UC Berkeley Online Master of Public Health

09/08/2026

👋 Please join us in welcoming Tosan Boyo and Bryan Bucklew to our Impact Fellows cohort.

Tosan and Bryan are tackling some of healthcare's biggest challenges: ensuring people can access the care they need by creating better-connected, more resilient health systems.

Tosan Boyo is the founder and CEO of Olusan Platforms, the Operating System for Medicaid Continuity. He has led operations across Sutter Health, John Muir Health, and San Francisco General Hospital, and led San Francisco’s COVID-19 Command Center at the height of the pandemic. His company treats Medicaid coverage loss the way epidemiologists treat an outbreak: concentrated in identifiable populations, spreading through critical failure points. His fellowship focuses on making coverage loss solvable at national scale.

Bryan Bucklew, president of the Hospital Council of Northern and Central California, has advanced policy, partnerships, and system resilience to improve care coordination, strengthen healthcare infrastructure, and expand access to care at scale. Bryan's project will explore how public health, behavioral health, and healthcare systems in California can better align across local, state, and federal levels—creating practical models that improve coordination, strengthen partnerships, and deliver better outcomes for communities.

Welcome, Tosan and Bryan. We're excited to see how your work helps strengthen the future of healthcare delivery. 🎉

If you would like to connect with Tosan, Bryan, or any of our other Impact Fellows, please send an email to BPHsocialimpact​.edu.

09/04/2026

Hi, I’m Jennifer! I’m a research coordinator, first-gen Vietnamese-American, and student in UC Berkeley’s Online Master of Public Health program in the interdisciplinary concentration. 🐻

Right after college, I joined the CDC’s Public Health Associate Program, which placed me in a rural health department in Northern California. Having never left SoCal, I took the leap anyway. Over the next three years, I got firsthand, boots-on-the-ground experience in emergency preparedness during the Camp Fire response, the COVID-19 pandemic, and no shortage of culture shock.

Today, I support community-based participatory research with individuals with substance use disorder in San Francisco, including one on HIV prevention for Black women with lived experience that I’m especially proud of.

I couldn’t settle on a single concentration so I chose the one that didn’t ask me to. The interdisciplinary concentration let me build my own public health toolkit, blending health equity with hard analytical skills because in this field, the story and the numbers have to work together.

The past few years have made one thing clear: public health touches everything. Berkeley gives me the space to build that toolkit, while staying committed to social justice and health equity. 🐻

09/01/2026

👋 Please join us in welcoming Margaret Laws and Josh Golomb to our Impact Fellows cohort.

Margaret and Josh are tackling some of the biggest health challenges facing children, youth, and families—expanding access to care, strengthening mental well-being, and helping families navigate complex systems when they need support most.

Margaret Laws, executive in residence and former CEO of Hopelab, is a health innovation strategist and social impact investor advancing equitable healthcare, mental health, and technology-driven solutions for underserved communities through philanthropy, venture investment, and nonprofit leadership. Margaret's fellowship will explore new funding models to scale mental health innovation for underserved families.

Josh Golomb, former CEO of Hazel Health and Everside Health, has built and led innovative companies focused on expanding access to care and improving health outcomes for underserved populations. Josh's project will map the early intervention landscape for children who are deaf or hard of hearing, identifying opportunities to improve family navigation, strengthen care coordination, and leverage technology to ensure every child has the opportunity to thrive.

Welcome Margaret and Josh. We look forward to seeing how their work helps shape a healthier future for children and families. 🎉

If you would like to connect with Margaret, Josh, or any of our other Impact Fellows, please send an email to BPHsocialimpact​.edu.

08/31/2026

A new study by researchers at UC Berkeley’s Center for Global Healthy Cities reveals that Richmond, California has had a 61% reduction in fi***rm homicides and injury shootings over 14 years. The decrease is credited to the city's Office of Neighborhood Safety and its Operation Peacemaker Fellowship, a public health initiative whose street-outreach workers mentor active fi***rm offenders to help them make positive life choices.

Research was conducted by lead author Alice Bruno, a doctoral student in epidemiology at UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health. Other UC Berkeley co-authors include Dr. Jason Corburn; Dr. Mahasin Mujahid, chair of the Division of Epidemiology; Dr. Sean Darling-Hammond; and Dr. Juan Cabrera.

Read more: https://ow.ly/JPpT50ZHqep

A UC Berkeley study finds the city of Richmond’s gun violence program led to three times the national decline in violence.

08/30/2026

Public Health Research with Results: UC Berkeley’s Labor Occupational Health Program (LOHP) plays a vital role in protecting California’s workforce by translating public health research into actionable safety policies and standards. For over 50 years, LOHP has collaborated with labor unions, government agencies, and community groups to tackle emerging workplace hazards such as extreme heat, wildfire smoke, and ergonomic strain.

