College of Public Health

Public health meets the AI moment

Mary Cunningham — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 14:08:44 +0000

Public health meets the AI moment Mary Cunningham Fri, 06/05/2026 - 10:08

Key Takeaways

91��’s College of Public Health convened academics, practitioners, industry leaders, and students from across the country to examine how public health can adapt to AI while keeping equity, ethics, and human judgment at the center
The inaugural AI in Public Health Summit centered on what generative AI could mean for the future of research, education, and practice.
Five main themes emerged from the event: (1) We must lead or risk being left behind. (2) AI can assist, but humans still decide. (3) AI is a new social determinant of health. (4) Classrooms are adapting in real time. (5) Bridge-builders, translators, and critical thinkers are in demand.

Topics

Artificial Intelligence

Public Health

College of Public Health

Machine Learning

Social Determinants of Health

Campus News

In This Story

Melissa J. Perry, Sc.D., MHS, MBA

Robert M. Weiler, PhD, MPH

91��’s AI in Public Health Summit examined what artificial intelligence (AI) could mean for health equity, education, and the future workforce.

The Future of Public Health in an AI-Enabled World with Dean Melissa Perry and Easan Selvan, National Director, Academic Medicine and Public Health, Microsoft. Photo by Heather Carroll/CPH

For a field built to prevent and respond to disruptions, public health now faces a defining new challenge: harnessing the rapidly evolving power of artificial intelligence.

“There are moments in every profession when it becomes clear that change is not simply coming, that it has already arrived,” said Robert Weiler, senior associate dean for academic affairs at the George Mason College of Public Health.

That urgency carried through George Mason’s inaugural AI in Public Health Summit, where conversations centered on what generative AI, machine learning, and large language models could mean for the future of research, education, and practice.

“Today’s meeting is not about AI,” said College of Public Health Dean Melissa Perry. “It’s about the future of public health.” The challenge, she argued, is not simply grasping AI, but preparing future public health professionals to leverage it in ways that benefit humanity.

To achieve that goal, the College of Public Health convened a brain trust of academics, practitioners, industry leaders, and students from across the country. Helping anchor the discussion was the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH), whose AI task force is helping shape national conversations around responsible AI adoption in higher education and practice. According to ASPPH representatives, George Mason is “leading in this space” among its 150 member institutions.

Several themes emerged across the day:

We must lead or risk being left behind.

Keeping Public Health at the Center of AI: Reflections on the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health Task Force Report. Photo by Heather Carroll/CPH

At this point, the debate has shifted from whether AI belongs in public health to how to use it responsibly and effectively.

“There’s no escaping it,” said Eduardo Ruiz, chief information officer for ASPPH, pointing to rapid adoption across health care systems, public health agencies, and higher education.

Arman Latif, chief information officer at the Virginia Department of Health, framed AI as “less of a tool, and more of a shift in mindset” for public health. While ethical, environmental, equity, and philosophical concerns abound, he argued that the field can't ignore a technology with such potential to improve operations and strengthen how agencies serve the public. “To not do it, in itself, is unethical,” he suggested.

In a field focused on prevention and “upstream thinking,” speakers pointed to the promise of AI to anticipate problems instead of reacting to them: forecasting outbreaks, detecting overdose trends earlier, identifying food insecurity patterns, and uncovering insights buried in massive datasets.

AI can assist, but humans still decide.

AI in Public Health Summit hosted by the College of Public Health at FUSE at Mason Square. Photo by Mary Cunningham/CPH

The summit’s optimism around AI came with a consistent caveat: the technology may support public health work, but it will never replace the people making decisions and serving communities.

Jamie Atchison, senior director of innovation and strategy at ASPPH, pointed to one of her group’s core recommendations: keep AI human-centered, using it as a tool for decision-makers rather than a replacement for human judgment.

In disease surveillance, for example, AI may help detect patterns and flag emerging outbreaks, but people still need to interpret findings and take action. AI may also help tailor public health messaging to specific populations, but humans remain responsible for judgment, nuance, and building trust.

“AI is a non-moral technology,” said Easan Selvan, national director of academic medicine and public health at Microsoft. “Whether or not we decide to use it for good … is incumbent upon” people and institutions, he said.

AI is a new social determinant of health.

Preparing the Public Health Workforce for an AI-Enabled Future: Practitioners' Perspectives panel with representatives from ICF, Virginia Department of Health, Fairfax County Health Department, and Association of State and Territory Health Officials. Photo by Heather Carroll/CPH

If public health gets AI right, speakers argued, the technology could help narrow longstanding health inequities. Get it wrong, and those gaps could deepen.

“The risks [are] that AI can be an inequity multiplier if we’re not careful, but in fact that is up to us,” Perry said.

AI is already influencing many drivers of health, from information access to employment and health services. “We’re really thinking of AI as a determinant of health,” Ruiz said.

Speakers repeatedly returned to one concern: AI systems reflect the data behind them. So, if that data excludes or underrepresents specific populations, the resulting tools risk reinforcing existing disparities.

AI could also improve equity, from identifying vulnerable populations earlier to helping smaller health departments and community organizations access tools and data once limited to better-funded institutions.

Classrooms are adapting in real time.

Banning AI outright in the classroom has become unrealistic, George Mason faculty and students emphasized during the summit’s student panel.

“People are going to be using it either way,” said biology major Anika Tahsin Siddiqui, arguing that faculty should set clearer expectations and encourage open conversation around AI use to reduce stigma.

Students described using AI to learn coding languages, organize notes, create visualizations and presentations, and study for exams. But they pushed back against AI as a substitute for learning itself.

Bridge-builders, translators, and critical thinkers are in demand.

Student Panel: Teach Us What We Need to Know: Student Voices on AI Skills for Public Health Practice. Photo by Heather Carroll/CPH

While AI literacy is quickly becoming nonnegotiable in public health roles, panelists repeatedly argued that deep technical mastery is not the end goal. Instead, they described a growing demand for “bridge professionals” who can move between worlds: understanding community needs, public health practice, and data systems well enough to connect them.

“The translator is really key,” said Tabatha Offutt-Powell, vice president for public health data modernization and informatics at the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

“Those who are early to understand, early to use, early to adapt will be the best prepared,” Ruiz said.

Stay tuned to the College of Public Health for deeper insights from specific panels, as well as recordings of the sessions.

Tip Sheet: How concerned should Americans be about Ebola?

Mary Cunningham — Mon, 01 Jun 2026 14:22:16 +0000

Tip Sheet: How concerned should Americans be about Ebola? Mary Cunningham Mon, 06/01/2026 - 10:22

In This Story

Amira Roess, PhD, MPH

With a new Ebola virus disease outbreak in Africa affecting global travel, epidemiologist Amira Roess shares why the risk to Americans is currently low and other frequently asked questions.

Colorized transmission electron microscopic image showing the filamentous and curved morphology of an Ebola virus particle. Photo by CDC/Frederick A. Murphy via Public Health Image Library.

As of May 31, 2026, cases of Ebola virus disease have been spreading in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda for several weeks. No cases have been reported in the United States because of this outbreak. However, due to Ebola’s highly infectious nature, major U.S and other global international airports have increased travel screening, entry restrictions, and public health measures to prevent the spread of this disease.

Epidemiologist Amira Roess previously worked on Ebola prevention as an epidemic intelligence service officer (i.e., disease detective) at the Centers for Disease Control. She also was the principal investigator on a grant studying Ebola prevention in Guinea during the West Africa outbreak in 2014-2016. Roess shares her expertise to answer frequently asked questions concerning Ebola.

How concerned should Americans be about Ebola right now?

The overall risk to Americans is currently low with no cases of Ebola reported in the U.S. because of the recent Congo outbreak as of May 31, 2026.

How does Ebola spread?

Ebola spreads through direct contact with the bodily fluids (such as blood or saliva) of an infected person or animal. Ebola does not spread through the air the way the flu does, so you cannot get the disease from being near someone for a short period of time or passing them in public.

