Follow Our Historic Timeline

1915: Founding

The Yale School of Public Health traces its roots to 1915 under the leadership of Charles-Edward Amory Winslow. A world-renowned public health authority and a proponent of social medicine, Winslow influenced health policies locally, nationally, and internationally.

1920: Definition of Public Health

In 1920, C.-E. A. Winslow defined public health, shaping its future. His comprehensive framework still inspires the field today. In Winslow’s classic 1920 definition, public health is the “science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life, and promoting physical and mental health and well-being.”

1946: Accreditation

In 1946, the department earned recognition as a nationally accredited school of public health, making Yale’s program one of the oldest accredited public health schools in the country.

1964: Yale Arbovirus Research Unit

The Rockefeller Foundation moved its viral labs from New York to Yale, funding much of the Laboratory of Epidemiology and Public Health’s construction. This move established the Yale Arbovirus Research Unit, attracting leading global experts in arthropod-borne virus infections, including Max Theiler, who received a Nobel Prize for his work developing a Yellow Fever vaccine.

1974: Yale Cancer Center

In 1974, the Yale Cancer Center opened as one of the first National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers. Since then, it has been recognized as a national leader in cancer research, prevention, detection, and treatment.

1982: Diagnosis-Related Groups (DRGs)

Adopted by Medicare in 1982, a system called the Diagnosis-Related Groups categorized ailments and treatments into standard categories. DRGs set fixed fees, reducing average U.S. hospital stays, a practice that encourages hospitals to expedite treatment.

1980s: Needle Exchange

In the late 1980s, as AIDS devastated the U.S, activists and Yale public health researchers in New Haven proposed a radical solution: a government-run clean syringe program for drug users. Despite initial opposition, by 1990 Connecticut authorized New Haven’s needle exchange program, saving countless lives and inspiring similar initiatives nationwide.

1997: CIRA

Established in 1997, the Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS – CIRA – unites faculty from 16 disciplines and 11 departments throughout Yale. CIRA supports innovative, interdisciplinary research to advance HIV prevention and treatment, and eliminate health disparities.

2007: CARE

Founded in 2007 at the Yale School of Public Health, the Community Alliance for Research and Engagement – CARE – is now co-housed at Southern Connecticut State University and YSPH. CARE focuses on improving health for people in New Haven most impacted by disparities, through research, practice, and engagement.

2020: COVID Response

In 2020, YSPH experts significantly influenced COVID-19 response efforts. They contributed to Connecticut’s vaccine advisory committee, assisted New Haven with contact tracing, and played a key role in national advisory groups including a White House task force on health equity.

2024: School Independence

For the first time in the school’s nearly 110 years of existence, we are a fully independent and self-supported school at Yale. “Independence provides that opportunity for us to change the field of public health for the next century in the same way that C.-E. A. Winslow set us up to change things last century” – Dean Megan L. Ranney, MD, MPH