UC launches new Center for Public Health
Longtime researcher named inaugural director
The University of Cincinnati College of Medicine recently announced Suzanne Judd, PhD, as the inaugural director of its new Center for Public Health. The hire follows a national search launched in August 2025, as the Cincinnati Business Courier reported.
Suzanne Judd, PhD. Photo/University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Judd joins UC from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where she has served as a professor and chair of its department of health behavior. Judd brings more than 26 years of research experience and more than $100 million in National Institutes of Health-funded projects.
“Judd’s appointment marks a pivotal moment for our university and our city,” said Gregory C. Postel, MD, dean of the College of Medicine, Christian R. Holmes professor, executive vice president for health affairs at UC and chair of the UC Health Board of Directors. “Her experience leading multi-institutional studies and her commitment to addressing barriers to health care align perfectly with our mission.”
As UC’s Center for Public Health director, Judd will guide program development and faculty recruitment, among other initiatives. The new center will work to transform community health through research, education and strategic advocacy, unifying public health efforts across several colleges.
"Public health is the foundation of a thriving community, and I look forward to building a center that serves as a catalyst for innovation, access and health transformation," Judd said. "We will develop sustainable solutions for the most pressing challenges facing our region."
Judd, an epidemiologist, is considered an expert in health disparities. She began her career as a research engineer in the consumer products industry before transitioning to public health. Judd earned a master’s in public health in epidemiology and a PhD in nutrition sciences from Emory University in Atlanta.
Her research focuses on how dietary patterns and environmental factors contribute to racial disparities in stroke, hypertension and kidney disease. Notably, her work has quantified dietary patterns that explain up to 63% of the racial disparity in stroke risk.
She has spent 17 years at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Judd will officially begin her UC role Sept. 1.
Featured image at top: Exterior of CARE/Crawley building on UC's medical campus. Photo/University of Cincinnati.
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Following an extensive national search, the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine has appointed Suzanne E. Judd, PhD, as the inaugural director of its newly established Center for Public Health. Judd, a renowned epidemiologist and interdisciplinary scholar, will lead the center’s mission to transform community health through innovative research, education and strategic advocacy.