A town hall meeting next week on the Davis campus is the next step in an effort to establish a School of Population and Global Health.

Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi launched the project last year in a strategy to better address health challenges in a world that is growing increasingly crowded and more connected (allowing for the spread of disease), and where climate and other environmental changes can be complicating factors.

“We have the capabilities in the many disciplines that must be involved in this critical research, education and training,” said the chancellor, referring to human and animal health sciences; agricultural, environmental and life sciences; and the social sciences.

She’s put the UC Davis Health System’s Kenneth W. Kizer in charge of the project. He’s the director of the Institute for Population Health Improvement; a distinguished professor in the School of Medicine and the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing; and a former director of the California Department of Health Services.

“UC Davis is uniquely positioned to pioneer the forward-looking, transdisciplinary educational and research programs that will be needed to address the human, animal and environmental health challenges in what some term the ‘Anthropocene Era,’ the name for the geological time period defined by human influence on Earth,” Kizer said.

“Specifically, the label is intended to denote the extent to which humans have become a force shaping the global landscape and evolution of the planet.”

The town hall is scheduled from noon to 1 p.m. Wednesday, March 18, in 1022 Life Sciences Building.

RSVPs are requested by Sunday, March 15; please contact Kathleen MacColl by phone, (916) 734-7722, or email to tell her if you plan to attend.

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