Academic Health Department Consortium (AHD)

Learn about the Academic Health Department Consortium at MDPH

The Academic Health Department (AHD) facilitates effective communication and collaboration between the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) and academic institutions across the Commonwealth. Located within the Commissioner's Office, the AHD supports all Bureaus and Offices in their engagements with academic institutions and vice versa. The AHD serves three key audiences, DPH staff, students interested in public health and public service, and academic institutions in the Commonwealth. Learn more about Academic Health Department Partnerships on the Public Health Foundation website.

Academic Health Department

Goals

• Promote public health as a profession
• Create meaningful student experiences
• Enhance the knowledge and capabilities of existing DPH staff
• Optimize public health research and practice

Academic Health Department Consortium

About

DPH formed an Academic Health Department Consortium with eight local schools and programs of public health with the common goal of bridging the gap between practice-based public health and public health academia in April 2019.  Academic Health Departments are most often established to foster a more practice-oriented education for students of public health, while simultaneously creating collaborative opportunities for faculty and staff through trainings, to develop the current and future public health workforce, build the evidence base for public health including joint-research projects, better deliver the Essential Public Health Services, and interdepartmental work.

Members

• Boston University School of Public Health
• Harvard University T.H. Chan School of Public Health
• Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
• Northeastern University Bouvé College of Health Sciences
• Simmons University School of Science and Health Professions
• Tufts University School of Medicine
• University of Massachusetts, Amherst, School of Public Health & Health Sciences
• University of Massachusetts, Lowell, Zuckerberg College of Health Sciences

Mission

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health and the participating schools and programs of public health will collaborate to strengthen the relationships between practice and academia through workforce development, professional support, field placement, and interorganizational systems communication.

The Academic Public Health Corps

The Academic Public Health Corps (APHC) was established in March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Program operations officially concluded June 30, 2024.

While in operation, hundreds of public health students in the APHC supported 130 local public health departments throughout Massachusetts. Past projects ranged in topics from data analysis, health equity support, research health communications, graphic design, policy research, and more.

The APHC was a program of the Massachusetts AHD Consortium, including 13 Massachusetts schools and programs of public health, and was managed by the Massachusetts Health Officers Association (MHOA) and funded by DPH.

Resources for Colleges & Universities

Data Access & Resources

• Public Health Data Warehouse A unique public health data analysis tool that links multiple data sets across state and local government to help address public health priorities. 
• Massachusetts Health Data Tool Explore state and community data reports on health outcomes, population demographics, social determinants of health and more.
• Population Health Information Tool  Up-to-date, easy to understand public health data and racial equity data in Massachusetts.
• Institutional Review Board & Data Access
• Additional available public health research data sets

Internships

Learn about internships opportunities at DPH. 

^i. Conte, C., Chang, C.S., Malcolm, J., Russo, P.G. (2006) Academic Health Departments: From Theory to Practice. Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, 12 (1) 6-14, 2006. 00124784-200601000-00003

^ii. Erwin PC, Barlow P, Brownson RC, Amos K, Keck CW. Characteristics of Academic Health Departments: Initial Findings From a Cross-Sectional Survey. J Public Health Manag Pract. 2016;22(2):190-3.

^iii. Council on Linkages Between Academia and Public Health Practices (2011) Academic Health Departments: Core Concepts. Public Health Foundation. http://www.phf.org/resourcestools/Documents/AHD_Concepts_2011Jan14.pdf

^iv. Erwin, P. C., Harris, J., Wong, R., Plepys, C. M., & Brownson, R. C. (2016). The Academic Health Department: Academic–Practice Partnerships Among Accredited U.S. Schools and Programs of Public Health, 2015. Public Health Reports, 131(4), 630–636. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0033354916662223

Date published:	May 13, 2019
Last updated:	May 15, 2023