“Immigrant workers have been a very big focus of LOHP, as we recognize they work in some of the most dangerous industries,” said LOHP director Suzanne Teran. “We are seeing how immigration enforcement can not only silence workers, but create this atmosphere of fear, which impacts the community in a very real, cruel way."

Through accessible training campaigns and dedicated advocacy, the program focuses on empowering vulnerable and marginalized workers to understand and exercise their workplace safety rights.

Find out more:
https://ow.ly/g8vR50ZGIZK

How UC Berkeley’s Labor Occupational Health Program helps workers understand their workplace safety rights.

08/29/2026

For this episode of The Other 80 with Chief Social Impact Officer Claudia Williams, Maryland Secretary of Health Dr. Meena Seshamani details how the state is advancing ambitious health reforms through primary care expansion, data-driven enrollment, and rural food system investments. Reflecting on Maryland's $1.6 billion in Medicare savings, she argues that a policy's ultimate success depends on how effectively it is implemented on the ground.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/can-states-build-a-healthier-health-system-maryland/id1670734016?i=1000782901618

Podcast Episode · The Other 80 · August 12 · 36m

08/28/2026

Hi, I’m Katy Bradford, an alumna of UC Berkeley’s Online Master of Public Health program. 🐻

oI came to the program with a ton of federal policy experience working in sub-Saharan African countries. If anything it helped me build the theory around the work I had already been doing.

Dr. Evan vanDommelen-Gonzalez once said that public health is a social change profession. I could not agree more. It is what drew me and continues to drive me. Public health professionals work to increase social justice and we often go against the status quo because we seek better health outcomes for the communities we serve around the world.

Since graduating I have worked in county public health departments during COVID, ran a pandemic response initiative at UCSF for low and middle income countries, launched a California-wide alliance of public health schools, community based organizations, and government entities aimed at increasing equity via legislative advocacy, and am now working with a strategic marketing firm that services public health clients.

There is not a week that goes by that I do not think of a class, lesson, or professor who shaped my daily work.

Go for it. You will be more informed, more connected, and more resourced than before you started. 🐻

08/27/2026

A study co-authored by UC Berkeley Public Health professors John Balmes, Ellen A. Eisen, and senior author Justin Remais shows that changes to California’s natural and agricultural landscapes directly influence local Valley fever risk.

The research revealed that dry, sparsely vegetated terrain and certain crop fields correlate with higher infection rates.

As drought and water regulations lead to increased farmland fallowing, the authors emphasize the need to incorporate dust control and preventative health measures into future land management practices.

Read more: https://publichealth.berkeley.edu/articles/spotlight/research/changes-to-californias-landscapes-may-influence-valley-fever-risk

A new study links higher disease rates to certain agricultural and natural landscapes near California communities.

08/25/2026

👋 Please join us in welcoming Pooja Mittal and Stella Safo to our new Impact Fellows cohort.

Pooja and Stella are tackling two critical challenges facing the healthcare safety net: supporting the well-being of those who deliver care and making it easier for underserved communities to navigate the systems they rely on.

Pooja Mittal is a physician, health equity leader, and healthcare innovator advancing equitable care through clinical leadership, systems transformation, and community-centered solutions. She is the Senior Executive Director of Programs at a foundation focused on healthcare, and an Associate Professor at UCSF and Stanford School of Medicine. Pooja’s project will create meaningful connections for safety-net providers to address burnout, strengthen belonging, and improve the quality of care for vulnerable communities.

Stella Safo is a physician, health equity expert, and healthcare innovator advancing equitable care through clinical leadership, system transformation, and community-centered approaches to improving health outcomes. She is the CEO of Just Equity for Health. Stella's project will expand Green Book for Health, a community-rooted model that helps Black patients find trusted providers and navigate healthcare with greater confidence, dignity, and support.

Welcome, Pooja and Stella. We're excited to see what you accomplish! 🎉

If you would like to connect with Pooja, Stella or any of our other Impact Fellows, please send an email to BPHsocialimpact​.edu.

08/22/2026

Fifteen years after Congress created the CMS Innovation Center, Director Abe Sutton joins for a candid conversation on what really drives successful healthcare innovation. He breaks down the three critical features of winning models—mandatory participation, downside risk, and continuous momentum—and explains why CMMI's impact relies on overall ROI rather than a high hit rate.

Tune in to this episode hosted by Chief Social Impact Officer Claudia Williams to discover why taking bold bets on transformative care is well worth the cost of trial and error.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-cms-innovation-center-at-15-what-worked-what/id1670734016?i=1000778851253

Podcast Episode · The Other 80 · July 29 · 36m