Before the start of the Spring 2026 semester, members of the (GMB), a registered student organization (RSO), traveled to Panama with a shared goal of providing essential medical care and conduct community health research in rural areas.

The expedition offered 37 students a unique opportunity for experiential learning, cultural immersion and leadership development outside the traditional classroom setting.

A Global Effort for Local Impact

Global Medical Brigades is a student-led organization dedicated to providing sustainable health care to under-resourced communities abroad. By mobilizing student volunteers and health care professionals, the chapter works to improve health outcomes and empower local communities through education and medical assistance.

“The Syracuse University chapter of GMB is part of a larger international movement that has facilitated over 1.5 million patient consultations globally over the past 20 years,” says Keona Bukhari-Adams ’27, the newly elected president of the chapter.

During the week-long brigade, students assisted health care professionals in treating over 250 community members who face significant barriers to medical access.

“Global Medical Brigades is a small part of a much larger global effort to assist rural communities with extremely low physician densities,” Bukhari-Adams says. “It has reshaped my understanding of culture and solidarity in ways that challenge traditional perceptions of what it means to live a life of wealth.”

Community-Driven Fundraising

To finance the mission, 37 student volunteers raised a total of $90,000, each with a $2,430 donation goal. Through local partnerships and personal advocacy, students engaged the Syracuse community to fund trip costs and essential medical supplies.

Becky Roby ’26, the chapter’s vice president, raised $2,030, while Ava Mastalir ’28, the vice president of membership and outreach, raised $2,500 through outreach to family and friends.

“This experience alone made me want to fundraise and participate in our next brigade,” Roby says. “Every trip is special in its own way and I was grateful that I was able to have another experience in Panama.”

On campus, the organization hosted several benefit nights where a portion of the proceeds supported the trip, including events at Chipotle, luv handlz and Purple Banana.

Clinical Care, Field Research and Community Engagement

The trip focused on clinical support and patient care. Students took vitals, assisted doctors in dental extractions for children and helped treat older patients who had not received physical checkups in years.

Students also participated in public health research and spent an entire day conducting community health surveys. This research involved interviewing local women about menstrual and sexual health to understand existing education gaps.

Participants sharpened their professional skills by navigating language barriers and learning local dialects to better console and educate patients. The brigade also worked with local leaders to ensure that disease prevention and hygiene education would have a lasting benefit for the community long after the students departed.

“The primary skill I learned in Panama was how to interact with patients who were nervous or confused, and how to care for them even with the challenge of a language barrier,” Mastalir says.

Leadership Opportunities and Friendships

The experience also served as a catalyst for student leadership on campus. Many participants, motivated by previous trips to Guatemala, utilized the Panama brigade to further their commitment to global health. Roby says the trip provides “hands-on experience in global health and service that cannot be replicated in a classroom.”

Beyond clinical experience, the brigade fostered a strong sense of community among the students themselves. For students considering future brigades, participants emphasize the value of stepping outside one’s comfort zone.

“I loved the friendships I built during the trip, and we still constantly stay in touch,” Roby says. “Being part of something so meaningful created a strong sense of community and belonging for me on campus.”

The Syracuse University Global Medical Brigades chapter continues to welcome students of all majors who are interested in global experiences and meaningful service.

Story by Kate Jackson ’26, S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs

If your readers or viewers are sneezing more than usual this spring, there’s a reason.

Allergy seasons across the U.S. are starting earlier, lasting longer and hitting harder, driven by warmer temperatures and rising CO2 levels that are increasing pollen production. What’s more, people who have never had allergies before are suddenly developing them in adulthood—a trend that’s becoming increasingly common.

, a teaching professor of public health in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and a practicing family nurse practitioner, can help explain this year’s allergy season.

Here are some of the insights she’s ready to share:

Why this season feels different. Pollen seasons are not only starting earlier—they’re blending together across seasons, meaning the body’s immune system stays activated longer. When multiple trees pollinate at once, exposure becomes stacked and continuous, leading to more severe and persistent symptoms. Pollution compounds the problem by making pollen more irritating to airways. And a lesser-known phenomenon—”thunderstorm asthma”—can trigger severe asthma attacks when storms break pollen grains into tiny particles that travel deep into the lungs.

