Donna Gurule, DrPH

Center Director

In March, 2019, the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) was implemented with a goal of crafting excellence in public health teaching and creating dynamic learning experiences for students, alumni and the workforce. Sixteen faculty were assigned to CTL as their primary center of reporting with two senior program directors overseeing academic program performance and function. Accomplishments for the 2018-19 academic year include:

• Designing a standardized course syllabus template for all SPH courses that includes SPH and LLU policies, course schedule, contact information for the instructor of record, learning outcomes, assignments and assessment activities. The goals of this project were meeting LLU and SPH accreditation requirements and improving the course expectations for students.
• Trying a new student course evaluation system, EvaluationKIT, for all SPH courses. Initial implementation occurred in Spring quarter with a mid-term evaluation of all courses with three questions: What worked well, what should be discontinued and suggestions for improvement.
• Designing a standardized Canvas course shell for the doctoral research project (for DrPH programs) and dissertation (for PhD programs) with the goal of creating more accountability for the student through weekly interactions with their faculty chair and committee members.
• Designing a new DrPH Comprehensive Examination to assess key competencies in the areas of data and analysis; leadership, management and governance; and policy and programs.

Joan Sabaté, MD, DrPH

Center Director

Cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic respiratory disease, and cancers account for 60% of all deaths worldwide, with an estimated 80% of these deaths occurring in low and middle-income countries. These conditions are largely preventable through the adoption of healthy diets, physical activity, and avoidance of smoking.

The Center focuses on elucidating key dietary and other behavioral factors for the prevention of chronic diseases worldwide. Also, the Center is compelled to focus effort on effective health education programs to improve diet quality and recover a healthy lifestyle in the US and globally.

Researchers at the Center are leaders in the study of the health effects of plant foods, and many of them also work in the world-renowned Adventist Health Study, providing the global community with strong evidence for healthy outcomes, and the prevention of chronic diseases when adopting a plant-based diet. 

Building on the Adventist Health Study’s unique 50 plus years of research in lifestyle and plant-based diets, the Center will pioneer new knowledge and develop innovative, interdisciplinary, translational, and interventional research aimed at reducing the risk, morbidity, and mortality of unhealthy diets, sedentarism, and tobacco use related chronic diseases in the US and globally.

Joan Sabaté, MD, DrPH

Center Director

Cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic respiratory disease, and cancers account for 60% of all deaths worldwide, with an estimated 80% of these deaths occurring in low and middle-income countries. These conditions are largely preventable through the adoption of healthy diets, physical activity, and avoidance of smoking.

The Center focuses on elucidating key dietary and other behavioral factors for the prevention of chronic diseases worldwide. Also, the Center is compelled to focus effort on effective health education programs to improve diet quality and recover a healthy lifestyle in the US and globally.

Researchers at the Center are leaders in the study of the health effects of plant foods, and many of them also work in the world-renowned Adventist Health Study, providing the global community with strong evidence for healthy outcomes, and the prevention of chronic diseases when adopting a plant-based diet. 

Building on the Adventist Health Study’s unique 50 plus years of research in lifestyle and plant-based diets, the Center will pioneer new knowledge and develop innovative, interdisciplinary, translational, and interventional research aimed at reducing the risk, morbidity, and mortality of unhealthy diets, sedentarism, and tobacco use related chronic diseases in the US and globally.

Karl McCleary, PhD

Center Director

The field of public health has been credited with many significant achievements including improvements in health status, longevity, and the avoidance of premature death and disability. While these accomplishments over the past quarter century or so are pretty incredible, we can continue to build upon these contributions through more evidence-based public health research and practice. As the field has gone through several eras, where the focus of attention or paradigm has guided the actions of the field, so should its professionals change to meet those demands. Presently, the concept of population health has emerged as a broader, more encompassing concept of public health that incorporates a range of social and environmental factors that interact and affect the health of individuals, communities, and the population as a whole. Globally, the burden of disease and health outcomes reflect inequities that are distributed unequally across the population.

The Center for Health Strategy and Innovation seeks to identify and deploy successful strategies—evidence-based interventions, once adopted and implemented in practice and policy, help achieve greater public health impact through desired improvements in population health. We accomplish this vital work through community-engaged research with key stakeholder input. For us, this work seeks to address complex issues faced in the real world. We do this through strategic scholarship and research-informed interventions in populations which focus on organizations, communities, and larger public health, social, and health care systems. We seek to employ an array of innovative methods, tools, and evaluations. Ultimately, our Center is committed to the dissemination and implementation of tested results that work and hold promise for future use.