School of Public Health (SPH), Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST) traces its roots to 1907 when German Medical School was founded in Shanghai by Dr. Erich Paulun. In 1953, the school established Department of Hygiene and begun to recruit undergraduate students majored in Preventive Medicine, one of the six earliest departments in China. The school was approved the first master programs and doctoral programs in 1981. It was approved the post-doctoral research station and the doctoral degree for the first-level discipline of Public Health and Preventive Medicine in 1995 and in 1998, respectively. In 2008, Public Health and Preventive Medicine was approved the first-level key discipline of Hubei province. Through over the half century development, the school is dedicated to cultivate public health scientists, practitioners and leaders, to provide scientific evidence in supports of government decisions-making, to strengthen social services and improve health for the people of this country.
The school has six departments, including Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, Department of Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health, Department of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, Department of Health Toxicology, and Department of Social Medicine and Health Management, as well as one research institute of Environmental Medicine. The school has one national key discipline (Occupational and Environmental Health) and one incubation national key discipline (Maternal and Childhood Health). It has one State Key Laboratory of Environment Health (Incubation), three ministerial or provincial-level key laboratories, namely Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, Ministry of Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Environment and Health (Wuhan), and Hubei Key Laboratory of Food Nutrition and Safety. Moreover, the school has one National Demonstration Teaching Center for Preventive Medicine Experiments.
Currently, the school has 79 full-time faculty members, including 33 professors, 32 associate professors, and 14 lectures. Among them, two are "Changjiang Scholars", two are Chief Scientists for national "973 Project", two are Distinguished Young Scholar of National Natural Science Foundation of China, and thirteen are "New Century Excellent Talents Supporting Program" of the Ministry of Education. One innovative team "Molecular Epidemiology of Environment and Cardiopulmonary Health Damage" is sponsored by the Ministry of Education.
It has formed a multi-level education system including undergraduate students, master students, doctoral students, and post-doctor students. Currently, there are nearly 500 undergraduate students, more than 250 master students, nearly 150 doctoral students, and 15 post-doctor students enrolled in the school, which has become the largest scale school cultivating the talents on public health in China. Many high quality courses have also been delivered at the school, including two National Excellent Courses and two Provincial Excellent Courses. Since its founding, the school has turned out thousands of graduates, among which many are extraordinary scientists, practitioners, and leaders. Some alumni have been appointed as the tenured professors of international first-class universities such as Harvard and Yale, and two are academician of National Academy of Medicine, United States.
During the recent four years, the school aimed at the frontier of science and focused on the major public health issues, establishing two large cohort studies focusing on environment problems associated with cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases and children's growth and development. It received 259 research projects at the national, ministerial, and provincial levels, and the amount of funding has reached to 153.37 million CNY. A total of 574 SCI papers have been published. Also, one second prize of National Natural Science, one second of National Science and Technology Progress, and 13 prizes of provincial and ministerial levels for scientific achievements have been awarded. The school also emphasizes on academic communication and cooperation. To date, it has established international partnerships with universities and research institutions from Germany, US, Canada, Australia, Netherlands, Sweden, Japan, and Hong Kong, etc. There are more than 20 renowned scholars at home and abroad have been appointed to act as professor emeritus, visiting professors and adjunct professors.
In 2013, the school stands at the top of the China Discipline Ranking in Public Health and Preventive Medicine. It will adhere to motto of "Pursue excellence, Promote health", making efforts to become a top Public Health School in the world and make more and more contributions to sustainable development and human health.
School of Public Health