You are not born with allergies. First-time allergy symptoms in adulthood are very common, and the changing climate is expanding the pool of people affected. Anyone experiencing new seasonal symptoms this year shouldn’t assume it’s just a cold. Olson-Gugerty offers a simple rule of thumb: itching points to allergies; fever and body aches point to infection. She can walk reporters through the key clinical differences between seasonal allergies and a cold, flu or COVID—and explain when symptoms warrant a doctor’s visit rather than another trip to the drugstore.

Kids are different, and parents often miss the signs. Children are more likely to develop ear infections, sleep disturbances, and asthma flare-ups during high-pollen periods, but they often can’t articulate their symptoms. Parents should watch for mouth breathing, unusual fatigue, irritability and dark circles under the eyes—signs that are easy to overlook or misattribute.

The most common mistake allergy sufferers make. Olson-Gugerty says it’s waiting too long to treat. Allergy medications work best when started before symptoms peak, and taking them only as needed rather than consistently is one of the biggest reasons people struggle unnecessarily each spring.

To connect with Professor Olson-Gugerty, please contact Daryl Lovell.

Olutoyin Green ’26 always knew she wanted to study abroad. But she wasn’t expecting to end up in South Africa—and she definitely wasn’t expecting to go there twice in one year.

Green is majoring in political philosophy; health humanities; and law, society and policy alongside a minor in public health in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. Connecting her studies is a need to understand how massive systems impact everyday lives—and how everyday people can change those overarching structures.

Thanks to the University’s experiential learning and outreach initiatives, Green has had the opportunity to encounter both ends of this scalar spectrum. As an undergraduate research assistant with the Engaged Humanities Network, Green works with Southside Connections (SSC) to address social challenges through community organizing.

Her learning with this local, place-based collective action has been complemented by a summer internship at the Global Governance Institute through Syracuse Abroad’s European and Global Internship Program in Brussels, looking at a set of institutions and decision-making processes taking place at a very different scale. Green’s professional development experiences in Belgium included visits to NATO headquarters and the European Parliament alongside meeting experts from the United Nations.

Finding Her Niche Abroad

Even before heading to Brussels for her summer internship, Green planned a full-length semester abroad—something she’d been looking forward to since her freshman year. Initially, she planned on taking general electives at one of the European centers.

As she looked further into study abroad options, though, Green discovered World Partner programs, and “realized they would expose me to different cultures in a non-traditional way that was geared toward my passion.”

The SIT South Africa: International Relations in the Global South program offers students a chance to dive into global affairs from non-Western perspectives, considering such major international actors as the African Union and the BRICS block (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa). The program immediately caught Green’s eye, and in spring 2025, she spent four months in Durban learning about the anti-apartheid movement and contemporary issues in post-colonial societies.

Experiential learning through trips to museums, workshops with local organizations and conversations with civil society leaders developed a lived understanding of multiscalar politics around the region, while three different homestays grounded Green in the country’s still-existing social disparities.

“I don’t have a favorite moment or memory,” Green says, “because the entire semester was so impactful, and everything I did—in and out of formal coursework—connected so powerfully.”

Learning From the Past to Reshape the Future

Throughout her coursework in South Africa, Green was especially moved by the reality that individuals who led the anti-apartheid movement are still alive and able to share their stories and strategies for changemaking. Throughout her studies investigating political, social and economic disparities between communities within the United States and around the world, Green has seen that change needs to happen—but very rarely found avenues to make that change.

Inspired in large part by the “blueprint and hope” that she received from anti-apartheid leaders in South Africa, her senior honors thesis is now considering how social movements are sustained to effectively create meaningful change. Thanks to support from the Syracuse Office of Undergraduate Research and Creative Engagement (SOURCE), Green returned to South Africa over Thanksgiving break to lay the groundwork for empirical research informing her thesis.

The trip played a fundamental role in Green’s methodology. “Before going back and speaking with people informally, I had a singular idea of who I was going to interview,” says Green, having assumed she would focus on high-profile activists.

The informal conversations highlighted the intricacy of the movement as a whole—and just how intentional the role of doorknockers, knowledge generators, exiled individuals and other “behind the scenes” members of the movement were. Green now has a more multifaceted understanding of what social movements can look like, and who is involved.

And though she may not have a favorite memory from spring 2025, reuniting with her host family over Thanksgiving break was the personal highlight of her recent research trip, as well as sitting on the warm beach in November. “There’s nothing better than the water in Durban,” she says.

