About us

Addressing public health in Arizona and beyond

Locally and globally, nothing is more important than protecting the public’s health. From extreme heat to misinformation, infectious and noncommunicable diseases, and reproductive and mental health issues, public health affects all of us.

Yet today’s public health systems — often underfunded, understaffed and reliant on outdated infrastructure — are not structured to respond with the speed, coordination and technological sophistication required to address layered, rapidly evolving threats. Fragmented data systems, workforce shortages and limited scalability of promising innovations further constrain impact.

The School of Technology for Public Health at ASU is responding to this moment by advancing a new interdisciplinary field designed to modernize systems, strengthen infrastructure and prepare leaders capable of building scalable, community-embedded solutions. As part of ASU Health, the university’s commitment to leverage its full energy and innovation to improve health outcomes in Arizona and beyond, the school unites public service with engineering, data science, human-centered design and systems thinking to transform how public health solutions are developed and deployed.

Mission

Transform health locally and globally by educating the next generation of public health technology leaders and advancing technology for the greater good of public health.

Through systems-level training, interdisciplinary collaboration and community-embedded practice, the school prepares graduates to modernize public health infrastructure and generate measurable population-level impact.

Vision

Improve and sustain the health of communities in Arizona and beyond by advancing principled, technology-driven approaches to prevention, intervention, dissemination and implementation science — all designed for interoperability, scalability and equity, and capable of strengthening public health systems for the long term.

Leadership

Jyotishman Pathak

Founding dean

Jyotishman Pathak is the inaugural dean of the School of Technology for Public Health, effective July 1, 2025. He was previously the Frances & John L. Loeb Professor of Medical Informatics, Professor of Health Care Policy and Research in Psychiatry, chief of the Division of Health Informatics and vice chair for entrepreneurship in the Department of Population Health Sciences at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York. Pathak’s research focuses on analyzing electronic health records, insurance claims and social determinants of health data to study mental health service utilization and treatment outcomes. He has authored more than 275 peer-reviewed publications and received multiple awards, including recognition from the American Medical Informatics Association, the American Heart Association, IBM Research and others. He is an elected fellow of the American College of Medical Informatics.

Michelle Villegas-Gold

Associate dean of strategy and partnerships and assistant clinical professor

Michelle Villegas-Gold is Associate Dean, Strategy and Partnerships and Assistant Clinical Professor with the School of Technology for Public Health at Arizona State University. Prior to joining the school, Michelle served as the Assistant Vice President of Strategic Initiatives within ASU Health, where she led the design, build, and launch of the school and Public Health Technology Corps, informed strategic initiatives in key areas (like AI for health, health literacy, and health workforce development), and supported large philanthropic proposal development.

Before joining ASU Health, Michelle worked in the ASU Knowledge Enterprise for five years, where she developed new strategic initiatives to accelerate and strengthen health research and partnerships in critical areas across the university.

Marc Adams

Assistant dean of education and professor

Adams is the assistant dean of education and interim program director of the Master of Public Health in the School of Technology for Public Health, as well as a professor in the College of Health Solutions. He is a behavioral scientist and epidemiologist with a background in psychology, behavioral science and public health. His teaching interests are epidemiologic methodology and clinical trial design. He is a member of the International Physical Activity and Environment Network, examining the influence of city design on physical activity levels across countries. His NIH-funded research focuses on the intersection of neighborhood environments (i.e., urban planning) and behavior change interventions for increasing physical activity and healthful eating across diverse populations.

Matthew Buman

Associate Dean of Research and Professor

Dr. Buman is a behavioral scientist focused on improving health behaviors across the 24 hours - sleep, sedentary behavior, and physical activity - and understanding how changes in these behaviors improve health outcomes for individuals and populations. His work leverages personal technologies such as smartphones and wearables. He is Associate Dean of Research & Professor in the School of Technology for Public Health and Professor in the College of Health Solutions.

Advisory Council Co-Chairs

The school is cochaired by Rear Admiral Susan Blumenthal (ret.), former U.S. assistant surgeon general, a pioneer in the government for applying technology to improve health who first called for the establishment of a new field of public health technology; and Sir Malcolm Grant, former president of University College London and the chairman of NHS England 2011–2018.

Rear Admiral Susan Blumenthal, MD