The Department of Public Health, Social and Preventive Medicine was newly founded in January 2021 and is headed by Prof. Dr. (phil.) Falko Sniehotta. The primary goal of the department is translational public health research, i.e. the development, evaluation, and implementation of innovative and sustainable strategies to improve population health and disease prevention in society.

Our research is interdisciplinary and based on findings from the health, behavioral and social sciences, with representatives from different disciplines represented on our team. Our work focuses on the following areas

• Parent and child health,
• Climate change and health;
• Prevention of obesity and other non-communicable diseases.

In each research area, we are committed to understanding and reducing health disparities. To this end, the public is actively involved in the research process. The involvement of patients, clinicians, and the local and political public is essential for a successful translational process.

Not only in research but also in teaching, inter-and transdisciplinarity as well as innovative methodological competence characterize our way of working. Within the framework of university teaching, the department's tasks include didactically and methodologically innovatively designed lectures, seminars, and examination formats within the framework of the medical curriculum MaReCuM, as well as the support of doctoral students.