Story by Becca Farnum, community engagement specialist with Syracuse Abroad in London

A significant expansion in structure, programming and community outreach  is paving the way for the (CHB) to help position Syracuse University as a national leader in research, education and practice.

An initiative of the (A&S), the and the (IVMF), CHB has a particular focus on the study and promotion of health, well-being and resilience among veterans and military-connected individuals.

Since launching its website and affiliate portal this past summer, have joined CHB—researchers, educators and clinical practitioners from across the University and from area health institutions. have been launched and the student research cohort has been formed.

CHB has hired a dedicated to support affiliate projects. It has also established a for staff who coordinate research initiatives and plans to implement student awards. Additional workshops and research showcases are scheduled for spring.

Building an Ecosystem

CHB is designed to advance translational health behavior research, education and training and provide a collaborative ecosystem for professionals working in the health behavior field, says , A&S professor of psychology, licensed clinical psychologist and CHB director.

Health behavior is a broad, interdisciplinary area that examines the many factors, choices and conditions that influence physical and mental health across the lifespan. The center’s purposeful cross-campus, cross-institutional structure makes it a hub for affiliates to share interests, findings and treatments and engage in academic and professional collaborations. Affiliates conduct basic laboratory studies, field research, clinical trials, digital health intervention work, qualitative studies and implement projects.

Veteran Focus

While CHB operates across a wide range of health behavior fields, a specialized focus on veterans and military-connected individuals complements the University’s commitment to that population, according to Ditre.

“Syracuse University has a national reputation as the best university for veterans and military-connected students. The University has worked with the Syracuse VA for about 30 years, beginning with faculty research collaborations and later expanding to co-mentored training and student placements. Building on that reputation and three decades of partnership, we should also strive to be the best place to learn how to serve veterans,” he says.

Veterans experience higher rates of suicide risk, trauma-related concerns, sleep problems, chronic health conditions and substance use compared to civilian peers. Many also face barriers tied to geography, stigma and complex transitions between military and civilian systems.

“These gaps have real consequences for individuals, families and communities. The University and this center, in collaboration with the IVMF, are uniquely positioned to address them,” Ditre says.

Digital Innovation

Digital innovation is a high priority because technologies like mobile devices, biometric monitoring and virtual reality help researchers collect real-time data from participants and capture their moment-to-moment experiences as well as indicators of health and behavior.

Affiliates have built mobile tools, tested them in trials and worked with community partners to implement check-in platforms and digital interventions that deliver guided exercises or personalized feedback.

“These tools let us reach people who may not engage with traditional services and connect with participants as they go about their daily routines or in settings where traditional care is harder to access. These technologies also help us understand behavior, tailor information to individual needs and deliver support in ways that fit people’s circumstances. For many of the populations we serve, this kind of flexibility is essential,” Ditre says.

Assuring health equity is another key focal point. That means designing studies and programs that are flexible, accessible and attentive to actual conditions and making sure that research benefits and outcomes reach the communities that need them most.

Grant and Award Applications

Application portals for the new pilot grant programs open Jan. 20, 2026, and close Feb. 12, 2026.

The supports cross-departmental and cross-campus projects with external institutional partners. The supports new or expanded Syracuse University and Veterans Affairs collaborations.

The grants range from $500 to $10,000 and the total pool of $50,000 is funded by A&S.

The funds give teams a way to test ideas, build a partnership or generate early data for larger external grant submissions. They also lower the barrier for new investigators who want to connect their work with campus priorities, according to Ditre.

Nominations for the , which cites excellence in research coordination work, are ongoing.

Future Activities

Future plans include more workshops with VA partners and collaboration with University Academic Affairs and the IVMF on a “Voices of Service” showcase where faculty, staff, students and community partners share veteran-focused research, courses and applied programs.

A neuroscience and health behavior research day, new working groups regarding sleep, substance use, trauma and digital health issues, awards for student work and additional community engagement activities are also planned.

As he participated in a seminar for the International Drug Policy Academy in Strasbourg, France, one afternoon last May, Alejandro Parra ’24, G’25 had a moment of reflection.

The alumnus, who earned a bachelor of science and a master’s degree in public health, joined global health experts from as far away as Malta and Mexico for a discussion about the ways culture shapes health care. They talked about the impact, for instance, of adjusting clinic hours based on local religious traditions, and collaborating with institutions such as churches to help distribute medicine and supplies.