Though Ebola is not highly contagious because it does not spread through the air the way the flu virus does, Ebola is highly infectious, meaning even a small amount of contact with the virus can lead to severe effects.

What are the symptoms of Ebola?

Ebola symptoms begin with fever, aches, pains, and fatigue, and progress to diarrhea, vomiting and unexplained bleeding. Other symptoms may include chest pain, shortness of breath, confusion, red eyes, skin rash, hiccups, and seizures. Symptoms may start between 2-21 days, but typically appear between 8-10 days after exposure.

These symptoms can indicate a lot of other illnesses, and there is little risk of Ebola to anyone who has not come in contact with an infected person.

How deadly is Ebola? Is there a cure?

Ebola is a very deadly disease with a death rate between 25% to 50% depending on the strain, but has been up to 90% with previous outbreaks and strains. There are no licensed vaccines or treatments currently available for the Ebola strain responsible for the current 2026 outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Early supportive treatment is key to increasing the survival rate, and public health measures and contract tracking are key to preventing the spread of the disease.

Learn more about Ebola from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

MEDIA INQUIRIES: For reporters who wish to speak to Dr. Roess about Ebola or other infectious diseases, please email media contact Michelle Thompson at mthomp7@gmu.edu.

Amira Roess is a professor of global health and epidemiology at 91��'s College of Public Health, Department of Global and Community Health. She served as an Epidemic Intelligence Service officer at the CDC (a disease detective), where she worked on Ebola prevention in the Congo region among other infectious diseases. In 2015, Roess was co-investigator on a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant to study the ethnic, cultural and spiritual beliefs about Ebola virus disease among villagers and health care workers in the West African country of Guinea. She is an epidemiologist with expertise in infectious diseases epidemiology, multidisciplinary and multi-species field research and evaluating interventions to reduce the transmission and impact of infectious diseases. Roess oversees several longitudinal studies to understand emergence and transmission of zoonotic infectious diseases globally, including the emergence and transmission of Campylobacter (with support from The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation), MERS-CoV (with support from the U.S. National Science Foundation), and the development of the microbiome during the first year of life. She studies links between food animal production and emerging infectious and zoonotic diseases emergence globally, and the effects of human and animal encounters on health and well-being. Find more information about her research here.

Roess’ peer-reviewed papers related to Ebola:

About George Mason University
91�� is Virginia’s largest public research university. Located near Washington, D.C., Mason enrolls more than 40,000 students from 130 countries and all 50 states. Mason has grown rapidly over the past half-century and is recognized for its innovation and entrepreneurship, remarkable diversity, and commitment to accessibility. In 2023, the university launched Mason Now: Power the Possible, a one-billion-dollar comprehensive campaign to support student success, research, innovation, community, and stewardship. Learn more at gmu.edu.

About College of Public Health at 91��

The College of Public Health at 91�� is the first College of Public Health in Virginia and a national leader in inclusive, interprofessional, public health research, education, and practice. The college comprises public health disciplines, health administration and policy, informatics, nursing, nutrition, and social work. The college offers a distinct array of degrees to support research and training of professionals dedicated to ensuring health and well-being for all. The college’s transdisciplinary research seeks to understand the many factors that influence the public’s health and well-being throughout the lifespan.

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College of Public Health

George Mason sends record number of students to National Conference on Undergraduate Research

Katarina Benson — Tue, 26 May 2026 14:23:23 +0000

George Mason sends record number of students to National Conference on Undergraduate Research Katarina Benson Tue, 05/26/2026 - 10:23

This April, 63 91�� students presented their research at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) in Richmond. NCUR is dedicated to promoting undergraduate research across disciplines. This year marked George Mason’s highest attendance to date, and many students were able to attend due to support from the Office of Student Creative Activities and Research (OSCAR).

Students listen to a speaker at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research. Photo provided

For Karen T. Lee, associate director of OSCAR, accompanying the students to NCUR each year is one of her favorite parts of the job. “Sharing results is the ultimate step in completing a research or creative project, and sharing them at a national conference like NCUR allows students to contribute to the body of knowledge in their field, and to meet students and faculty working on similar projects and learn to network as professionals,” she said. “Having this experience as an undergraduate, early in their career, is a real boost in their confidence.”

Both Michael Kaleem, a junior majoring in community health with a concentration in clinical science, and Auj Atteeq, a senior majoring in computational and data science, were supported by OSCAR grants this year.

Kaleem with his research poster. Photo provided

For Kaleem, NCUR was the first time he has presented his research outside of George Mason. With his project, “Rest and Results: The Relationship Between Sleep, Stress, and Grade Point Average (GPA) in Undergraduates,” Kaleem found that while sleep didn’t necessarily affect students’ GPA, students’ stress levels influenced both their sleep quality and their academic performance.

A member of the Honors College and OSCAR's Undergraduate Research Scholars program, Kaleem credits Lee and his mentor Ali A. Weinstein, a professor of global and community health, for helping him hone his research skills. He hopes to work in the health care field in the future and plans to continue his studies at George Mason and pursue an accelerated master's in public health with a concentration in health policy.

In her project, “Thermal Stress Impact on Global Bleaching Events,” Atteeq found a positive correlation between sea surface temperature and coral reef bleaching across the globe. Essentially, rising temperatures disrupt the homeostasis of coral reef systems, causing them to turn white and become vulnerable to starvation and disease. Coral reefs support at least a quarter of all marine life, making Atteeq’s research incredibly important.

Atteeq with her research. Photo provided

Atteeq originally began her research as a final project for one of her computational and data sciences classes. OSCAR staff member Kim Seligman encouraged her to continue the work and apply to attend NCUR. She received a travel grant from OSCAR to attend the conference. In the future, Atteeq wants to continue her research on climate science and plans to pursue a career in academia.

Explore Research at George Mason

Learn more about OSCAR

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Office of Student Scholarship Creative Activities and Research (OSCAR)

Research

College of Public Health

College of Science

bachelor of science in community health

Gap in treatment for adolescent cannabis users puts young adults at risk

Heather Carroll — Mon, 18 May 2026 14:38:11 +0000

Gap in treatment for adolescent cannabis users puts young adults at risk Heather Carroll Mon, 05/18/2026 - 10:38

Key Takeaways:

Research by Panagiota Kitsantas, professor in the College of Public Health Department of Health Administration and Policy, reveals that one in three adolescents with cannabis use disorder does not receive timely treatment.
Younger adolescents, males, White non-Hispanic youth, and those in residential rehabilitation and outpatient settings experienced more treatment delays.
Cannabis use can have negative impacts on brain development for adolescents and has been linked to poor academic performance.

In This Story

Panagiota Kitsantas, PhD

Hong Xue, PhD

A study by 91��'s Panagiota Kitsantas and colleagues reveals patterns of treatment delays for youth with cannabis use disorder.

Panagiota Kitsantas

Teens may turn to marijuana use for many reasons: curiosity, stress relief, peer pressure, help with mental health, or for the positive feelings of being “high.” However, there is a difference between casual use and reliance on cannabis to function. Cannabis use disorder (CUD) is the persistent use and reliance on marijuana despite it causing physical or social harm.

Despite the well-documented health impacts, especially for youths, receiving treatment is not simple. Research by Panagiota Kitsantas found that nearly one in three adolescents with CUD experienced delays in accessing much-needed care.

“There are persistent and rising barriers to timely treatment. There are variations in access speed across referral processes, suggesting system-level improvements are needed,” said Kitsantas, professor and interim chair of the College of Public Health Department of Health Administration and Policy (HAP). Hong Xue, associate professor in the HAP department, was one of the study’s co-authors.

Kitsantas’ newly published research addresses key research gaps of patterns and predictors of treatment delays among U.S. adolescents with CUD. In particular, younger adolescents, males, White non-Hispanic youth, and those in residential rehabilitation and outpatient settings experienced more delays.

