Deanna Hoelscher, PhD, RD, LD, CNS, FISBNPA

John P. McGovern Professor in Health Promotion and Austin Regional Dean, Health Promotion & Behavioral Sciences
Director, Michael & Susan Dell Center for Healthy Living

Students, staff, and faculty at the UTHealth Houston School of Public Health in Austin and the Michael & Susan Dell Center for Healthy Living are preparing for a new chapter in a new location three blocks north of the Texas Capitol. Dr. Deanna Hoelscher, Center director and regional dean, spoke about what this move means and what to expect from the new space.

Q: The Michael & Susan Dell Center for Healthy Living was founded in 2006. Over the past 18 years, what has changed, and what has remained the same?

A: What's changed is our size and scope. We have many new faces and have expanded our research areas. For example, when we started, we did not investigate vaping, food access & systems, road safety, and health policy, but these topics now play a key role in our research portfolio. As we’ve grown, we’ve also built more, and deeper, relationships with the Central Texas community and with the University of Texas at Austin (UT-Austin). We also have a dynamite group of new faculty and staff.

In terms of things that have stayed the same, we remain committed to healthy children in a healthy world. We still have that vision and are working to make Texas, the United States, and the world a better place for kids and families.

We also have several members of leadership — like Tiffni Menendez, MPH, Dr. Sandra van den Berg, Dr. Steve Kelder, and myself — who have continued working at the Center. Some staff members — Carolyn Smith, Alejandra Gonzalez, Sarah Bentley, MPH, and Aida Nielsen, MPH — came on board early too. Having that continuity with staff has provided extensive institutional knowledge.

Q: The Austin location is moving to a new space. Can you provide insights into the inspiration for the move and the planning process for the new building's design?

A: Ever since we came to Austin, we've been trying to find a permanent home. We've moved several times, and we've never had our faculty and staff together in the same building. We've had different grants throughout the years, which has caused us to grow and shrink over time. However, it’s difficult to coordinate and collaborate when you're in different physical spaces. This is an opportunity for us to increase our productivity and further strengthen our relationships with each other, with our partners at UT-Austin and Dell Medical School, and within the Austin community. The proximity to these partnering institutions and organizations is very important to us.

Also, just being in this lovely space is inspiring . Our new offices maximize light and natural materials, which was our priority when designing the space. Kevin Dillon, the university’s

chief operating officer, really led this effort, but we also had significant support from President Giuseppe Colasurdo, MD; Dr. Eric Boerwinkle, dean of the School of Public Health; and other leaders at UTHealth Houston. I'm very appreciative of that.

When we first began planning this new space before the pandemic, we had a systematic planning process that accounted for the types of classes we offered, what kind of space we needed, and the look and feel that faculty, staff, and students wanted. COVID delayed some of our plans but also spurred us to include more audio-visual capacity, so conference rooms and classrooms are designed for that.

We were also able to include some facilities that we did not have previously. Our demonstration kitchen on the first floor, for example, will allow us to bring to Austin some of the nutrition education programs we have in Houston. We have an exercise room, where we can now do performance testing and lead physical activity classes for our community research programs, and a clinical lab, where we can conduct anthropometric measurements and blood draws. All of these changes expand our capacity for new and innovative research.

Q: How will the new building's facilities enhance the learning experience for students and support faculty and staff?

A: As I mentioned, when we were planning this — and again this is since COVID — the planning group really encouraged us to visualize a place that people wanted to visit. In the current hybrid-work situations, people don't have to be in the same space. You really need to incentivize faculty, staff, and students to make an effort to come in to work, so you need a space that draws them in, allowing for relationships to build that can't virtually. So, a lot of thought went into making our new space a destination where people wanted to come.

Another exciting part of the new space is that students will have a section of the building to themselves. Before, students had a few cubicles by the kitchen area. It wasn't very private, so the space wasn’t conducive to a group meeting with classmates. Sometimes students would go into a classroom to work together but would have to leave when a class would start. Now, we have designated nooks and crannies, like a cafe? seating area with booths. And there are tables and chairs everywhere, so students (or faculty or staff) can find a place to study quietly, talk with their classmates, or sit and plan projects, all without having to leave the building.

Q: What excites you most about the new location?

A: One of the fun facts about the building is that 1836 was the year of the Battle of San Jacinto and the birth date of Texas independence, and our new address is 1836 San Jacinto

Blvd. There's a historical context for our building, which makes it appropriate for a Texas school. The link to Texas’ history allows us to remember the past while educating and training the next generation of public health experts.

We are also across the street from UT-Austin, where previously we were a few blocks away. I love looking out the window and seeing Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium or the Blanton Museum of Art down the way. I think the proximity is really going to help cement our relationships and our collaborations with UT-Austin.

Lastly, I think this move will reinvigorate some of the work that we've been doing. We have always been community-facing with our projects and educational focus, and our new space allows us to do that more effectively. On the first floor, we have a large open room where we can host community events, and the building is on several bus lines, which makes it more convenient and easily accessible to the community.

We are also fortunate to be within walking distance of the Texas Capitol, which facilitates our work with the Texas Research-to-Policy Collaborative (TX RPC) Project. We’re in a unique location that gives us, again, a chance to make a different in the public health of Austin, Texas, and the nation.

Written by Emily Torres, MPH and former graduate research assistant at UTHealth Houston School of Public Health in Austin.