Dean’s Message – Fall 2025 Newsletter
Dean’s Message – Fall 2025 Newsletter
Thank you for reading our Fall 2025 newsletter! We have an exciting semester lined up this year, and we look forward to seeing you all at events this fall.
This is my first fall at UTEP, and I have learned some amazing details about the College of Health Sciences.
The college offers 12 academic programs that outline six career pathways: Medical Laboratory Scientist, Public Health Professional, Rehabilitation Professional, Exercise Scientist, Social Worker, and Speech-Language Pathologist. The college partners with the El Paso community to arrange over 350 clinical and community partner sites used for internships and collaborative research. The college was awarded about $14 million in research funding in the previous fiscal year, and faculty produced more than 100 publications and abstracts in collaboration with students and community agencies. Finally, the college leads the University in both retention and persistence among units with undergraduate and graduate programs at UTEP.
The football program of any university is important. UTEP’s football schedule started with a game against Utah State on Aug. 30, and the final game is against the University of Delaware on Nov. 29. I would love to see great CHS participation in sporting events this year!
The CHS Viva La Salud conference took place on Sept. 12. This year’s keynote speaker was Marshall H. Chin, M.D., who serves as the Richard Parrillo Family Distinguished Service Professor of Medicine; the Associate Chief and Director, General Internal Medicine Research; the Director, Chicago Center for Diabetes Translation Research; and the Director, MacLean Center for Clinical ethics at the University of Chicago. His research in diabetes is a great fit for the CHS focus in that critical area of science. His work in diabetes has informed improvement efforts in diabetes care and outcomes.
Homecoming week came early this year! It kicked off with the CHS Miner Dash on September 21. The CHS Gold Nugget ceremony will take place on Sept. 24. And it will culminate at the football game against Louisiana Tech on Sept. 27 at 7 p.m.
Orange and Blue Day takes place on Oct. 25 in the HSN Building lobby. This event gives high school juniors and seniors the opportunity to explore up to 170 majors that spark their interest. Students can meet inspiring students and faculty who are willing to share their experiences. Financial Aid will also be available to answer questions such as living on campus. The Bhutanese architecture will be in full display and tours of campus will be offered. Your help would be greatly appreciated for this important event!
Research Projects
As an R1 university in the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, we maintain an impressive and growing portfolio of research projects that reflect both academic excellence and deep community impact. Faculty across the college secured significant external federal funding in the fiscal year, advancing knowledge, scholarship and practice across health disparities, rehabilitation science, social work and mental health, public health, kinesiology, community engagement and veteran-focused research.
Federal funding supports a diverse array of initiatives that span clinical investigations aimed at improving rehabilitation and recovery, to innovative approaches leveraging technology to enhance health and well-being. Faculty are developing and testing new strategies to improve functional outcomes, exploring mechanisms that influence pain and healing, and advancing methods for delivering care both in person and through emerging digital platforms. In addition, community-engaged projects are addressing urgent social needs such as food security, student well-being, and equitable access to health resources. These efforts have already resulted in sustainable programs and partnerships that directly benefit our students, campus and surrounding community.
Faculty are also leading federally funded initiatives designed to strengthen the health and well-being of veterans, their families and their caregivers. This includes research to support employment and economic stability, programs to increase access to healthcare and rehabilitation in rural and frontier regions, and multi-institutional collaborations to expand and strengthen the behavioral health workforce. Collectively, these projects build capacity not only for our university but also for the broader communities we serve, ensuring that our research translates into meaningful and lasting impact.
Taken together, the breadth of this work illustrates the college’s commitment to advancing rehabilitation, physical and mental health, and workforce development at local, regional and national levels. The momentum generated by these projects highlights our role as a leader in interdisciplinary research and community partnership, positioning our college as a catalyst for innovative and collaborative scholarship and positive change in higher education and beyond.
You can learn more about our college research on the website for our 20 centers, clinics, and laboratories. These are all great initiatives, and I would love to see more.
Go Miners!
Clemens Scott Kruse, Ph.D.
Dean, College of Health Sciences
