UTHealth Houston, city advance health partnership

More than 200 students, faculty, and staff from across UTHealth Houston gathered at the new UTHealth Houston School of Public Health building to attend the Houston Health Department open house on Oct. 8, bringing university community members together with public health practitioners to explore programs, build connections, and discover opportunities for collaboration.

Melina R. Kibbe, MD, UTHealth Houston president and Alkek-Williams Distinguished Chair, and Eric Boerwinkle, PhD, dean of UTHealth Houston School of Public Health, led opening remarks on the importance of the academic health department that was announced earlier this year.

“A partnership is only as strong as what we do with it,” Kibbe said. “Our collaboration with the Houston Health Department goes beyond an agreement on paper. It’s about creating real opportunities for our faculty, students, and health professionals to work together, learn from one another, and turn ideas into action. That’s what makes this partnership meaningful.”

With the first academic health department partnership between a university and city health department, UTHealth Houston is uniquely positioned to bridge health science expertise with the city’s needs.

“The partnership between UTHealth Houston and the Houston Health Department is an important step toward improving the health and well-being of all Houstonians through programs championing health education, disease prevention, and early intervention,” stated Boerwinkle, Kozmetsky Family Chair in Human Genetics and M. David Low Chair in Public Health at the School of Public Health. “This collaboration knows no boundaries and includes chronic disease, behavioral health, maternal-child health, and infectious disease.”

Houston Mayor John Whitmire and Theresa Tran, MD, director of the Houston Health Department, delivered remarks underscoring the importance of collaboration between city leadership and the future health professionals training at the university. Their participation highlighted the partnership’s potential to connect academic expertise with community needs, strengthen the public health workforce, and advance initiatives that improve health outcomes for Houston residents.

 The event gave students, faculty, and staff opportunities to engage directly with health department professionals and explore experiential learning, research, and career opportunities with the department. At the same time, the partnership connects Houston Health Department employees with professional development and training opportunities across UTHealth Houston’s seven schools, creating a two-way exchange of expertise and resources that benefits both organizations.

“As a student, it was a wonderful experience connecting with public health professionals, learning about their work, and exploring new opportunities in the field,” shared Fatema Nur, second-year Master of Public Health student at the School of Public Health.

The open house put that collaborative approach into action, giving university community members a closer look at the health department’s work and opportunities to connect with the people behind its programs. Representatives from Houston Health Department divisions shared information about their programs, priorities, and ongoing work to improve health across the city. Attendees learned about initiatives in wastewater surveillance, health promotion, HIV and sexually transmitted infection prevention, epidemiology, environmental health, informatics, and other critical areas of public health.

The open house marked a first step in turning the academic health department partnership into meaningful collaboration across UTHealth Houston’s seven schools. Faculty, staff, and students across the university built meaningful connections to learn more about how research at the university can complement the health department’s work. By bringing academic expertise and public health practice together, the partnership creates new pathways to address Houston’s health challenges and improve the well-being of communities across the region.