A Message from President Riley
By Office of the President | Nov 4, 2025
Leading Public Health with Evidence, Equity, and Purpose
Dear Downstate Community,
One of Downstate’s greatest strengths is its ability to bring together science, community, and service. Our faculty, students, and staff advance health equity and uphold evidence-based medicine, proving that leadership in public health begins where knowledge meets purpose—at the profound intersection of care, courage, and community. Across every school, clinic, and lab, our students, faculty, and staff are translating expertise into impact, scholarship into service, and awareness into action.
Last month’s Domestic Violence Awareness panel, From Harm to Healing, powerfully reframed domestic and gender-based violence as a public health issue, one that demands compassion, coordination, and courage. Our panelists, including Priyanka Datta, M.D., Commissioner Saloni Sethi, Marlon Peterson, and University Police Insp. Allen Haynes discussed how trauma-informed care, survivor leadership, and stronger legal frameworks are reshaping the way we prevent harm and promote healing. The work of ending violence requires us as clinicians, advocates, educators, and neighbors to listen, lead, and stand with survivors.
Jane R. Zucker, M.D., MSc, Adjunct Professor in the School of Public Health, exemplifies this purpose through her recent JAMA publication, “The Measles Resurgence.” Drawing on more than a century of public health data, Dr. Zucker examines the growing crisis of vaccine confidence in the United States. She cautions that the return of preventable diseases like measles and the public’s eroding trust in science signal a deeper unraveling of evidence-based policy at the national level. Her work reminds us that integrity in public health depends on facts, ethics, and compassion, rather than ideology.
At University Hospital at Downstate (UHD), that same drive for excellence has earned national recognition from the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP) for meritorious outcomes in surgical patient care. Only 77 hospitals nationwide received this honor, which affirms UHD’s leadership in patient safety, surgical outcomes, and team-based care, highlighting the extraordinary skill and commitment of our surgeons, nurses, anesthesiologists, and residents in delivering compassionate, high-quality care.
Discovery continues to define who we are. At the 3rd Annual Fall Research Symposium, the Office of the Senior Vice President for Research celebrated the energy and innovation of emerging scientists and clinicians who are driving the next wave of medical advancements. Closing LGBTQ+ History Month, we were proud to see Downstate’s HEAT Program receive a $35,000 grant from the Stonewall Community Foundation.
Beyond our immediate community, and in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa in Jamaica and other parts of the Caribbean, where widespread power outages and damaged hospitals have left communities in crisis, Downstate stands with our Jamaican and Caribbean families here and abroad. Many of our students, colleagues, and patients share deep ties to the island, and its recovery is profoundly personal to us all.
In every challenge, whether local or global, Downstate’s mission is to heal, teach, and lead with compassion. Whether advancing science, advocating for equity, or standing with our neighbors in times of crisis, we remain united by purpose and strengthened by community. Together, we are proving that public health is not only a profession, but also a promise to care for one another, to lift every life we touch, and to #KeepCareClose.