At their 2021 AGM this month, the Association of Schools and Public Health Programs (ASPPH) will present the Harrison C. Spencer Award for Distinguished Community Service to CUNY Graduate School for Public Health and Health Policy (CUNY SPH).
The prestigious award was created to honor Dr. Spencer, a pioneer in public health with a long-standing commitment to the principles of social justice with a focus on community involvement to address the social indicators of health.
Community engagement is critical to CUNY SPH’s vision of promoting health and social justice in New York City and globally through innovation and excellence in education, research, and service in public health. We embrace the multifaceted concept of a “community” with a core of half a million CUNY students, surpassing one million when we include the families of the student and close social circle. The school is also engaged with the nearby neighborhood of Harlem, with its rich cultural heritage anchored in the civil justice of civil liberties, and with the wider New York City public health community of government agencies, health care centers , community – based and private sector organizations, and academics focused on improving population health.
CUNY SPH is recognized for their recent work to promote population health, particularly among Covid-19 pandemics, including the CONVINCE USA Campaign, which seeks vaccine literacy and in particular confidence in Covid-19 vaccines; the CUNY Healthy Initiative, which seeks to promote the health of CUNY students to support their academic success; Harlem Strong Program, a community-based mental health and empowerment initiative to support mental health awareness, community advocacy and collaboration through community networks; Covid-19 Facilities Navigator (RNAV) Program, which has trained CUNY and alumni and CBO students to help nearly 7,000 people access the resources and services necessary for quarantine at home as a result of being exposed to Covid-19; The CUNY SPH Covid-19 Tracking Study, which documented the impact of the pandemic on New York City and State residents over several months; and the Harlem Health Initiative, which supports and strengthens local organizations in Harlem where the school is located.
“We are delighted and delighted with the news of this award,” said Dean Ayman El-Mohandes, CUNY SPH. “We look forward to continuing our work to engage with our community in New York City and beyond, to promote social justice, and to promote health outcomes for all. “
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CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy