Strategic Plan  ·  2026–2029

ASPIRE

A bold and collaborative path forward for public health.

The ASPIRE Strategic Plan sets the direction for how the School of Public and Population Health (SPPH) teaches, discovers, partners, and grows through 2029. The plan builds on The University of Texas Medical Branch's (UTMB) strengths in healthy aging, the brain economy, innovation in education, and global partnerships while advancing research, education, practice, and policy that improve the health of communities in Texas and around the world.

Plan period

2026-2029

Next CEPH site visit

2028-2029

Implementation begins

AY 2026

Our direction and mission anchor every decision.

Direction

Health for all

Mission

The School of Public and Population Health leads innovative public health education, translational research, and evidence-informed practice and policy through authentic collaborations in the Gulf Coast region, Texas, and the world.

Six commitments, one direction.

ASPIRE is more than an acronym. Each letter names a commitment that guides how the School teaches, researches, partners, and grows. Together, they describe how SPPH reaches its mission and works toward its goals.

  1. Advance

    High-Impact Research

  2. Strengthen

    Education Through Innovation

  3. Partner

    for Practice and Community Impact

  4. Invest

    in Development and Sustainability

  5. Respect

    for All

  6. Empower

    Students, Faculty, Staff, and Communities

Six commitments, expanded.

Each letter of ASPIRE names a specific way the School moves forward. The descriptions below translate the framework into action.

Advance High-Impact Research

Drive discovery that improves health regionally and globally through intentional investment in transformative research areas that leverage UTMB's strengths.

Strengthen Education Through Innovation

Transform teaching and learning through innovative pedagogies, digital platforms, and emerging disciplines such as AI, data analytics, and planetary health.

Partner for Practice and Community Impact

Deepen practice-based teaching and community partnerships that generate measurable outcomes and improve population health.

Invest in Development and Sustainability

Expand philanthropic support, endowments, and financial sustainability to ensure long-term institutional vitality and enhance research capacity.

Respect for All

Guide how we engage with one another and with communities through listening, trust, and shared responsibility in advancing public health.

Empower Students, Faculty, Staff, and Communities

Equip students, faculty, staff, and community partners with the skills, support, and opportunities needed to lead and sustain impactful public health efforts.

Four goals that direct our work.

ASPIRE rests on four strategic goals. Each goal connects to objectives that the School will track and report on through 2029, with annual progress reviews shared across UTMB.

Goal 1

Improve regional and global health through impactful research and scholarship.

SPPH will accelerate research that addresses complex public health issues facing Texas, the United States, and the world. The School will collaborate with UTMB's Brain Health/Economy, Aging, Heart and Vascular, Artificial Intelligence, and other research centers and institutes to integrate population science, implementation science, and health-focused research into institutional priorities. Progress will be benchmarked against UTMB's enterprise research metrics, including NIH competitiveness, Blue Ridge Institute rankings, and growth in team-science awards.

Goal 2

Strengthen education through innovation that prepares learners to improve health.

SPPH will prepare learners for the evolving public health workforce through dynamic curricula and new learning modalities. The School will collaborate across UTMB's schools and centers to expand educational modalities and develop lifelong learning pathways aligned with UTMB's and SPPH's workforce development strategy.

Goal 3

Deepen and expand community and practice partnerships.

SPPH will expand partnerships that translate science into service and strengthen community well-being regionally and globally. Community collaborations will build on UTMB's enterprise-wide community and global engagement priorities, leveraging shared data systems to assess community impact and workforce pathway outcomes.

Goal 4

Build capacity to support innovation, growth, and long-term impact.

SPPH will build a durable growth engine that expands tuition demand, grows philanthropic investment, and strengthens alumni and professional networks to increase visibility while strengthening UTMB's national standing.

Built on a century of public health at UTMB.

For more than a century, The University of Texas Medical Branch has educated health care practitioners and scientists and advanced discoveries that shape the future of health. Renowned in fields including infectious disease, emergency response, biomedicine, clinical research, burn care, medical humanities, international health, aging, and maternal and child health, UTMB has built a legacy of excellence and innovation. In 2000, UTMB expanded its offerings to include a degree in public health, recognizing the vital role of prevention and population-level impact.

The University of Texas Medical Branch and the University of Texas System approved the development of the School of Public and Population Health in 2022. By December of 2023, SPPH received full accreditation from the Council on Education for Public Health. With support from university leadership, the School has built a collaborative faculty and student body, a strong research portfolio, innovative educational experiences, and authentic partnerships across the Gulf Coast and beyond.

SPPH offers degree programs in aerospace medicine, bioethics and health humanities, biostatistics and data science, population health science, rehabilitation and health services research, and public health, along with several postgraduate certificates. MPH concentrations include bioethics, biostatistics, epidemiology, and public health practice, as well as dual degrees including the MD/MPH and PhD/MPH.

