Dear Colleagues:
I am delighted to announce the appointment of Kari C. Nadeau as the next dean of the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, effective July 1, 2026.
Dr. Nadeau currently serves as the chair of the Department of Environmental Health and John Rock Professor of Climate and Population Studies at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and as professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. Prior to that, she was a faculty member at the Stanford University School of Medicine for more than 20 years, where she currently holds an adjunct clinical professor position in the Department of Pediatrics. At Harvard, Dr. Nadeau also serves as a member of the Center on the Developing Child and the Biodiversity and Planetary Stewardship Committee; director of the Allergy, Extreme Weather, and Exposomics Laboratory; and faculty associate in the Harvard University Center for the Environment and the Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability. She also served as interim director of the Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment (C-CHANGE) from 2023 to 2024.
In her various leadership roles, Dr. Nadeau has overseen significant growth in research funding; expanded educational programs; and advanced innovative curricula in public health, policy and translational science. She has a strong record of cross-sector collaborations, mentoring trainees and faculty, and building partnerships with community organizations, government agencies and industry. Dr. Nadeau is also a widely respected educator and mentor, known for her inclusive, student-centered approach and her commitment to preparing the next generation of public health leaders. She has created experiential learning opportunities that connect students with real-world challenges and championed initiatives to broaden participation and belonging in the public health workforce.
An internationally recognized leader in public health, medicine and disease prevention — and a highly accomplished physician–scientist — Dr. Nadeau has pioneered research and published more than 400 scientific papers on allergies and other chronic diseases across the life course. She studies how environmental and epigenetic factors affect the risk of developing disease and how to prevent disease in vulnerable communities, focusing on solutions to address health exposures with policy-oriented outcomes. Her work has informed policy at local, national and international levels and has helped shape emerging practice in precision prevention, individual health and population health.
During the past decade, Dr. Nadeau has conducted research and education in wildfires and smoke exposure, focusing on the impacts to respiratory, cardiovascular, neurological, mental health, cancer and immune disorders. She currently serves as one of the chairs of the Los Angeles Fire HEALTH Study, which has brought together a consortium of collaborators from 10 universities — including UCLA Fielding and other UC schools — to work with government agencies including the California Office of the Governor, the California State Legislature, the California Environmental Protection Agency and the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. She has also collaborated with UCLA Health and the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA to test innovative therapies in novel clinical trials in near-fatal allergies in children and adults.
Dr. Nadeau is a member of the National Academy of Medicine, the American Public Health Association, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Children’s Protection Committee, the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health, the scientific advisory board of the World Health Organization and the United Nations Environmental Assembly. She also served on the U.S. Wildfire Commission and the California Air Resources Board Review Committee. She received her Bachelor of Science in biology from Haverford College, and her Ph.D. in biological chemistry and molecular pharmacology and her M.D. from Harvard Medical School.
I want to thank the search/advisory committee members for assembling an outstanding pool of candidates for this position and for their roles in recruiting Dr. Nadeau:
- Paul H. Krebsbach (chair) – dean of the UCLA School of Dentistry
- Roshan Bastani – distinguished professor of health policy and management
- Kristen Choi – associate professor and Audrienne H. Moseley Chair in Nursing; associate professor of health policy and management
- Michele Guindani – professor of biostatistics
- Robert J. Kim-Farley – professor-in-residence, Departments of Epidemiology and Community Health Sciences
- Gerardo Moreno – professor and chair of the Department of Family Medicine; Kaiser Permanente Endowed Professor of Community Medicine
- Courtney S. Thomas Tobin – associate professor of community health sciences and African American studies; Associate Dean for Inclusive Excellence, FSPH
- Yifang Zhu – professor of environmental health sciences
I also wish to recognize and express my sincere gratitude to Ron Brookmeyer for his distinguished service as interim dean and dean since November 2018.
Dr. Nadeau’s academic, professional and administrative experience and achievements, coupled with the meaningful collaborations she has developed at and beyond UCLA, position her well to lead the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. Recognizing the importance of public health to our mission, Chancellor Frenk and I are confident that the school will continue to fulfill its vital role on campus and will reach new heights under Kari’s capable leadership. Please join us in congratulating her and warmly welcoming her to UCLA.
Sincerely,
Darnell Hunt
Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost