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Grant W. Somes, Ph.D., Chair
OVERVIEW
The Department of Preventive Medicine
includes biostatisticians, epidemiologists, physicians, psychologists,
and professionals of other fields whose work is oriented toward disease
prevention and health promotion. This department is organized into
three main divisions (click on underlined words to learn more):
Link to Consultation
or Collaboration Request form
Our work includes these services, programs, and
initiatives:
HISTORY AND MISSION
Established in 1939, the Department of Preventive
Medicine is integral to the UT Health Science Center's mission "to
improve human health through education, research, and public service,
with an emphasis on improving the health of Tennesseans." In
the early 1970s, this department was instrumental in Memphis/Shelby
County in developing one of the nation's premier community-based,
nurse-run, chronic-disease treatment programs, designed and initiated
by John W. Runyan, Jr., M.D., department
chair from 1972 to 1994. The department's clinical research expanded
while William B. Applegate, M.D., M.P.H., was chair from 1994 to
1999. During this period, the Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology
merged with the Department of Preventive Medicine, strengthening
research and other initiatives. Grant W. Somes, Ph.D., the present
chair, has continued this progress and expanded the department's
teaching mission through the Master of Science in Epidemiology program.
With this leadership, the Department of Preventive Medicine emphasizes
prevention-sciences scholarship, education, and community outreach.

Left to right: Drs. Runyan, Applegate, and Somes
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