Why this matters

Despite treatment delays declining between 2012 and 2018, the rate of youth experiencing treatment delays has steadily risen since then.

For younger people, cannabis use can have negative impacts on brain development, impairing thinking, memory, problem-solving, learning, coordination, and attention. Cannabis use in adolescence has been linked to poor academic performance, including increased risk of school dropout and lower likelihood of seeking higher education.

Delving into the research

Kitsantas and the research team identified critical findings about CUD treatment and youth:

About 31% of adolescents experienced treatment delays for cannabis use disorder.
Despite treatment delays declining through 2018, they increased by 2022.
Younger adolescents (12–14), males, and White non-Hispanic youth were more likely to experience treatment delays.
Youth referred for treatment through health care systems were more likely to experience treatment delays compared to those who self-referred.
Adolescents in rehabilitation/residential and outpatient settings experienced more delays than those in detox services, suggesting system-level variation in access speed.

Admission Delays in Receiving Treatment for Cannabis Use Disorder among US Adolescents was published April 2026 in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

“I hope this research draws attention to the growing and preventable problem of delayed treatment for adolescents with cannabis use disorder. Ultimately, the goal is to promote timely access to treatment and improve long-term outcomes for adolescents while easing the broader public health burden of substance use,” said Kitsantas.

Thumbnail photo by Stephen Cobb via Unsplash.

Topics

Cannabis

marijuana

Child and Adolescent Health

Research

College of Public Health

Nutrition support during pregnancy improves birth outcomes, global study finds

Heather Carroll — Thu, 14 May 2026 15:07:07 +0000

Nutrition support during pregnancy improves birth outcomes, global study finds Heather Carroll Thu, 05/14/2026 - 11:07

91��-led research finds that food-based prenatal supplements improve birth weights across Africa and South Asia.

Dongqing Wang of the 91�� College of Public Health

In parts of the world where daily nutrition is unstable, pregnancy and newborn health are more precarious. A new study led by epidemiologist Dongqing Wang of the 91�� College of Public Health adds to the evidence that improving maternal nutrition during pregnancy may be a key intervention to improve birth outcomes.

Looking across eight clinical trials across Africa and South Asia, the study finds that balanced energy and protein (BEP) supplements—food-based products like beverages or nutrient-dense pastes designed to increase calorie and protein intake—are associated with healthier birth weights and fewer high-risk newborns in low- and middle-income countries. The findings were published in PLOS Medicine.

“In settings where pregnant women can’t access sufficient calories and protein, it is important to act early,” said Wang, an assistant professor of epidemiology in the Department of Global and Community Health. “Improving maternal nutrition can reduce the risk of vulnerable birth outcomes.”

Why this matters

Maternal malnutrition puts infants at higher risk of death, illness, and developmental delays.

Interventions have often focused on micronutrient supplements, but this study shows that food-based approaches to increase calorie and protein intake may better support fetal growth. BEP supplements can also be delivered through existing maternal health programs, making them a practical solution to scale. Wang is also currently conducting further research in Ethiopia that examines the cost-effectiveness of different approaches to BEP supplementation.

Study details

Wang and his colleagues combined individual-level data from randomized controlled trials conducted in Nepal, The Gambia, Pakistan, and several other low- and middle-income settings. The team compared outcomes for pregnant individuals who received BEP supplements with those who did not.

Key findings include:

BEP supplements were associated with higher birth weights and a lower risk of babies being born with low birth weight or small for their gestational age.
The effects were particularly notable for babies small for their gestational age, a group with elevated risk of neonatal mortality.
Benefits appeared stronger among women who began supplementation earlier in pregnancy, particularly before 20 weeks.

Wang worked with a global network of researchers from institutions including Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Aga Khan University and partners across Europe, South Asia, and Africa.

Photo by Nathana Rebouças on Unsplash

In This Story

Dongqing Wang, PhD, MPH

Key Takeaways

• A George Mason–led global study finds that balanced energy and protein (BEP) supplements can improve birth outcomes, especially in regions where maternal nutrition is limited.

• The supplements are linked to higher birth weights and reduced risk of babies being born small or underweight, with the strongest benefits when started early in pregnancy.

• These supplements boost calorie and protein intake and can be delivered through existing maternal health programs, making them a scalable solution.

Topics

Prenatal Care

Global Health

Birth Outcomes

Maternal Child Health

Maternal Nutrition

GCH Research

public health research

CPH research

Research

College of Public Health

In the George

Public health PhD focuses on how everyday environmental exposures affect metabolic and reproductive health

ckearney — Wed, 06 May 2026 19:35:40 +0000

Public health PhD focuses on how everyday environmental exposures affect metabolic and reproductive health ckearney Wed, 05/06/2026 - 15:35

When doctoral student Rooshna Mohsin arrived at 91�� from New Jersey, she came with a clear purpose: to deepen her research in environmental and reproductive health and work alongside faculty whose scholarship aligned with her own ambitions. What she found at George Mason was more than an academic opportunity—it was a community that helped shape her into the researcher she is today.

Before coming to George Mason, Mohsin completed a master of public health in epidemiology from Rutgers University and a bachelor of science in biology from the College of New Jersey.

Graduating with her PhD in public health with a concentration in epidemiology this May, Mohsin has spent her time at George Mason exploring how everyday environmental exposures affect metabolic and reproductive health. Her dissertation, Dietary and Social Predictors of PFAS Exposure and Metabolic Health in Hispanic Children, focused on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a group of widely used synthetic chemicals linked to health concerns. She has also examined trace element exposures in IVF populations.

Rooshna Mohsin. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Office of University Branding

Across her work, Mohsin has focused on a pressing public health question: How do common environmental chemicals influence health outcomes across the lifespan, from early childhood through the reproductive years?

That work required both scientific rigor and persistence. Designing a dissertation meant identifying research gaps, asking novel questions, and building studies that could contribute something new to the field. “The most challenging experience I had at George Mason was throughout my dissertation process,” she said. “It was academically demanding, but it was also incredibly rewarding in terms of the outcomes and the skills I gained.”

She credits much of that growth to the mentorship and support she found at the College of Public Health, especially from her advisor, epidemiologist Michael Bloom.

“He really helped shape me and make sure that I excel as a student here and as a future professional and academic,” she said.

Under his mentorship, Mohsin pursued opportunities she had never imagined for herself—including presenting her research at a conference in China, an experience she calls one of the highlights of her doctoral journey.

Mohsin also found strength in the community around her. While her concentration was in epidemiology, many members of her cohort studied social and behavioral health. That interdisciplinary environment became one of the most meaningful parts of her experience.

Rooshna Mohsin at the Three Minute Thesis. Photo provided

“My cohort was the rock of my whole degree,” she said. “They kept me sane and stable.”

Their different research backgrounds pushed Mohsin to think beyond disciplinary boundaries and sharpen one of public health’s most important skills: communication. Explaining research to peers outside her specialty helped her become a more effective scholar—one better equipped to translate complex findings for broader audiences.

“I think that’s such an important part of research,” she said. “We need to communicate our work in a way that people without this background can understand it.”

In fact, Mohsin competed in George Mason’s annual Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition, a research communication competition for PhD candidates across the university, and took home third place. Competitors are judged on their ability to present the significance of their dissertation or thesis research using a single slide and within a strict three-minute time limit.

That ability to communicate across audiences became one of the accomplishments she is most proud of. Over the course of her doctoral studies, Mohsin presented at conferences, shared her research with more experienced scholars, and grew more confident in her ability to contribute meaningfully to conversations in her field.

Outside the classroom and lab, Mohsin also built connections across the region, including through her role as a public health ambassador for Association of Schools and Programs in Public Health (ASPPH) in Washington, D.C. Those experiences expanded her professional network and reinforced one of the advantages of studying public health in Northern Virginia: access to a dynamic, deeply connected health and policy community.

