Public Health

Felicia Baez-Smith, MPH ’19,has built a powerful public health career rooted in community impact, leading initiatives from opioid overdose prevention to pandemic response and mental health advocacy. Recently named to George Mason’s 2025 Forty Under 40 by the Black Alumni Chapter, her journey—from student advocate to statewide public health leader—shows how one person’s dedication can transform systems, uplift communities, and inspire the next generation of changemakers.

This year at the college's annual National Public Health Week “Conversations and Connections” event, experts explore the health consequences of isolation—and our collective responsibility to address it.

Pediatric ophthalmology researcher Carolyn Drews-Botsch's research helps parents and healthcare providers decide whether or not to continue patching their children who were treated for unilateral congenital cataract (UCC) after the child’s vision can be reliably tested. 

With a new $3.69 million grant, the Research and Engagement for Action in Climate and Health (REACH) Center—which includes George Mason—is set to tackle the urgent intersection of climate change and public health in the nation’s capital.

Culture of Health Leadership Institute for Racial Healing fellowship advances relationship-building and change through storytelling to improve public health. 

Research from George Mason University and funded by NIEHS studied the association between trace amounts of elements in ovarian follicular fluid and ovarian response during in-vitro fertilization (IVF) 

George Mason University scientists, nurses, and researchers in the College of Public Health have just entered the second cycle of a National Institutes of Health (NIH) program called Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO).

Assistant Professor in the Department of Global and Community Health Rodman Turpin examines how better understanding the experiences of Black sexual minority men can improve their interactions with the health care system 

The inaugural Empowered Communities Conference brings together diverse stakeholders to drive impactful change in public health.

Professor Carolyn Drews-Botsch and her team examined whether extended periods of patching for children with unilateral congenital cataracts (UCC) negatively impacted parenting stress, child’s motor development, child behavior, or child’s self-perception.