ASPPH brought its AI for Academic Public Health framework to the Tennessee Department of Health’s Academic Practice Linkages Symposium, held July 30–31 at The Lodge in Fall Creek Falls State Park. ASPPH Chief Information Officer, Ed Ruiz, and ASPPH Senior Director of Educational Pathways and Undergraduate Education, Tracie Seward, joined Mollie Mulvanity, deputy director of the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH), for a panel session titled “What’s New? — ASPPH and CEPH Panel.”

Panelists appraised the changing landscape in academic public health and how programs can continue to innovate while strategically meeting accreditation priorities and attracting students to our dynamic field. Moderated by Joshua Woods, MPH, TN Department of Health, the conversation turned substantially to artificial intelligence (AI) and what the technology means for how public health is taught and practiced.

The symposium convened Tennessee’s academic public health community alongside state practice leaders. Tennessee Health Commissioner, John R. Dunn, DVM, PhD, opened the meeting, and faculty from a dozen Tennessee institutions attended, including ASPPH graduate members East Tennessee State University College of Public Health, Meharry Medical College Department of Public Health, University of Memphis School of Public Health, and Vanderbilt University Institute for Medicine and Public Health.

ASPPH looks forward to continuing these important conversations with our members and partners as we help shape the responsible integration of AI into academic public health. Through collaboration and shared learning, we can prepare future public health professionals to thrive in an evolving educational and practice landscape.