Parra was not just an observer, but a participant—he gave a presentation on a proposal to cleanup needles discarded by drug users in a city park.

“I gained confidence presenting in front of experts in my field and the experience deepened my understanding of the multifaceted mechanisms that drive community action,” says Parra, who attended the seminar during his internship with the Council of Europe’s Biomedical Division in the spring of 2025. “It was a really unique opportunity and one of many insightful experiences I had.”

Witnessing History in Europe

Another: In June, Parra sat in on a landmark event at which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed an accord with the Council of Europe to establish a special tribunal to try top officials responsible for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. During his remarks at the event, Zelenskyy called for unity across Europe and the U.S. and urged leaders to uphold global democracy and the rule of law.

During his internship, from May through late June, Parra worked on public engagement and policy communication, creating fact sheets simplifying complex issues such as the role of artificial intelligence in health care, human rights in mental health care and the Oviedo Convention—a 1997 treaty on human rights in biomedicine.

He also participated in policy workshops and meetings with experts from across Europe on issues including psychiatric care and substance use disorders, gaining firsthand experience in building policy based on complex local contexts.

“A key skill I developed was writing for a non-scientific audience, condensing dense expert reviews into digestible facts,” he says. “This clarity proved essential in making policy resources accessible and engaging to the public.”

Building Policy and Communication Skills

The internship was one of several study abroad experiences Parra embraced during his five years at Syracuse. It proved especially transformative, showing him that global health is more than a coordinated effort; it is fundamentally rooted in the strength and unity of community.

“You can’t really deliver health care services to somebody without knowing their background and how to tailor it to them,” says Parra, who now resides in Queens, New York, and works as a mental health specialist for Lodestar Children’s Services, serves as a second lieutenant in the Army Reserves and is a member of the New York Army National Guard Military Funeral Honor Guard.

“The MPH [master of public health] program develops a multitude of cross-disciplinary skills and values that have shaped my perspective as a public health professional and provides me with a road map to continue to learn and grow my knowledge in the field.”

One of Parra’s favorite courses was Substance Use and Mental Health. Professor often asked students to lead weekly sessions based on their own evidence and case studies. The resulting discussions, according to Parra, were “thought-provoking” and shaped his view of mental health “across different cultures, traditions and global contexts.”

As an undergraduate, Parra was honored with the Public Health Leadership Scholar Award. He served as a career ambassador, a resident advisor, an honors peer mentor and a global ambassador. He was a member of Syracuse’s Army ROTC and served as a cadet in the New York Army National Guard.

He was supported by an internship award through the University’s , and by the Patricia and Melvin Stith Graduate Student Fund established to support military-connected graduate students enrolled full time at Syracuse and participating in the University’s .

Through his studies, internship and extensive global network, Parra learned that collaboration, trust and openness are the cornerstones of effective public health policy and human rights.

“My internship with the Council of Europe made it clear that developing human rights-centered policies requires a deep commitment to iterative feedback and adaptation,” he says. “The best policy work results from respectful debate, careful consideration of diverse viewpoints, and the humility to adjust ideas in response to real-world needs.”

Story by Catherine Scott

Growing up in India, Sudha Raj’s childhood dream was to become a physician. But there was one problem: She didn’t like the sight of blood.

Thanks to the influence of her parents and a friendly neighbor, Raj discovered a different way to help people by focusing her career on nutrition science and dietetics. She moved to Syracuse in 1981 to enroll at the University, and while she never left Syracuse, she has made an enormous impact around the globe.

In particular, Raj is known worldwide for her studies to investigate dietary acculturation patterns of Asian Indian immigrants in the United States and her various leadership roles with the , the world’s largest organization of food and nutrition professionals. Closer to home, she’s an award-winning and researcher in the in the .

Recognizing Raj’s groundbreaking contributions to the field of nutrition and dietetics, the Board of Directors selected Raj as a recipient of the , which was presented at an honors breakfast Oct. 12 during the in Nashville, Tennessee.

“Sudha has an inquiring mind and has mentored thousands of students to carry that quest for inquiry, but also cultivated a culture of integrity, purpose and shared commitment to advancing the profession,” says Harlivleen “Livleen” Gill, who served as the 2024-25 president of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. “Beyond her research and education, Dr Raj is known for her warmth, compassion and genuine connection with her colleagues and students.”