By the end of her first semester in Virginia, Mohsin said George Mason had already begun to feel like home. What started as a move for academic opportunity became something more lasting—a place defined by mentorship, collaboration, and belonging. “My faculty were very welcoming, and the people in my cohort were just family for me,” she said.

As she graduates, Mohsin said becoming a George Mason alum still feels a little surreal. But she leaves with pride in what she has accomplished and gratitude for the people who helped her get there.

“I’m excited to see how I put together these skills and experiences that I’ve built during my time at Mason,” she said, “and be able to bring that into whatever field I go into next.”

Spring 2026 Graduation Information

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In the George

Podcast: AI is a clinician’s newest diagnostic partner

sholla4 — Tue, 28 Apr 2026 14:09:11 +0000

Podcast: AI is a clinician’s newest diagnostic partner sholla4 Tue, 04/28/2026 - 10:09

Depending who you talk to, AI – artificial intelligence – is either the cutting edge of technology that can usher in a golden age of efficiency, precision, and capability that will allow humans to shake off the shackles of drudgery and guesswork, or it’s a resources-devouring shadow that’s going to strip us of our humanity, creativity, and connectedness.

On today’s episode of Access to Excellence, College of Public Health professor of health informatics Farrokh Alemi joins President Gregory Washington to discuss the unique juncture of health care, industrial engineering, and now, artificial intelligence; specifically, what AI can do for educators and clinicians.

Intelligent tutors don't give the advice of how to solve a problem. They ask questions from the students of how they want to solve it and evaluate that and give feedback to the student. So the student has to be actively engaged in thinking through things. It's not a copy/paste thing. Without the intelligent tutor, the student can go to an AI system, AI open AI system, and just copy, paste their response to an assignment. But with intelligent tutors that, especially the one that we have on Patriot AI, the student has to go in and interact and answer questions... it gives them an ability to interact at every step very slowly through their assignment." - Farrokh Alemi

Read the transcript

Intro (00:04):

Trailblazers in research, innovators in technology, and those who simply have a good story: all make up the fabric that is 91��, where taking on the grand challenges that face our students and graduates in higher education is our mission and our passion. Hosted by Mason President Gregory Washington, this is the Access to Excellence podcast.

Gregory Washington (00:27):

Is there any term in popular culture right now that is more misunderstood than AI? It's used by so many people for different purposes to mean different things. Depending on who you talk to, AI, or artificial intelligence, is either the cutting edge of technology that can usher in a golden age of efficiency, precision, and capability that will allow humans to take off the shackles of drudgery and guesswork. Or it's a resources-devouring shadow that's going to strip us of our humanity, creativity ,and connectedness. To help us wade through all of this is Dr. Farrokh Alemi, professor of health informatics at George Mason's College of Public Health. Dr. Alemi has spent his career studying how humans, particularly doctors, engineers, and health policy makers, collect and interpret data--that's gonna be very important for later on. And then how they use that data to make crucial decisions from disease diagnoses and prescription choices to predictive analyses of public health needs. His research and teaching have put him at the unique juncture of healthcare, industrial engineering, and now artificial intelligence. Dr. Alemi, welcome to the show.

Farrokh Alemi (02:01):

Thank you so much.

Gregory Washington (02:02):

So now your background is really interesting, right? Because you have a, uh, industrial engineering and operations background, which I know all too well. And you're teaching in the School of Public Health. How did this come about? How are these entities related?

Farrokh Alemi (02:19):

So, industrial engineers, uh, about one third of industrial engineers were work in the healthcare industry. They go work in the hospitals. They, they examine efficiency. They, a lot of things that we go through, like when should we screen for cancer? When anything that's happening between visits is done by industrial engineers. There is a lot of contributions of industrial engineers to healthcare.

Gregory Washington (02:44):

That makes some sense actually. You know, if you want to make something more efficient, you call in an industrial engineer.

Farrokh Alemi (02:51):

<laugh>. That's true.

Gregory Washington (02:52):

So is there an engineering mindset that changes or benefits the way in which you look at a patient's journey through the healthcare system?

Farrokh Alemi (03:01):

As an engineer, sometimes I look at healthcare and I don't understand the way we are healthcare. For example, in depression, we prescribe antidepressants to patients, and the first time we try it, only 40% of time it works. So the majority of the patients don't benefit from our first prescription of antidepressant. Doctors go through trial and errors to improve this to around 60%, 70%. And for 30% of the patients, we don't do anything. So I look at healthcare and I scratch my head. Why are we so inefficient in understanding what works, what's effective, and why are we wasting so many resources in making wrong prescriptions? I can also say the other thing that bothers me a great deal is this kind of cascade of medications where a patient is given one medication and for the side effect they're given a different medication. And on the third one, they're given a something to control what the second one had caused. So in the end, you become polypharmacy and for what? To control something that sometimes is not fatal, and it might be just as well endured and our lives could be so much better with- without some medications.

Gregory Washington (04:30):

You have been dealing with AI for some time. You, you worked on it and the management of depression as you highlighted. But you know, at least in the early phases, AI has a risk of hallucinations, right. And in and in this business, that's a, that could be a difficult set of outcomes. So, so talk about how you're managing the risk of hallucinations in this work.

Farrokh Alemi (04:58):

So I should mention that we have been funded by Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, by the state of Virginia, and by the Patient Centered Outcome Research group to look at depression management and the use of AI. So we have been at this for some years. Hallucinations, uh, happen and we have been testing creating systems to reduce hallucinations. And the main way we you reduce hallucinations is to giving a prompt to the AI system that restricts its use. So it's, we tell to AI, don't talk about this, don't talk about that, just talk about this conversation here. We limit the AI a great deal. And that kind of prompting helps AI stay accurate. The other way we do reduce hallucination is to just get away from internet and go down to the medical record side and actually tell AI to analyze data and base its judgment on the finding from the data, not from comments that people have made on the internet that could be quite inappropriate in clinical management of a patient.

Gregory Washington (06:15):

So what evidence do you have that AI can manage depression better than clinicians?

Farrokh Alemi (06:20):

This is a very interesting evidence. What we do know is in two studies we have shown that the patients of AI concordant clinicians, those are clinicians that follow AI's advice, are more likely to have remission of their symptoms than patients of AI discordant clinicians. Now, that's about 17% in one study and 11% in another study. To give you perspective when average clinician on the first prescription of antidepressant is accurate, around 40%. So we improve this to reach around 57% in one study and in another study to around 50%. So we crossed that borderline of getting the majority of patients to benefit. Right now, only minority of patients are benefiting and we want to get it at least to 60% so that we can have more reliance on these medications when they are appropriate. Of course, we don't always prescribe antidepressants, we also give advice on doing psychotherapy. And for some mild depression we prescribe they that they should not use any antidepressant. So we, we go through a lot of different kinds of advice that we provide. I have to be clear about this thing because I, I use the word prescribe. We don't prescribe, our systems only provide advice. And then later on, the clinician decides to prescribe or not to follow that advice or not follow that advice.

Gregory Washington (08:03):

So the algorithm, the, the AI basically provides input to the clinician.

Farrokh Alemi (08:11):

The AI does not decide, the AI only provides input. But the interesting thing is that we don't collect the information about the patient from the patient in the clinic. We collect the information directly at the patient's home. We advertise on the internet, and we recruit patients that are depressed, some of whom are not seeing any clinician. And we give them the advice and we refer them to a clinic for them to adjust their medications if, if that's necessary.

Gregory Washington (08:43):

And so tell me how it's working. How well does the AI accomplish this task?

Farrokh Alemi (08:48):

So we don't know yet. We are, on April 15th, we are starting with the first randomly selected patient. So we will start and we expect by September 15th to recruit 45 depressed patients and then for the next year to go on to 130 patients. And at that point we will be able to say whether they benefited, whether their clinicians followed their advice, and whether the clinicians who didn't follow their advice, what would have happened if they had followed.

