Health Policy and Public Health

Mission

The mission of the Department of Health Policy and Public Health is to educate the next generation of health policy and public health professionals, to explore and execute innovative research, to engage communities for the improvement of the public’s health, and to effect change locally and globally.

In pursuit of this mission, the department’s courses provide a set of interdisciplinary skills, knowledge, and concepts. This places students at the forefront of current developments. Students are prepared to contribute to the understanding of the healthcare system and public health in a variety of contexts that encompass industry, academia, consulting, and government.

The department’s faculty members conduct research in a broad range of disciplines that bear on health policy and public health. Their work is published and presented nationally and internationally both in scholarly settings and as advice to various private, nonprofit, and government entities. Student scholarship at both the master’s and doctoral levels is also often published and presented at professional meetings.

The department is active in contributing service to the broader community at the local, national, and international levels. Faculty members lead committees of national professional societies, advise government agencies and officials, and consult with private and nonprofit organizations. Through fieldwork and scholarship, students play an essential role in the department’s service activities. On campus, the department regularly hosts prominent speakers and sponsors scholarly symposia with national leaders who bring expertise from throughout the nation and the world to the University for the benefit of students, faculty, and the local health policy and public health community.

For the master’s and doctoral programs in health policy, please see the College of Graduate Studies section.

Faculty

Amalia M. Issa
BSc (Concordia); MPH (UCLA); MSc, PhD (McGill)
Professor of Health Policy and Public Health
Chair, Department of Health Policy and Public Health
Director, Program in Personalized Medicine & Targeted Therapeutics
Phone: 215.596.7033
E-mail: a.issa@usciences.edu
Research: personalized medicine/pharmacogenomics; pharmaceutical outcomes research and policy; pharmacoepidemiology

Glenn Beamer
BA (William & Mary); MA, PhD (Michigan)
Associate Professor of Health Policy and Public Health
Phone: 267.295.3178
E-mail: g.beamer@usciences.edu
Research: community health and sustainability; children’s health; urban health

Julie Becker
BA (Northwestern University); MA (George Washington University);
MPH, PhD (Temple University)
Assistant Professor of Health Policy and Public Health
Director, Master of Public Health Program
Phone: 215.596.7028
E-mail: j.becker@usciences.edu
Research: environmental health; pharmaceuticals in the environment; evaluation of community-based participatory research

Michelle L. Bragg
BBA (Prairie View A&M); MS (North Texas); PhD (George Mason)
Assistant Professor of Health Policy and Public Health
Phone: 215.596.7638
E-mail: m.bragg@usciences.edu
Research: health disparities; aging studies

Harold E. Glass
BA (Cal State Fullerton); MS (London School of Economics); PhD (University of North Carolina)
Research Professor of Health Policy and Public Health
Phone: 215.596.7548
E-mail: h.glass@usciences.edu
Research: international business; conduct of clinical trials

Amy B. Jessop
BS (Penn State); MPH (UMDNJ); PhD (Temple)
Assistant Professor of Health Policy and Public Health
Director, HepTREC
Phone: 215.596.7616
E-mail: a.jessop@usciences.edu
Research: epidemiology; liver disease; infectious disease

Tamar Klaiman
BA (George Washington University); MPH, PhD (Temple University)
Assistant Professor of Health Policy and Public Health
Phone: 215.596.7031
E-mail: t.klaiman@usciences.edu
Research: use of positive deviance methodology to understand and improve public health system performance; emergency preparedness policy creation, pandemic response, and the use of clinical disease registries

Stephen Metraux
BA (Grinnell); MA (Texas); PhD (Pennsylvania)
Associate Professor of Health Policy and Public Health
Director, Graduate Program in Health Policy
Phone: 215.596.7612
E-mail: s.metrau@usciences.edu
Research: mental health; homelessness; urban health

Claudia F. Parvanta
BA, MBA, PhD (Pennsylvania)
Professor of Anthropology
Professor of Health Policy and Public Health
Chair, Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences
Phone: 215.596.8920
E-mail: c.parvan@usciences.edu
Research: health behavior change; health and risk communication; global disease prevention and control

David Perlman
BS (Emory); MA (Georgia State); PhD (University of Tennessee)
Visiting Assistant Professor of Health Policy and Public Health
E-mail: d.perlma@usciences.edu
Research: health law and ethics

Andrew M. Peterson
BS (Rutgers); PharmD (Medical College of Virginia); PhD (University of the Sciences)
Professor of Clinical Pharmacy
Professor of Health Policy and Public Health
Dean, Mayes College of Healthcare Business and Policy
Phone: 215.596.8877
E-mail: a.peters@usciences.edu
Research: pharmaceuticals

Joseph W. Ruane
BA (St. Charles Borromeo); MA (Temple); PhD (Delaware)
Professor Emeritus of Sociology and of Health Policy and Public Health
E-mail: j.ruane@usciences.edu

Ruth L. Schemm
BS (Pennsylvania); MEd, EdD (Temple)
Professor of Health Policy
Dean Emeritus, Health Sciences
Phone: 215.596.8990
E-mail: r.schemm@usciences.edu
Research: community-living, chronically disabled individuals; social history of medicine and health

Richard G. Stefanacci
BA (Boston College); DO (Kirksville); MGH (AT Still); MBA (DeVry)
Associate Professor of Health Policy and Public Health
Phone: 215.596.7466
E-mail: r.stefan@usciences.edu
Research: geriatric policy; long-term care; Medicare

Vivian G. Valdmanis
BA (Michigan State); MPP (University of Michigan); PhD (Vanderbilt)
Professor of Health Policy and Public Health
Phone: 215.596.7613
E-mail: v.valdma@usciences.edu
Research: economic evaluation; medical interventions in low-income countries; hospital performance; the uninsured

Adjunct Faculty

Brad C. Bernstein
BS (Penn State); MBA (Temple)
Adjunct Assistant Professor of Health Policy and Public Health

David W. Cragin
BS (Rhode Island); PhD (UC Davis)
Adjunct Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology and of Health Policy and Public Health

Neil I. Goldfarb
BA (Pennsylvania)
Adjunct Associate Professor of Health Policy and Public Health

Mary Cate Gordon
JD (Temple)
Adjunct Professor of Health Policy and Public Health

Mark G. Weiner
BSE, MD (Pennsylvania)
Adjunct Associate Professor of Health Policy and Public Health