The Public Health Law Teaching Project Announces Second Year of Funding Awards

Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health is pleased to announce a second year of support for the teaching of public health law at U.S. schools of public health. The initiative is part of a CDC-funded collaborative project designed to improve capacity for local health departments and increase knowledge of law among the next cadre of public health graduates. Now more than ever, it appears critical that MPH students receive substantive training related to law as legal competencies are core to public health across practice settings.

Two schools of public health will each receive a $10,000 award to support the development and teaching of a first-time course in public health law for the 2026-2027 academic year. 

The Public Health Law Teaching Project is led by Columbia Mailman School faculty Magda Schaler-Haynes, JD, MPH, and Heather Krasna, PhD, MS, EdM. The project is housed within the Center for Public Health Systems in the Columbia Mailman Department of Health Policy and Management. 

“In many ways, the ‘public’ part of “public health” involves law. To be effective, the public health workforce must be conversant in basic elements of the legal landscape; this requires training that is long overdue. It is exciting to help grow competencies in law for MPH students in order to better equip future leaders with essential skills to improve and defend the public’s health," reflected Schaler-Haynes, who is also professor of Health Policy and Management and professor of Population and Family Health.

Read the complete announcement here.