November 5, 2014 —Nearly 200 Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) alumni returned to the School on October 24–25 to reconnect with former classmates, network, and learn more about current research in public health. This year’s symposium focused on ways in which big data will have an impact on the future of public health.
Speakers touched on big data’s role in advancing science, and how it is affecting epidemiology, health care organizations, and the government. They included John Quackenbush, professor of computational biology and bioinformatics at HSPH; Todd Reid, SM ’03, MPH ’04, SD ’10, research scientist and lecturer, MIT Media Lab and Center for Assessment Technology and Continuous Health, Massachusetts General Hospital; MIT Professor Alex `Sandy’ Pentland; Brent James, executive director of the Institute for Health Care Delivery Research, Intermountain Healthcare; A.G. Breitenstein, MPH ’99, co-founder and chief product officer, Optum Analytics, Humedica; and Adam Finkel, SD ’87, senior fellow and executive director, Penn Program on Regulation, University of Pennsylvania Law School.
During the weekend, the Alumni Association honored four individuals chosen by their peers to receive the 2014 Harvard School of Public Health Alumni Award of Merit — the highest honor presented to an alumna/us. Robert Emmet Morris, MPH ’86, Judith S. Stern, SM ’66, SD ’70, Ravi I. Thadhani, MPH ’97, and Anthony Vuturo, MPH ’71 were recognized for their distinguished careers in public health.
Additional alumni awards were presented to Margo Wootan, SD ’93 (Leadership in Public Health Practice), Jacqueline Nwando Olayiwola, MPH ’05 (Emerging Public Health Professional), and Murray Mittleman, MPH ’90, DPH ’94 (Public Health Innovator). Mittleman is an associate professor of epidemiology and chair of the MPH Program at HSPH.
Photos: Kent Dayton