SPH Assistant Professor Melanie Firestone’s areas of expertise include foodborne illnesses, food safety, infectious diseases, epidemiology and outbreak investigations.
Environmental Health Sciences
Restaurant inspection data could help prevent foodborne illness and outbreaks
New School of Public Health analysis argues restaurant inspection data could play a larger role in identifying risks and preventing outbreaks of foodborne illness
From Pandemics to the Super Bowl: Inside the School of Public Health’s Emergency Preparedness Course
Emergency Preparedness: A Public Health Perspective introduces students to the systems, strategies, and real-world challenges of responding to everything from infectious disease outbreaks to major public events.
SPH Professor Silvia Balbo is part of a global team to study cancer’s greatest challenges
The international research team will spend five years and up to $25 million studying DNA damage linked to cancer to inform improved prevention and treatment.
Dr. Michael Osterholm Named to TIME’s 2026 TIME100 Health List of the World’s Most Influential Leaders in Health
The 2026 TIME100 Health spotlights the 100 most influential leaders in health this year.
New study shows practical, efficient, and cost-effective method for removing PFAS from groundwater
PFAS pose health concerns across the country, and new research co-led by the University of Minnesota could provide a revolutionary solution to cleaning up so-called “forever chemicals” that continue to be one of the most challenging environmental health issues of our time.
Talking farmer mental health with University of Minnesota
Extension Educator Emily Krekelberg and SPH Professor Jeff Bender, director of the Upper Midwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center (UMASH), share what you need to know about farmer mental health.
The fight against ‘forever chemicals’
Since the early 2000s, SPH professor Matt Simcik has worked to reduce chemical exposures by studying how PFAS move through the environment—and how to stop them.
Hidden hazards: study finds chemotherapy drug contamination in veterinary oncology clinics and on dogs
Chemotherapy drugs used to treat cancer in pets can remain on clinic surfaces and on the dogs receiving treatment, potentially exposing veterinary workers and pet owners to hazardous contamination.
From wetlands to the lab, SPH students track and analyze vector-borne diseases
Associate Professor Jon Oliver’s class collects and dissects bugs to understand how the pathogens they carry pose a growing threat to human health
New study underscores importance, effectiveness of federal support for tracking foodborne illnesses
New research analyzed how CDC programs which offer support to states improved their ability to detect, investigate, and combat incidences of foodborne illnesses
New study will explore detoxifying effects of watercress in people exposed to high levels of air pollution
School of Public Health researchers will collaborate with Chiang Mai University in Thailand to examine how eating the vegetable watercress may help detoxify harmful air pollutants in the human body
