Kari Nadeau named dean of the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health

Dr. Kari Nadeau, an internationally recognized leader in public health, medicine and disease prevention, has been named the next dean of the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. She will begin her tenure on July 1.

Since 2022, Nadeau has served as 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, where she also directs the Allergy, Extreme Weather, and Exposomics Laboratory. In addition, she holds a professorship in medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Across her various leadership roles at Harvard, Nadeau has helped drive significant growth in research funding, expand educational programs and advance innovative curricula in public health, policy and translational science.

Before joining Harvard, she spent more than two decades as a faculty member at the Stanford University School of Medicine, where she remains an adjunct clinical professor in the pediatrics department.

"I am delighted to accept the position of dean of the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health," Nadeau said. "My career has prepared me to build on the Fielding School's excellence in research, education and community impact. I am deeply grateful and honored to join UCLA and to contribute to furthering the school's growth and success."

A career spanning research, clinical innovation and public health

A renowned physician-scientist and an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, Nadeau has helped advance new therapies for potentially fatal allergies in adults and children and has published more than 400 scientific papers on allergies, chronic disease and related topics. She is an expert on how environmental and epigenetic factors - including pollution, environmental exposures and early-life conditions - influence disease risk and how public health strategies can reduce those risks, particularly in vulnerable communities. Her pioneering research at the intersection of allergy, immunology, environmental health and climate-related disease risks has informed policy at the local, national and international levels.

In recent years, her work has increasingly focused on climate-related health threats, and for the past decade, she has studied wildfire smoke exposure, examining its impacts on respiratory, cardiovascular, neurological, immune and mental health. Nadeau, who served on the U.S. Wildfire Commission and the California Air Resources Board Review Committee, is currently a co-chair of the LA FIRE Health Study, a major consortium of researchers from universities across the nation - including UCLA - working alongside state and local agencies in California to understand and mitigate the health effects of wildfire disasters over time.

Over the course of her career as a scientist and public health leader, Nadeau has built large interdisciplinary research teams and expanded partnerships among universities, government agencies, industry and community organizations. She is a member of the World Health Organization's scientific advisory board, the United Nations Environmental Assembly and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Children's Protection Committee.

A widely respected educator and mentor, Nadeau is known for her inclusive, student-centered approach 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.

"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," Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Darnell Hunt wrote in a message to campus announcing Nadeau's appointment. "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."

After receiving her bachelor's degree in biology from Haverford College, Nadeau earned her doctorate in biological chemistry and molecular pharmacology and her M.D. from Harvard Medical School.

She will succeed Ron Brookmeyer, who has served as dean of the Fielding School of Public Health since 2020 and was interim dean from 2018 to 2020.

"Dr. Kari Nadeau has had an immensely productive and successful tenure at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She also has been an enormously valuable schoolwide leader in support of our education, research and community-building priorities," said Dr. Andrea Baccarelli, the school's dean. "The Harvard Chan family will miss Kari very much, but we look forward to continuing to collaborate with her and the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. We're also pleased for Kari that she will have the opportunity to rejoin her family in California. I would like to extend my sincere thanks and congratulations to Kari on this wonderful, well-deserved appointment."