UofM SPH Leadership Meet with Leaders of the Tennessee Department of Health and Shelby County Health Department

UofM SPH Leadership Meet with Leaders of the Tennessee Department of Health and Shelby County Health Department

Wednesday, 10 December 2025

The SPH delegation met with Dr. John Dunn, Interim Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Health and his team, as well as Dr. Bruce Randolph, Interim Director of the Shelby County Health Department, and his team. This meeting served as a pivotal introduction to the many potential opportunities for collaboration between the three organizations, bringing together state, local, and academic institutions in shared efforts to advance public health and education.

These partnerships are expected to create expanded research and experiential learning opportunities for UofM SPH students, while also contributing to the overall well-being of Tennesseans. 

Dr. Ashish Joshi, Dean and Distinguished Professor at UofM SPH, highlighted the school’s current programs and certificates, as well as upcoming new degree offerings. Dean Joshi emphasized what makes UofM SPH unique on a national and international scale, including a public health education pathway that spans from high school to doctoral levels, one of the first of its kind. 

Dean Joshi also discussed new SPH initiatives that extend learning beyond the traditional classroom, such as the Public Health Hackathons, which invite high school and university students from around the world to collaborate and compete on innovative public health solutions. Dr. Joshi also spoke about the Public Health on Wheels initiative, which provides SPH students with a learning experience that goes beyond the classroom and directly into the community, offering students a behind-the-scenes look at public health in action. 

In the last year, the UofM SPH established new centers and labs, which were a key mention in Dean Joshi’s presentation. Centers such as the Center for Responsible AI in Public Health (CRAIPH) underscore the school’s strategic focus on advancing artificial intelligence (AI) and the PH Diplomacy Lab showcases the SPH’s vison towards creating a global footprint in the field of public health. The Community Stress and Well-being Lab, housed within the SPH, is the first of its kind to study stress and mental health in Memphis, focusing on actionable interventions and graduate training.  

This meeting highlighted the importance of cross-sector collaboration between academic institutions and public health agencies to advance public health education, research, and community impact throughout Tennessee.