Nutrition and Food Studies Associate Professor first met Raj when she joined the University faculty in 1998, and Bruening says Raj is the first faculty member to receive a national award of this stature since the legendary in the early 1990s.

“For her many professional, scholarly and educational accomplishments at the local, national and international level, and for her selfless generosity to making all of us who are privileged to know her better global citizens, I strongly recommend Dr. Sudha Raj for the Medallion Award,” Bruening wrote in her recommendation letter to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics’ Awards Committee.

Nutrition and Food Studies Associate Professor Lynn Brann joined the Syracuse faculty in 2003 and says Raj has brought her expertise in multiple areas to the department through new course development and her dedicated mentoring of undergraduate and graduate students.

“Seeing Sudha receive this award brings me joy,” Brann says. “Sudha has been thoughtful and deliberate to select areas of nutrition that are meaningful to her and that impact the population at large. I am inspired to follow her pursuit of advancing the profession.”

For her part, Raj says she was excited to receive the Medallion Award and mingle with the five other award recipients from around the country. But she sees the honor as a “team effort” because of the support she has received from her colleagues over the years.

“In the nutrition department we have the best colleagues to work with,” Raj says, “and a lot of things happened here (at Syracuse) through the Academy’s initiatives because my colleagues saw value in it.”

Read the full story on the Falk College of Sport .

Twenty distinguished leaders from around the world will soon convene at the for an intensive, three-week academic program to cultivate technical expertise and deepen engagement to combat the production, trafficking and use of illicit drugs.

The school’s Executive Education program and recently added Public Health Department will host the Distinguished Humphrey Fellowship Program on Combatting Illicit Drug Trafficking starting Sept. 8. Funded by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State, the program is part of the federal government’s wider global efforts to combat illicit drugs.

“We’re honored to have been selected to host this important program, which will support global efforts to comprehensively address illicit drug trafficking from perspectives ranging from public health and public safety to transnational crime and artificial intelligence,” says Dessa Bergen-Cico, professor of public health and a leading expert in drug policy. “This program aligns with the Maxwell School’s efforts to foster global engagement and informed dialogue around complex international issues.”

Bergen-Cico will provide academic leadership and guidance throughout the program. She and public health colleagues—who joined Maxwell in a transition from the David B. Falk College of Sport this summer—will join Maxwell social scientists in offering expertise to the visiting scholars.

The selected fellows are distinguished senior professionals working in such fields as border protection, public policy, forensic science, public health and international cooperation. They hail from five global regions: Africa, Central and South America, East Asia and the Pacific, the Near and Middle East, and South and Central Asia. Countries represented include Cambodia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, India, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Maldives, Mexico, Nigeria and Senegal.

Part of the U.S. Department of State and administered by the Institute of International Education, the Distinguished Humphrey Fellowship is part of the Fulbright Exchange and provides executive-level training for senior foreign leaders that are well-positioned to influence policy in fields of critical importance to the U.S. This is the first Distinguished Humphrey Fellowship program focused on combatting illicit drug use, production and trafficking.

The fellowship includes an academic seminar, professional networking, site visits and meetings with the Department of State and federal agencies which are working to reduce illicit drug trafficking and use.

Fellows will learn about cutting edge drug surveillance methods, as well as economic and political factors fueling drug production and trafficking, strategies for monitoring criminal banking and cryptocurrencies, the use of AI in drug production, technological trends in trafficking, and successful models of law enforcement collaboration. Participants will also share their expertise and develop drug prevention strategies to be implemented in their home countries.

Steven Lux ’97 M.P.A., director of Executive Education, is pleased that Maxwell has been selected as a site for the training program and points out the school’s long connection to another Humphrey exchange in which fellows from several emerging democracies and developing countries visit annually for a 10-month program involving graduate study, professional development and cultural exchange.

“It is an honor to have been selected as a host site for this prestigious program that will bring professionals from around the world to tackle a vexing global issue and national priority,” says Lux. “We expect to learn from them as much as they from us.”

Over the summer, four academic disciplines focused on preparing students as professionals in the human, health and social services fields (formerly housed in the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics) transitioned to new academic homes across the University.

• The now resides in the School of Education.
• Marriage and family therapy joined human development and family science and the united department is now in the .
• The University’s have joined the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.

