DPH hires health program associate; selects Waterbury and Stamford for round 2 pilot grants

The Department of Public Health’s climate and health office announced a new hire and the next round of local pilot grantees on the coalition’s recent meeting.

Hannah, a staff member with the Department of Public Health, told coalition members, “I am thrilled to announce that we've hired a health program associate who will start on February 7.” She said the new hire has a background as a physician and a recent public health degree with a focus on health equity research around LGBTQ communities and quantitative skills the office will use.

The office also reported movement on pilot grant contracts. “Our first round of funding went to Ledge Lake Health District and to the Bridgeport Department of Health, and we just selected and we're excited to announce that we'll be working with Waterbury and Stamford in the coming year as well,” Hannah said. She added the team will not release a formal public announcement for the round‑2 awards until contracts are executed.

Why it matters: the mini grants fund local heat and air‑quality planning that DPH and the Yale Center on Climate Change and Health will support over roughly the coming year. The new staff hire is intended to increase the office’s capacity to manage curriculum development, evaluation and technical assistance tied to those pilot projects.

Details and next steps: contracts for the newly selected grantees remain to be executed before formal public announcements and work begin. The new health program associate is scheduled to start Feb. 7; the office said her primary activities will include work on the training curriculum, evaluation, and technical assistance to local health departments.

The announcement came during the coalition meeting where staff also reviewed evaluation and curriculum timelines and symposium planning.