Stephen Murphy to become principal investigator for Region 6 South Central Public Health Training Center
Dr. Stephen Murphy, assistant professor of environmental health sciences, will become principal investigator for the Region 6 South Central Public Health Training Center (R6-SCPHTC) effective July 1, 2024, taking over for the retiring Dr. LuAnn White who has helmed the project for many years.
"It has been an absolute honor working with Dr. LuAnn White over the years and to take over as principal investigator/director," said Murphy. "The Region 6 South Central Public Health Training Center, guided by its HRSA mission, is rooted in service to the region and, to an extent, the nation. It's a great privilege to serve this mission with our partners in Region 6 to protect and maintain the health of our regional population facing continued health threats and an underfunded public health sector. Together with strong regional partners and the excellent team at R6-SCPHTC, we can continue to be a force-multiplier."
The Health Services Resource Administration (HRSA) funds X public health training centers across the country. The Region 6 training center is coordinated within the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine and focuses on five states: Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas.
Murphy also serves as the director of the Center for Applied Environmental Public Health and has been serving as a co-PI for the R6-SCPHTC. He also leads the Department of Environmental Health Sciences MPH degree and the Disaster Management Program MPH, leveraging his nearly two decades of practice-based experience shaping and implementing local, state, federal, and private sector public health, training, and health security programs.
He's been an active member of the Region 6 Public Health Infrastructure Grant Convening and his leadership spans emergencies such as COVID-19, Ebola Virus Disease, hurricane evacuation, pandemic influenza, and coastal oil spills, as well as planning for high-threat events of national significance such as the Super Bowl and other large-scale mass gatherings. He has served on numerous federal workgroups and task forces and state-wide public health advisory boards in Louisiana.
Murphy’s research is focused on the translation of research and science into effective public health policy and practice with an emphasis on workforce development and readiness, health security, and environmental exposures.
