side contains a mural showing a wide variety of people, with differences in age, size and ethnicities.

Democratizing population health data

We believe citizens should play an active role in improving the public health of their own neighborhoods and communities. SPH's PHAME Center is strengthening access to timely, detailed and understandable health data.

Advancing health justice

All people should have the power and resources to have agency over their health, which requires addressing systems of oppression such as classism, racism, sexism and xenophobia.

Public health isn't an action performed on others

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the need for citizens to be collaborators in public health. We're building capacity for citizen scientists as researchers and contact tracers.

Global health

SPH students, faculty and staff are collaborating in 65 countries around the world. Our global health concentration builds on-the-ground experience for MPH and MS students, and our bidirectional emphasis is strengthening training of public health leaders in other nations, notably Indonesia, Cuba and Mexico.
A health screener meets with a female worker in Kisumu to talk about personal health outcomes.
A streetscape in Cuernavaca, Mexico
An artisanal gold miner sifts through silt combined with mercury as part of a gold mining process.
MPH student Colin Hendrickson poses for a photo holding up two vials of water at a water purification station in Kenya.

SPH Program in Kenya

SPH students travel to Kisumu City each year, working with community partners on HIV/AIDS interventions, sexual and reproductive health, safe water access, interpersonal violence, tobacco cessation and LGBTQ health.

Learn More About SPH Program in Kenya

SPH Program in Mexico

In partnership with Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública, SPH students travel to Cuernavaca, capital of Morelos state, to work with community partners addressing community health challenges in the region and country.

Learn More About SPH Program in Mexico

World Health Organization Collaborating Center

SPH's World Health Organization Collaborating Center focuses primarily on occupational and environmental health and is a global leader in training occupational health practitioners to address the health and safety needs of informal workers around the world.

Learn More About World Health Organization Collaborating Center

Global Health Research Portfolio

SPH leads the way in developing and testing interventions and programs to investigate causes of disease, improve health and deliver acceptable, feasible and affordable services. Underlying our efforts, we prioritize equity, compassion and idealism as we address health equities and human rights worldwide.

Learn More About Global Health Research Portfolio

Environmental justice

All too often, the burdens of pollutants, toxic emissions and climate change disproportionately impact people in low and lower-middle income communities. At SPH, we're committed to strengthening environmental justice, the principle that all people should be protected from environmental pollution and have the right to a clean and healthy environment.
An SPH water quality expert holds up a bottle of water holding a sample of Lake Michigan water to be tested for bacteria.
Cars travel down Hasted street at night past UIC's campus.

Take the next step

Home page image credits include:

Richard Hurd © Creative Commons
Peter Dahlgren © Creative Commons
Randy von Liski © Creative Commons