TTUHSC-Julia Jones Matthews School of Population and Public Health

06/17/2025

Last year, when the Julia Jones Matthews School of Population and Public Health established the Outstanding Community Service award, which honors the student whose contributions to public health service in the community are of exceptional quality and impact.

This year's recipient is Bindika Patel, MPH.

Bindika told us, "My MPH experience taught me how to turn compassion into action. I learned to look beyond the surface of health problems and consider the deeper social, behavioral, and environmental factors that shape people’s lives. More than anything, it gave me the tools to advocate for equity and create lasting change in communities that are too often overlooked and can make a big difference."

Congrats, Bindika! We are proud to call you one of our own!

06/10/2025

Meet Dr. Nedha Kinnare, MD, MPH

A dual-degree graduate of TTUHSC’s School of Medicine and the Julia Jones Matthews School of Population and Public Health, Dr. Kinnare was another one of our students who were awarded the 2024 U.S. Public Health Service Excellence in Public Health Award.

This national honor recognizes exemplary medical students who strengthen the nation’s public health through service, leadership, and meaningful contributions to their communities.

As she graduates this semester, we’re proud to celebrate her impact! We're excited to call her one of our own.

06/07/2025

Public Health is more than big initiatives. It's the little details that build over time to help improve the health of communities and individuals.

Israa Abdellah and Elizabeth Bryant, two of our students from the Rural Field Epidemiology course, recently traveled to Crane, Texas alongside Prof. Irum Zaidi and Dr. Deborah Birx to begin preparations for the "Healthy Crane" Program.

While there, the students mapped the town to get an accurate count of occupied homes. This crucial step will help ensure that the program reaches the appropriate households and can accurately assess its impact.

06/05/2025

While in Abilene for our Spring 2025 commencement, Dr. Kenneth Cooper (widely known as the father of aerobics) took time to invest in our students, our school, and our city. In one stellar weekend, Dr. Cooper charged our faculty and staff, spoke to a gathering of leaders in the Abilene Community, and delivered an unforgettable commencement address. Dr. Cooper's lifelong work in preventive medicine and wellness has impacted millions...and we’re grateful he chose to share his time and wisdom with us.

It was one graduation one that we’ll never forget.

06/03/2025

Every year, the U.S. Public Health Service selects winners of the Excellence in Public Health Award, which recognizes medical students across the Nation who have made significant contributions to public health by promoting wellness and healthy communities.

Our own Colby Gordon was selected as one of the 2024-25 recipients of this prestigious award!

Colby told us, "Through the MD/MPH program, I’ve learned to connect clinical knowledge with public health principles to drive purposeful, real-world action. It’s shaping me not only into a better physician, but also into a more thoughtful advocate for equity, prevention, and community engagement."

Congratulations, Colby! We are proud to call you one of our own!

05/29/2025

Dr. Duke Appiah's dedication to public health research exemplifies the caliber of students at JJMSPPH. Learn more about his journey and achievements in the link below.

Abilene professor Dr. Duke Appiah from Abilene's Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) received a national award.

05/23/2025

Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center's Julia Jones Matthews School of Population and Public Health was well represented at the Texas Demographic Conference in Dallas on May 22.

In attendance (L to R): Dr. Jeff Dennis, Frances Rodriguez, Anika Bushra (MPH ’25), Israa Abdellah (MPH ’25), Dannielle Pope, Atqa Mujtaba, and Liza Velarde.

Attendees engaged with experts on Texas’s shifting population, economic trends, and infrastructure challenges and heard presentations from State Demographer Dr. Lloyd Potter and Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas VP Dr. Pia Orrenius, alongside other leaders from state agencies and non-profits.

05/20/2025

Congratulations to Stephanie Martinez (MPH '24), winner of this year’s Outstanding Applied Practice Experience (APE) Award for her work on a Hepatitis A prevention project for Cameron County, TX, Health Department

Stephanie’s work reflects the values we strive to instill at the Julia Jones Matthews School of Population and Public Health at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center.

Here's a quote from her on her experience in the program:

“My time in the MPH program at TTUHSC played a pivotal role in shaping my career. The comprehensive curriculum provided a strong foundation in public health principles, which I’ve applied directly in my professional work as an epidemiologist. After graduating, I became certified in infection control, which has allowed me to guide healthcare facilities on preventing and managing the spread of infectious diseases, helping to ensure the safety of patients, visitors, and healthcare personnel. Thanks to the knowledge and skills I gained through the program, I’m better equipped to protect, promote, and preserve the health of my community.”

We're proud to call her one of our own!

05/16/2025

We're still celebrating our recent graduating class! We are so proud of them and can't wait to see how they change the world of Public Health for the better.

05/13/2025

Congratulations to our alumnus Catherine Hudson, DrPH, MPH, for earning her doctorate in Public Health Leadership from the University of Illinois Chicago!

Dr. Hudson is a 2017 graduate of the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center MPH program and currently works as Senior Director for the TTUHSC F. Marie Hall Institute for Rural and Community Health, overseeing workforce development and the West Texas AHEC programs. She will transition to a new role on June 1st, serving as Assistant VP for Community-Engaged Research.

05/06/2025

We are so proud of the continued great work by Jeanette Cala, MD, MPH. She's a 2019 graduate of our MPH program and is a current Family Medicine resident at TTUHSC Permian Basin. Go Jeanette!

05/03/2025

It's Graduation Day! 🎓

We're hosting our third commencement ceremony for our 2025 graduates TODAY at 2:00 pm at the Historic Paramount Theatre in downtown Abilene.

If you’re unable to watch your graduate celebrate in person, the events will also be broadcast on the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center live stream page and YouTube channel.