Concurrently, the was reimagined as the nation’s first standalone college of sport on a Research 1 campus.

These changes align with the University’s goal of creating academic synergies among, and supporting the continued growth and impact of, human dynamics programs. They also reflect the University’s ongoing commitment to human thriving, one of the areas of strategic excellence outlined in “Leading With Distinction,” the University’s .

The moves were announced in fall 2024 following strategic evaluation by the Human Dynamics Task Force, which was informed by input from students, faculty, staff and community partners. The task force’s goal was to ensure that each human dynamics program is positioned for long-term success, deeper collaboration and greater impact as they transition out of the Falk College and into new schools/colleges for the 2025-26 academic year.

Human Development and Family Science (HDFS)/Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT)

New home: College of Arts and Sciences (both disciplines housed in the Department of Human Development and Family Science)

Degrees offered: B.S., HDFS; M.A., MFT (in-person/online); Ph.D., HDFS; Ph.D., MFT; minors in human development and family science, child and family policy, mindfulness and contemplative studies and gerontology

Why it fits: These disciplines align with the College of Arts and Sciences’ (A&S) commitment to solving global challenges around health and well-being and will provide new avenues for collaboration and creativity. Cross-program partnerships will expand student learning opportunities in health-adjacent fields, drive research innovation and significantly enhance A&S’s collective impact on individual and community well-being. HDFS and MFT are natural additions to such existing A&S departments as psychology, communication sciences and disorders, health humanities, LBGTQ studies, neuroscience and women’s and gender studies.

Bringing these programs into A&S strengthens our commitment to interdisciplinary research and teaching that supports individuals and families across the lifespan. We are excited to welcome faculty and students whose work aligns so closely with our mission.

— College of Arts and Sciences Dean Behzad Mortazavi

Public Health

New home: Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs

Degrees offered: B.S., public health; B.S., public health and management (in partnership with the Whitman School of Management); MPH.; MPH/MBA dual program (in partnership with the Whitman School)

Why it fits: Public health’s move to the Maxwell School fits with the school’s academic strategic plan, which includes a focus on addressing health and health disparities. Public health and public policy are highly interrelated, and Maxwell is uniquely positioned to provide evidence-based solutions to the challenges facing public health leaders and practitioners. Opportunities for growth and collaboration will be enhanced across existing external partnerships (such as the public health department’s work with the New York State Department of Health) and within key Maxwell research centers and institutes, such as the Lerner Center for Public Health Promotion and Population Health, Aging Studies Institute and the Policy, Place, and Population Health Lab.

This is a natural fit for the public health department and for the Maxwell School. Adding these experts in global and environmental health, infectious disease and other top public health issues to our community of world-class scholars on population health, aging and health policy, as well as our health scholars across the social sciences, will further enhance our vital voice in the study of health and in the development of health policy.

— Maxwell School Dean David M. Van Slyke

Social Work

New home: School of Education

Degrees offered: B.S.W.; M.S.W. (in-person/online); J.D./M.S.W. (in partnership with the College of Law); social justice minor

Why it fits: The core values of social work—service, social justice, dignity and the worth of the person, importance of human relationships, integrity and competence—align closely with the School of Education’s mission of mentoring and nurturing the next generations of educators, scholars and leaders who will have meaningful and sustained impact in their communities. The addition of social work to the school brings new possibilities for interdisciplinary research and curriculum development, with social work faculty bringing to the table deep community partnerships, a strong research profile and an enthusiasm for working collaboratively.

I look forward to the new opportunities presented by closer collaboration with programs that share our historical commitments to inclusive pedagogy and practice, as well as to reciprocally valuable partnerships in Central New York. We will benefit from our new colleagues’ expertise in online teaching and their dedication to veterans and military-connected families.

— School of Education Dean Kelly Chandler-Olcott

Does taxing soda reduce how much people purchase and consume it?

Do restaurant patrons make healthier choices when calories are listed on menus?

Are GLP-1 weight-loss medications likely to reduce healthcare expenses?

These are but a few of the timely questions related to health policy and economics that have captured John Cawley’s scholarly interest in recent years. He’s studied these topics and published his findings in high-impact peer-reviewed academic and policy journals to inform decision-makers and fellow researchers.