Gregory Washington (09:21):

Do you also have to teach patients how to best use AI? Doesn't the accuracy of the AI depend on the prompt engineering piece that the patient enters?

Farrokh Alemi (09:33):

So in our systems, the patient doesn't enter the prompt. We enter it through a chain of thought, through a long series of prompts that we give to the system. But yes, in general, the quality of the prompt matters a great deal. And currently we are working on a research project in which we are looking at how do you improve that quality of the prompt. So just to give you a sense, for example, when you first come into the system, and if you say, I took citalopram and I didn't get any remission of my symptoms, the AI system currently, if you go to open AI system or Claude or other systems, it will try to engage you and will give you some advice, but that's not the correct behavior in our redesign of the system. It will say, wait a second, I can't give you any advice until I know a little bit more about you.

Farrokh Alemi (10:33):

And that way we get to ask questions about the patient that matter in terms of which advice we give them. The questions we ask from the patient take around five to 10 minutes of interaction. So it's a long visit with the AI, it's not a short question and answer. So you are sitting there, you are talking to AI, AI is asking for your complete medical history, your current medication, anything you tried in the past, what symptoms you have. It's almost like a visit to a clinician. And then at the end we can give some advice and that advice is then taken to your own clinician. So in the end, I think going back to your earlier question, yes, it's really matters that you train whoever is interacting with the AI to ask the right question

Gregory Washington (11:27):

And ask it the right way.

Farrokh Alemi (11:29):

And ask it the right way.

Gregory Washington (11:31):

You have that two facets of your work, right? One is all of the work in depression and uh, psychiatry and the like. And then you have this other aspect of your work, which is this AI as a classroom teacher, which, you know, that's how I actually came across your name. It was a YouTube video. I was looking at other videos on AI, and you know how you'll see in the queue videos that, that it's recommending based on what you're searching and what you're doing. And I see a video from you. Yes. So then I watch it and, uh, I was blown away by by what you're doing. So, so let's, let's talk about it a little bit. Can you highlight what you are doing in the classroom? A course has a number of components. You have the class notes that's usually developed by the instructor that's actually taught to the students, right? You have a mechanism of testing, right? To test students on how well they're learning the material that they're being taught. You have grading, right? And then you have this whole area of assessment where you assessing as part of the grading mechanism, but also kind of part of a modification of the teaching, right? You are, you are looking at how students are learning and then you adjust your teaching in order to increase the depth of knowledge or add stuff that people are missing in this process. And you have managed to take AI and use it in a number of these areas. So can you go through what you've done, what's working, what's not working, and the like, so, so start, just start at the top.

Farrokh Alemi (13:23):

Alright. But first let me go back to why you were able to see my YouTube: because my courses are all open. So one of the YouTube videos that you saw was one of the hundreds of lecture that we have openly available on the web. So there is a, this wealth of knowledge that we have on YouTube that we provide to the world, to everybody in the community. So how are we using AI in the course? Before I go there, let me just say a few things about the type of course that I was teaching.

Gregory Washington (13:56):

Sure.

Farrokh Alemi (13:57):

So there are, I think AI has different roles in different courses. At George Mason, we have a series of courses that are taught online asynchronously.

Gregory Washington (14:09):

Yes.

Farrokh Alemi (14:10):

AI can transform these, these kind of courses to something that's extraordinary interactive.

Gregory Washington (14:17):

Okay.

Farrokh Alemi (14:18):

So that's one type of course. Then you have on the other end experiential courses, which AI can't really do anything for because you have to get there, you have to show skills, you have to do, you have to dance or something like that. Or in healthcare you have to see a patient interact with the patient. These things AI can do less of. In between, there are didactic courses. These didactic courses, AI can make a difference there. So what did I do? I use AI videos to provide my lectures. So those lectures used to be 10 minutes, 15 minutes long and boring. So I asked AI to do what I was doing, and in very, very short time, it did a better job than I did.

Gregory Washington (15:07):

What is your AI of choice?

Farrokh Alemi (15:09):

For the AI videos? I use a software called HeyGen. HeyGen is AI video with avatars. And these avatars go and teach specific concept that I have. So you go to the avatar and you say, I want to teach this topic, what should I say? And the avatar uses its knowledge of AI and says, here is what I think you should say. You examine that and you improve it. And then you say, okay, go ahead and teach this. And the avatar goes ahead, creates an entire video for that topic. Usually it took me a whole day to make a video lecture. And this is like five minutes and it can do the everything I used to do.

Gregory Washington (15:55):

What input do you give it? Like say...

Farrokh Alemi (15:57):

It gives me input. It says, if you are teaching this topic, these are the kinds of things you should talk about. And I say, well no, I don't want this one and I want this one. I, I edit it, its input. It's not that I tell it exactly what to do, I just say I wanna teach about, let's say regression, a statistical approach. And it says, okay, if you are teaching regression, you gotta, you gotta teach these things. And I said, well, no, I have already taught these items and these other items, all I want is this particular item. Then it goes in more depth and says, do you want this? And then, then it says, okay, do you want a display? What kind of display you want? And you have to create a storyboard. It creates the storyboard for you. You examine the storyboard and you say, okay, go ahead. And then within minutes you have the entire lecture. So that part I found extraordinarily helpful to me.

Gregory Washington (16:56):

Okay.

Farrokh Alemi (16:57):

The second part was, this course that I was teaching was a learning by example. You know, there are different paradigms of teaching. One is didactic teaching, the where you give a lecture. And the other one is learning by examples where you put the student through repeated practices of the concepts that you want them to learn. And learning by example is how AI work and they shine in those settings. So in that course, there were about 30 different assignments to the students. So imagine this is a, I think it was a 12 week summer course. So they had 30 assignments to do. So each one of these assignments is a separate AI system. And in each one the AI interacts with the student to finish the assignment properly. So we had 30 different AI tutors for 30 different assignments. The next thing part was that we did the grading. Because if, if the AI is doing the tutoring, it knows what is correct, what is wrong.

Gregory Washington (18:10):

Now you have this HeyGen that developed a video that's doing the teaching, right?

Farrokh Alemi (18:15):

HeyGen is doing the video, but everything else is Patriot AI. It's now we are in a different environment.

Gregory Washington (18:22):

So now you're using Patriot AI?

Farrokh Alemi (18:24):

Yeah. In the tutoring part. So the tutoring part works. Grading is very simple then because you tell the AI give a pass, fail grade, not in those words to the students. So the AI says, okay, let let your instructor know that everything is fine. And I know that message means that they have passed that assignment. I now remember they have exams to do also. There's 30 assignments and two exams in, in 12 weeks.

Gregory Washington (18:54):

So let's go back. HeyGen does the videos. Patriot AI does...

Farrokh Alemi (18:59):

Tutoring.

Gregory Washington (19:00):

Does the tutoring.

Farrokh Alemi (19:01):

And part of the tutoring is the grading.

Gregory Washington (19:04):

Now are you feeding in the videos into the tutoring? How does it know what subjects to tutor?

Farrokh Alemi (19:10):

Yes. I, I tell it what to tutor, because these are the assignments. The tutors are focused only on assignments. The students don't care on big ideas. They want to do the assignments and finish and get out of a class.

Gregory Washington (19:24):

You know that <laugh>.

Farrokh Alemi (19:26):

<laugh>. So we do that. Now, what happened was this, uh, last summer when I did all these things, I found I had very little to do. So I started looking for a role for myself. So then I started saying, okay, I call if a student is late in their assignment, I called. I talked to them.And then some students wanted career advising. I would talk to them about what, what's the career like. And then some students had bigger ideas and smaller I, it gave me better relationship with the students because

Gregory Washington (20:00):

Yeah, because you're not talking about the coursework then because the AI is doing that. You're getting, you're talking to them about broader subjects?

