School Notes: School of Public Health
September/October 2022

YSPH deputy dean named interim dean

Melinda Pettigrew ’99PhD became interim dean of the Yale School of Public Health (YSPH) on July 1. She replaces outgoing dean Sten Vermund, who is returning to research and teaching after more than five years of school leadership. Prior to the appointment, Pettigrew served as deputy dean of the school and senior associate dean for academic affairs. 

In a career spanning two decades at YSPH, Pettigrew has expanded online degree programs; launched new academic concentrations in health justice, climate change, global health, and public health modeling; and served on the President’s Committee on Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging. As the school’s Anna M. R. Lauder Professor of Epidemiology (Microbial Diseases), Pettigrew’s research focuses on the global health threat of antibiotic resistance.

New YSPH lab documents Ukraine war crimes

The Humanitarian Research Lab at the Yale School of Public Health is documenting alleged violations of international law and crimes against humanity by Russia-aligned forces in Ukraine as part of a new Conflict Observatory initiative led by the US Department of State.

In its first report released in May, the lab used satellite images and other investigative methods to identify 22 hospitals and healthcare facilities in five localities in Ukraine that sustained damage between February and March 2022 due to widespread bombardment by Russia-aligned forces. “Destruction of health facilities is devasting not only for patients and providers but for entire populations,” YSPH dean Sten Vermund said when the report was released. “Health facility destruction is a form of terrorism that leaves lasting scars.”

Associate professor Kaveh Khoshnood, ’89MPH, ’95PhD, serves as the lab’s principal investigator. YSPH lecturer Nathaniel Raymond serves as the lab’s executive director.