UC Berkeley School of Public Health is proud to announce that the Public Health Nutrition residential and online MPH programs will undergo a name change, effective July 1, 2024. The new name, Food, Nutrition, and Population Health, better reflects the program’s focus on the intersection of nutrition within the global food system and the importance of population health on a global scale.
Established in 1953 by Ruth Lois Huenemann, the Public Health Nutrition Program at UC Berkeley has a long history of preparing leaders in public health nutrition. Over the years, it has graduated more than 800 alumni who work in various government agencies, nonprofit health organizations, and other institutions dealing with health and nutrition policy and programs. Each year, the program enrolls up to 17 students.
In recent years, UC Berkeley School of Public Health has expanded its offerings to include an Online MPH concentration in Public Health Nutrition targeted towards mid-career professionals in public health. Additionally, in 2024, the school introduced a new public health Dietetic Internship model aimed at developing leaders in public health nutrition who are grounded in cultural humility.
Dr. Barbara Laraia, chair of the program emphasized that while the focus remains on public health nutrition and training students as public health nutritionists, the new name better captures the program’s emphasis on how food systems affect population health globally and highlights how crucial it is to address these issues through research and policy development.