Farrokh Alemi (20:07):

Broader subjects. Yes. And I am available to them. By the way, in that course I was available on every text. So they could text me from 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM

Gregory Washington (20:17):

So, so how do you do the assessment?

Farrokh Alemi (20:20):

The assessment is done by the tutor. So the tutor, the tutor says, Hey, you're finished. Because everything you bring to the tutor, the tutor evaluates and says, this is correct. Go to the next step, go to the next step. And when you get to the final step, the tutor says everything is correct. Let your instructor know that everything is correct. So it's a pass/fail grade.

Gregory Washington (20:42):

What do you think that does to promote critical thinking amongst your students?

Farrokh Alemi (20:46):

I use AI in my teaching and we have intelligent tutors. These intelligent tutors provide advice to the students about an assignment that I have given them. And last summer I tried to see what impact AI has on my teaching and on my students. This was a class of 12 people. And in the 12 people, 10 people responded to a survey that I made for them. And of them, nine of them really liked intelligent tutors and one of them didn't, wanted more time with the instructor. So what does it do with critical thinking? So intelligent tutors don't give the advice of how to solve a problem. They ask questions from the students of how they want to solve it and evaluate that and give feedback to the student. So the student has to be actively engaged in thinking through things. It's not a copy/paste thing. Without the intelligent tutor, the student can go to an AI system, AI open AI system, and just copy, paste their response to an assignment. But with intelligent tutors that, especially the one that we have on Patriot AI, the student has to go in and interact and answer questions.

Gregory Washington (22:14):

Yeah. It's very different.

Farrokh Alemi (22:15):

Very different. They can copy paste and they, they like it more because it really engages them. So if you go to, for example, Claude and you put in here is an assignment, give me the response, it will do so, and students can do that, but they prefer to come to our Patriot AI because it doesn't just put pages and pages of things that you have to copy paste and you, and if there is an error, you don't know where the error is. So it, it gives them an ability to interact at every step very slowly through their assignment.

Farrokh Alemi (22:53):

Let me give you an example. So let's suppose this student has to do an essay. The first thing the intelligent tutor does says, Hey, you need to write this essay. What is your paragraph structure? What is the structure of this essay? Tell me how you were thinking about this. What is your ideas on this paragraph? What are your ideas on that paragraph? And gradually, gradually it gets it to a point that the student is ready to write the essay. So this is not copy paste at all. This is critical thinking at its best because a, a professor, including me, I can't spend this kind of time with students, but the intelligent tutor can spend the time with them and can help them think through the assignment in a way that's more productive.

Gregory Washington (23:44):

That is amazing. So let me put my president's hat on.

Farrokh Alemi (23:49):

Yes.

Gregory Washington (23:49):

So let's suppose for a minute, so you've tried this out in the class? Give me your assessment. How well did it work?

Farrokh Alemi (23:56):

It works very well, but it needs to be evaluated. In, in a large scale. So as I said, 90% of the students liked it in the survey of 10 students. But that's very small scale.

Gregory Washington (24:11):

Right. So you need to expand it to a larger class.

Farrokh Alemi (24:14):

Not only a larger class, other people have to do it. And we have to see that it's independent from me.

Gregory Washington (24:20):

Right. So, so then let me ask this question. If I were to give you a group of faculty. Three, four, how fast, how much time will it take for you to take those three or four faculty and different subject areas than yours? You know, maybe there's, uh, somebody who is in social sciences and then maybe there's a chemist and then maybe there's somebody in, uh, another form of engineering. Right? How long do you think it would take for you to help those faculty to develop a similar like course?

Farrokh Alemi (25:01):

What kind of course they're teaching the same didactic course with assignments, learning from examples?

Gregory Washington (25:07):

Yeah.

Farrokh Alemi (25:08):

They're not teaching experiential courses.

Gregory Washington (25:10):

Nope. Didactic course learning from examples.

Farrokh Alemi (25:13):

Days. Within a week.

Gregory Washington (25:15):

Within a week, you can have them all going,

Farrokh Alemi (25:17):

All going.

Gregory Washington (25:19):

That's pretty good.

Farrokh Alemi (25:20):

If you wanna convince faculty at George Mason to change, I would advise you to do a study of this. A valid study that shows people, that students benefit that there is no copy pasting. That they learn critical thinking and that they are better off.

Gregory Washington (25:40):

No, that makes a lot of sense. Would you recommend this to faculty?

Farrokh Alemi (25:45):

Absolutely. Yeah. I think faculty will have better relationship with students if they do this. They, they will have a better time with teaching.

Gregory Washington (25:56):

So if you were to look out in your crystal ball and say, I've seen the way I've, I've seen I've done this, I've made it work. Could this be the next wave of teaching that we put in front of our students?

Farrokh Alemi (26:14):

Absolutely. This is the next wave. Whether we put it in front of our students or whether we don't. This is coming and you can do this the right way in which it, it enhances critical thinking. Versus you can do it the wrong way, which is, I don't want AI while the students are using it and you are preventing it. That doesn't work. I wanna say one other thing and brings us back to a earlier conversation about depression and AI. My goal is to create the first, uh, artificial psychiatrist. To me that, that will be groundbreaking change. Now this thing with teaching AI as kind of, it wasn't my goal at all. I was just trying to experiment with it. <laugh> And now it has become such a big part of it.

Gregory Washington (27:06):

Let's talk about this artificial psychiatrist. So tell me how it would work. So I, so let's say, you know, I, I wanna get evaluated. Would I come and sit at a little booth like we are today and the AI will be on the other side? And will it ask me questions or will I, tell me how, how this thing would work?

Farrokh Alemi (27:27):

Alright. First you're not in a clinic. You're at home, or at work or someplace. And you call and you say you want an appointment with the AI system. The AI system interviews you, uh, interacts with you, asks a lot of questions from you, takes around five to 10 minutes. And then it says, okay, now I'm ready to give you some advice. But before I give you advice, I have to know your clinician. Who are you gonna take this advice to? Where are you gonna go with it? Hmm. So at that point, we give you the advice, we send the information to your clinician, and we coordinate and hopefully the clinician agrees with us and helps you. So one of the things that we are doing, we have a proposal to Gates Foundation to do this in South Africa. We have a proposal that has been funded to do this in Virginia. Uh, so these are not pie in the sky because the only thing that makes this a pie in the sky is that all of our current work is on depression. And we need to expand it beyond depression to psychosis, to intimate partner violence, all mental health area, and that I call artificial psychiatrist.

Gregory Washington (28:53):

Oh, this is really, really interesting. Um, so let me ask you the hard questions. Let's say you're able to do this both on the instructor side and you'd say you develop the AI psychiatrist.

Farrokh Alemi (29:10):

Yes.

Gregory Washington (29:10):

Okay. Question number one. I'll ask it rapid fire. What's the role of the instructor in the AI uh, guided class?

Farrokh Alemi (29:18):

Oh, I, I that my class is a good example. The role of the instructor is to have a relationship.

Gregory Washington (29:23):

With the students.

Farrokh Alemi (29:24):

With the students to understand them, to figure them out, and to really be a role model for them and help them get there. All these things that take so much time grading in, doing assignments, doing lectures, take our time away from being with this student.

Gregory Washington (29:43):

You make a, you make a strong case, but then is AI replacing the instructor?

Farrokh Alemi (29:48):

Yes. And I, I know there is problem here. There is a, an intellectual problem. What's happening with jobs today. Let's take that.

Gregory Washington (29:58):

Okay.

Farrokh Alemi (29:59):

They are disappearing. Computer programmer jobs are disappearing. Sure. Social media jobs are disappearing. Sure. Why? And it's all AI. Is that good or bad? Of course, it's, you know, people should have work, but there is a transition period of what you do when the entire system is AI. We, we need to teach more about how AI can create jobs. There are new jobs here and our degrees and educations should focus on these new jobs and we haven't defined those things. And I think in part, I am part of the blame because I am kind of making these jobs disappear.