SPPH faculty are experts in health services, aging, health disparities, bioethics, chronic and infectious diseases, climate impacts on health, and other areas. The School hosts and provides leadership for several research centers and high-profile studies, including the Texas Resource Center on Minority Aging Research, the Institute for Bioethics and Health Humanities, the Center for Health and Clinical Outcomes Research, the Center for Correctional Health Excellence, and the National Institute on Aging's Hispanic Established Population for the Epidemiological Study of the Elderly. As the only school of public health in Texas on the Gulf Coast, SPPH is positioned to study coastal living and aging, environmental changes, and disaster preparedness. Its formal collaboration with the Galveston County Health Department supports strategic planning around the evolving needs of the community.

A legacy of excellence and innovation.

1891

Prevention Roots

UTMB opened as Texas's first medical school, with hygiene and disease prevention embedded in the first academic year. Community wellbeing was part of UTMB's medical identity from the start.

1912

Preventive Medicine Chair

UTMB formalized prevention as a distinct academic priority by establishing a chair of preventive medicine. Dr. James Persons Simonds arrived with a plan to train health officers and framed prevention as a social problem requiring social remedies.

1918

Communicable Diseases Era

The department's name evolved to include bacteriology, reflecting the urgent focus on infectious disease control. That focus stabilized the department's presence at UTMB and set the stage for expanded curriculum and applied public health training.

1950s

Quantitative and Graduate Training

The department added biostatistics instruction titled Quantitative Methods in Medicine and launched its first graduate program. These additions strengthened analytic capacity and opened new pathways for training beyond the MD curriculum.

1961-1985

Building Critical Mass

Dr. Don W. Micks expanded the department's scope and renamed it to emphasize community health. By the 1970s, UTMB had built critical mass across public health sub-disciplines, incubating family medicine, biometry, and medical humanities.

2000-2002

MPH Launch and CEPH

UTMB launched the Master of Public Health (MPH) for preventive medicine residents in 2000, then achieved CEPH accreditation in 2002. The milestone established national credibility and accelerated UTMB's capacity to train public health professionals.

2005-2017

Opening Access

The MPH widened from residents to broader learner groups, ultimately opening to non-UTMB students. The expansion fueled enrollment growth and positioned UTMB to meet rising demand for public health expertise across Texas and beyond.

2021-2023

School Established

The UT System Board of Regents approved creation of the School of Public and Population Health (SPPH), elevating UTMB's century-long prevention legacy into a multi-departmental school. In 2023, SPPH earned full CEPH accreditation, confirming the school's maturity and reach.

Academic snapshot

A concise view of SPPH programs and strengths.

4

Academic Departments

5

MPH Concentrations

3

PhD Programs

2

Dual Degree Options

MS

Aerospace Medicine

MA

Bioethics and Health Humanities

Three phases. One collaborative process.

Strategic planning for SPPH unfolded across three phases, drawing on input from faculty, staff, students, alumni, and community partners. Each phase built on the last, moving the School from guiding statements to a fully operational plan ready for implementation and evaluation.

  1. Phase

    01

    Founding the framework

    Before SPPH was fully established, faculty, staff, students, alumni, and community partners shaped the School's guiding statements, including its vision, mission, values, and goals. These statements guided the School through the process of becoming an accredited school of public health.

  2. Phase

    02

    Sharpening the aspirations

    In Fall 2023, under the direction and support of UTMB's president, SPPH revisited its goals and developed additional, more forward-leaning aims that reflected the School's growing capacity and the changing public health landscape.

  3. Phase

    03

    Operationalizing the plan

    Completed in Fall 2025, Phase 3 produced a fully operational plan ready for implementation and evaluation beginning Spring 2026. ASPIRE extends through the next CEPH site visit and accreditation cycle in 2028-2029.

A living, accountable plan.

Implementation begins in academic year 2026 with annual progress reviews. SPPH will report to UTMB leadership each year on progress toward funding growth, educational innovation, and community impact, ensuring ASPIRE remains a living, accountable plan.

Annual reviews will align with UTMB's institutional dashboard to ensure visibility, consistency, and transparency across schools. The ASPIRE Plan also functions as the School's continuous improvement roadmap for CEPH accreditation readiness, supporting ongoing documentation and performance monitoring ahead of the 2028-2029 site visit and accreditation cycle.

Through ASPIRE, SPPH will strengthen research, education, practice, development, respect, and empowerment across its students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community partners.

M. Kristen Peek, PhD

Senior Vice President, Inaugural Dean and Professor
School of Public and Population Health
The University of Texas Medical Branch