Cawley uses sophisticated methods to address complex questions and provide straightforward recommendations. The short answers to the above questions are as follows: Yes, taxes on sugary drinks reduce purchases but have ambiguous effects on consumption, and people do tend to order fewer calories when that information is listed on menus. And, while the study of GLP-1 drugs is very much ongoing, the weight loss associated with them is likely to reduce healthcare expenses for individuals with extreme obesity, but not necessarily enough to cover their current high prices.

Cawley is a leading health economist, and he joins the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs this fall as the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Chair in Public Policy and professor of economics and public administration and international affairs. He will also serve as a senior research associate in the Maxwell-based Center for Policy Research (CPR).

“We are thrilled to welcome such a world-class scholar to our ranks,” says Dean David M. Van Slyke. “Across disciplines and in our research centers and institutes, students and faculty will benefit from his expertise in the critical area of health economics, his research endeavors and his well-established connection with policymakers.”

Van Slyke points out that Cawley’s addition comes at an important time, as the public health department transitions to Maxwell from the University’s Falk College of Sport. The restructuring brings to Maxwell hundreds of undergraduate and graduate students and 14 faculty members whose research interests intersect with Cawley’s endeavors.

Likewise, opportunities for collaboration abound with several Maxwell-based research centers and institutes such as CPR and the Lerner Center for Public Health Promotion and Population Health.

These opportunities were a draw for Cawley, who has a keen interest in the economics of risky health behaviors and says he’s eager for the “cross pollination of ideas.”

“Being around people from other disciplines is a big plus because you learn about different ways of thinking about the same issues,” he says, adding, “You don’t get stuck in an echo chamber.”

He says he’s honored to hold the Moynihan title, founded in 2007 to honor its namesake, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, who served as a U.S. senator, assistant secretary of labor under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, assistant to President Nixon for domestic policy, and ambassador to the United Nations and India. He served on the Maxwell faculty from 1959-61 and returned to teach for a few years before his death in 2003.

“Daniel Patrick Moynihan personified what we would want from academics,” says Cawley. “He was a very serious researcher, a prolific author, he engaged with policy and he served as an advisor to presidents. He could speak to anybody, and I think that’s sort of the gold standard of what we hope for in people in those positions. I’m really excited to join Maxwell—it has amazing faculty in all departments. It’s exciting from a research perspective.”

Cawley joins Syracuse from Cornell University, where he began as an assistant professor in the Department of Policy Analysis and Management in 2001. Since 2021, he served as a professor in its Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy and directed the Cornell in Washington program.

Cawley’s other roles at Cornell included serving as co-director of the Institute on Health Economics, Health Behaviors and Disparities from 2011–22 and professor in the Department of Policy Analysis and Management and Department of Economics. He received a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University, followed by a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago.

He has served as an honorary professor of economics at the J.E. Cairnes School of Business and Economics at the University of Galway in Ireland since 2014. In 2016 he was named a Fulbright Specialist in Economics to Ireland through the Fulbright Scholar Program. His numerous accolades include the State University of New York Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Scholarship, the Kappa Omicron Nu/Human Ecology Alumni Association Award for Excellence in Advising and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Investigator Award in Health Policy Research.

Cawley’s research findings have been published in numerous peer-reviewed journals, including American Economic Review, Journal of Health Economics, Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, Journal of Economic Perspectives, JAMA, Lancet and the American Journal of Public Health. He has been featured in major media outlets, including The New York Times, PBS and The Washington Post.

Cawley is the president-elect of the American Society of Health Economists and will serve as president from 2026-27. Since 2022 he has served on the board of directors of the International Health Economics Association. He is a former editor of the Journal of Health Economics and served on an Institute of Medicine panel on obesity in youth.

He begins at Maxwell on Monday. He will teach a spring 2026 undergraduate course titled “The Economics and Regulation of Risky Health Behaviors,” which will cover policies such as the minimum legal drinking age, recreational and medicinal marijuana, soda taxes and euthanasia laws.

Cawley is excited for the role, and to be part of the Orange community that he’s familiar with given his many Syracuse University connections, including a sister who earned a master of public administration at Maxwell, a niece who is currently an undergraduate and a nephew who is on staff.

“I’m honored to join Maxwell, which is home to the oldest and highest-ranked public affairs program,” says Cawley. “It has an incredible history of distinguished faculty and accomplished alumni, and I’m really looking forward to collaborating with the students and faculty. Also, I’ve gotten my basketball tickets and a picture with Otto, so the semester is already off to a great start.”