Gregory Washington (30:43):

But maybe there is a new type of professor.

Farrokh Alemi (30:47):

Yes. That, absolutely true. There is a new type of professor.

Gregory Washington (30:50):

And maybe there's this new way of teaching and if you have this mechanism, now the professor can do other things.

Farrokh Alemi (30:57):

Exactly.

Gregory Washington (30:58):

You can do other kinds of research. You can do...

Farrokh Alemi (31:00):

If, if, if

Gregory Washington (31:01):

Some jobs are right, because not because now you have more time. Right.

Farrokh Alemi (31:03):

Yes. If jobs are disappearing, maybe new jobs are coming. Right. But this is a maybe we don't know for sure.

Gregory Washington (31:10):

I agree with that. I agree with that. And, and so we need to be thinking about what does the human societal framework look like? Yeah. What happens to the relationship between instructor and student?

Farrokh Alemi (31:24):

Improves. This is the surprising part. Because now the, the instructor is more available and is more engaged with students that are at risk and can do things that previously the instructor didn't have time to do. So that part is good.

Gregory Washington (31:40):

So why is a large R1 public university like George Mason, the right place to do this kind of AI-guided classroom?

Farrokh Alemi (31:50):

Because this is our future. We are closer to the future because we are in this university and we know this future better and we are shaping it.

Gregory Washington (32:02):

That's a great answer to the question. How can we promote more and better use of AI in our classrooms?

Farrokh Alemi (32:11):

I think, uh, the university is doing a lot of things with the AI policies. It's doing a lot of things with, uh, operation.

Gregory Washington (32:20):

It's great that you're using the Patriot AI platform for your work.

Farrokh Alemi (32:23):

Yeah.That was helpful. And that's university supplied.

Gregory Washington (32:26):

Yes.

Farrokh Alemi (32:26):

Yeah. AI policies, everybody's doing AI policies. A lot of faculty are doing different kinds of, this is the first time that AI is actually teaching. At this university, or I think even some other universities.

Gregory Washington (32:42):

I agree with that.

Farrokh Alemi (32:43):

So that is an interesting thing. We need to absolutely evaluate this and it, and an evaluation that is rigorous and that people can point to and say what will happen if we do this. One thing that amazes me is that students like this, but I don't know if in the, in uh, market studies, whether students will prefer coming to an asynchronous course that is, that has AI or go to a asynchronous course by a different university that doesn't have AI. I think it will give us a marketing advantage too, but that has to be evaluated. We need, we, I don't know that. What is the advantage of doing all this work for attracting students and training people and getting them to work? What, what will happen?

Gregory Washington (33:39):

These are the kind of discussions that we need to have as universities, as faculty and the like. And, you know, this is why I brought you on this podcast. Right. This is the kind of thing that I think is exciting and the kind of thing that I believe starts to force us to start thinking about how this technology affects us on a daily basis in terms of what we do.

Farrokh Alemi (34:08):

I do thank you for doing that. And I also have been following what you have been saying about AI. And I really think that you are thinking right.

Gregory Washington (34:16):

Yeah. Well, I appreciate that. Well, look, we're gonna have to leave it there. Dr. Alemi, thank you for sharing your vision and your leadership with the educators of our future. I am George Mason, president Gregory Washington. Thanks for listening. And tune in next time for more conversations that show why we are all together different.

Outro (34:41):

If you like what you heard on this podcast, go to podcast.gmu.edu for more of Gregory Washington's conversations with the thought leaders, experts, and educators who take on the grand challenges facing our students, graduates, and higher education. That's podcast.gmu.edu.

Discover the College of Public Health

In This Story

Farrokh Alemi, PhD

Gregory Washington

Listen to more episodes of Access to Excellence

Podcast: AI is a clinician’s newest diagnostic partner
April 28, 2026
Podcast: The future classroom: Teaching and learning in age of AI
March 23, 2026
Podcast: Behind the scenes of "A House of Dynamite"
January 21, 2026
Podcast: Serving those who serve: A deployment of education and research
November 10, 2025
Podcast: The modern grid: the intersection of energy and the environment
October 20, 2025

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President and CEO of Inova J. Stephen Jones to be the College of Public Health Degree Celebration speaker

Mary Cunningham — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 19:43:04 +0000

President and CEO of Inova J. Stephen Jones to be the College of Public Health Degree Celebration speaker Mary Cunningham Tue, 04/21/2026 - 15:43

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Key Takeaways

J. Stephen Jones, MD, FACS, president and CEO of Inova Health, is the George Mason College of Public Health 2026 Degree Celebration keynote speaker.
Jones’s leadership has brought Inova national prominence and expanded care delivery across Northern Virginia.
Inova Health is a key partner of the College of Public Health in research advancement and health care workforce development.

At the helm of Northern Virginia’s premier nonprofit health care system, J. Stephen Jones, MD, FACS, stands among the most consequential leaders in modern health care. As President and CEO of Inova Health, he will deliver the keynote speech at 91��’s College of Public Health 2026 Degree Celebration, offering insight shaped by executive leadership, clinical practice, and academic medicine.

A board-certified practicing urological surgeon and professor of surgery at the University of Virginia, Jones brings deep experience leading complex health systems. He offers perspective and encouragement for graduates seeking to become future healthcare leaders.

Under Jones’ leadership, Inova’s system has grown to nearly 500 locations, modernizing and expanding access to care across its five existing hospitals to include its new Oakville and Woodbridge health centers, two new hospital campuses underway in Alexandria and Franconia-Springfield, and over 30 Inova Cares sites for underserved populations.

That commitment to access and innovation extends directly to George Mason, where Jones shares his expertise with students as a long-time supporter of College of Public Health students. Inova is a critical partner for the college as a destination for practicum and clinical experiences, and a leading employer of college graduates.

“Leadership is usually not what people think it is,” said Jones when sharing his leadership insights during a guest lecture. “Leadership is about getting others to achieve something they wouldn't naturally do—or do as well—on their own.”

Jones earned his BS in Zoology at the University of Arkansas, MD at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, and MBA at Case Western Reserve University. He completed his residency at Vanderbilt University. Learn more about J. Stephen Jones, MD, FACS.

The College of Public Health Degree Celebration will be held May 14 at 2 p.m. at Eagle Bank Arena. Learn more about the 2026 Spring Commencement.

School of Nursing offers its first full scholarship thanks to generous donor support

Taylor Thomas — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 15:54:21 +0000

School of Nursing offers its first full scholarship thanks to generous donor support Taylor Thomas Mon, 04/20/2026 - 11:54

The support of donors has life-changing impacts for 91�� students. An incredible show of generosity by an anonymous donor will provide full scholarship support for an undergraduate student enrolled in the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program in the College of Public Health’s School of Nursing. The Dr. Barry and Velma Berkey Endowed Scholarship will cover tuition for an entire academic year. This is the first full scholarship at the College of Public Health.

“We are profoundly grateful for the generosity of our donors, whose support has transformative effects on the lives of our students. This extraordinary gift will enable deserving Bachelor of Science in Nursing students to pursue their education without the burden of tuition,” said Dean Melissa Perry. “Such acts of kindness and commitment to education not only honor the legacy of Dr. Barry and Velma Berkey but also inspire our students to strive for excellence and make a meaningful impact in the field of public health and beyond. To our donors, thank you for believing in the power of education and for investing in the future leaders of health care.”

The scholarship was established to honor the late Barry Berkey and his wife, Velma Berkey. Berkey was a well-known psychiatrist, author, and the first clinical director of the Northern Virginia Mental Health Institute before he began his long-standing private practice. The first scholarship will be awarded in the fall 2026 semester to a full-time, in-state student who demonstrates high academic performance (minimum 3.5 GPA) and financial need.

The college extends thanks to all our generous donors.

Learn more about how you can give to the College of Public Health at 91��.

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Melissa J. Perry, Sc.D., MHS, MBA

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George Mason graduate programs rank #1 in Virginia and Top 50 nationally according to U.S. News

ckearney — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 19:24:03 +0000

George Mason graduate programs rank #1 in Virginia and Top 50 nationally according to U.S. News ckearney Mon, 04/06/2026 - 15:24

According to the U.S. News & World Report Best Graduate Program rankings, 91�� placed 20 programs in the national top 50, including seven in the top 10, reflecting broad strength across business, engineering, law, nursing and public health, public policy, education, fine arts, and sciences. Regionally, seven programs ranked in the top three in the Washington, D.C., region, with 13 programs topping at No. 1 in Virginia.

Photo by Evan Cantwell/Office of University Branding

"George Mason's growth in rankings is a direct reflection of the university’s commitment to student success through high-quality, career-focused graduate education," said Ajay Vinze, interim provost and executive vice president. "George Mason’s programs are competing at the highest levels nationally and leading the way in Virginia. This expansion signals not just the breadth of what we offer, but the strength of what we deliver."

Of the 21 George Mason programs newly represented this year, 15 earned rankings for George Mason for the first time. The remaining six appeared in categories that U.S. News had not been updated in several years, including doctoral programs in science disciplines and the master of fine arts last updated in 2020.

Policy Leads the Region

Public policy specialty areas were among the strongest performers this year, placing all seven of its ranked subject areas in the top 50 nationally and in the top 25 among public universities. Six subject areas ranked No. 1 in Virginia overall, and four ranked No. 1 in the Washington, D.C., region among public universities.

"As we mark the 10th anniversary of the school’s naming, these rankings speak to what the Schar School has become over the past decade: a place of real national consequence in public affairs education," said Mark Rozell, dean of the Schar School of Policy and Government. "From homeland security and nonprofit management to international global policy and public finance, these rankings reflect the breadth of the Schar School’s excellence and the growing national recognition of its strengths.”

That strength comes amid rising national demand for public service professionals, with employment in public administration projected to increase 6% from 2021 to 2031, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The homeland security and emergency management ranking maintained its position at 4th nationally and among public universities, and No. 1 in Virginia. George Mason was the sole Virginia institution included in both the public management and leadership and nonprofit management specialty areas, with each ranking in the top 20 among public universities nationally. Two new areas of strength debuted this year: international global policy and administration, which ranked No. 1 in Virginia and for the Washington, D.C., region, 15th nationally, and 4th among public universities, and the public finance and budgeting program placed 31st nationally, 25th among public universities, and 2nd in Virginia.

Where Business Leaders Begin

Business programs significantly expanded their presence this year, with 12 programs ranked as among the best in their categories. Eleven are newly ranked for George Mason, with seven placing in the top 50 among public universities. Three programs ranked No. 1 in Virginia, including one that also placed as the No. 1 ranked program in the Washington, D.C., region.

The part-time Costello Flex MBA program continued its upward trajectory, rising from 80th to 59th nationally, and to 37th among public universities. The part-time Costello Flex MBA, MS in accounting, MS in management, and graduate marketing certificate programs each ranked 2nd in Virginia. Among newly ranked graduate certificate programs, the information systems management certificate ranked No. 1 in Virginia. International business, which is predominant across Costello graduate programs through the college’s global residency experience, is also ranked No. 1 in Virginia.

"Our continued collaboration with business and industry supports strong career outcomes and contributes to growth in student enrollment," said Cheryl Druehl, interim dean of the Costello College of Business. "The expansion of programs comes at a time when demand is growing for professionals who combine durable business skills—from critical thinking and decision-making—with technical expertise in areas like business analytics and operations."

Computing and Engineering Drive STEM Growth

George Mason is ranked in nine programs across engineering, computer science, and statistics, with seven programs placing in the top 50 among public universities and eight in the top three in Virginia. The university is one of five (or fewer) Virginia universities included in eight programs.

In the engineering schools ranking, George Mason rose to 76th nationally (up from 85th) and 47th among public universities. The systems and industrial engineering program stands out at 35th nationally and 25th among public universities, while statistics debuted in the top 50 nationally (49th) and among public universities (35th). All three programs ranked 3rd in Virginia.

"We build programs that combine strong disciplinary foundations with applied problem solving to prepare students for an evolving workforce," said Ken Ball, dean of the College of Engineering and Computing. "Launching Virginia’s first standalone master of science in AI reflects that commitment, while our applied research centers, like the Rapid Prototyping Research Center, drive growing research expenditures that lead to higher overall rankings.”

Nursing and Public Health Rank No. 1 in Virginia

Continuing to set the standard for health education in Virginia, three programs ranked No. 1 in the commonwealth: master’s in nursing, doctor of nursing practice (DNP), and public health.

The master’s in nursing ranks among the top 12% of all universities included, placing 18th nationally and 9th among public universities. The DNP and health care management program both ranked in the top 50 nationally—33rd and 35th respectively—and in the top 20 among public universities at 20th and 19th. Public health ranked 63rd nationally and 39th among public universities.

"These results reflect what makes our college distinctive—expanding access to excellence while maintaining the highest standards of quality," said Melissa Perry, College of Public Health dean. "Students should not have to choose between opportunity and academic rigor. At George Mason, we are committed to preparing a diverse, workforce-ready generation of public health and health care leaders by delivering programs that are accessible, innovative, and deeply connected to the communities we serve."

That mission comes at a time of sustained and growing demand for nursing professionals nationwide. Nurses now represent more than half of the U.S. health workforce, underscoring the importance of George Mason’s programs in preparing graduates to meet critical health care needs."

Law Holds Strong

The Antonin Scalia Law School maintained its strong positioning with the part-time law program rising to 6th nationally, placing it in the top 8% of programs, and 3rd among public universities.

“Employment of our graduates reached 97% in a very competitive market,” said Ken Randall, Allison and Dorothy Rouse dean and 91�� Foundation Professor of Law. “These outcomes bode well for the school’s long-term success.”

Leadership Across Disciplines

U.S. News expanded and refreshed its rankings to include four George Mason science programs and a master of fine arts. These programs, along with education and clinical psychology, rank in the top four in Virginia and the top 10 in the Washington, D.C., region.

George Mason’s math program is 3rd in Virginia, placing 93rd nationally. "As emerging fields like AI, digital twins, and data science accelerate, mathematics remains the foundation that fuels innovation," said Cody W. Edwards, dean of the College of Science. "George Mason’s graduate mathematical sciences program prepares students with the analytical depth, applied expertise, and mentorship needed to solve complex challenges across fields such as health, space, sustainability, and government, while leading in a rapidly evolving workforce."

In education, George Mason remains 4th in Virginia, rising to 84th nationally and 70th among public universities."This recognition underscores the excellence and real-world impact of our graduate programs," said Ingrid Guerra-López, dean of the College of Education and Human Development. “We are steadfast in our commitment to developing future-ready educators and leaders who possess the skills, adaptability, and vision needed to succeed in an evolving educational landscape.”

Clinical psychology improved its national standing to 100th nationally, and to 72nd among public universities, while maintaining its position in 4th in Virginia. "This advancement reflects the contributions of our faculty and their impact to student success," said Ann L. Ardis, dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. “Through the Center for Community Mental Health, our PhD students gain hands-on experience delivering evidence-based, culturally responsive care, preparing them to serve veterans, hospitals, and communities most in need."

The master of fine arts program ranked 65th among public universities, and 2nd in Virginia and in the Washington, D.C., region among public universities. "Our MFA is distinguished by the intensely personal journey of discovery that it offers," said Rick Davis, dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts. “Our students are working artists who have a vision and a mission, and they come to us to explore how to make it grow.”

To view the full list of all programs included, visit gmu.edu/rankings.

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