Cynthia Harris named 2022 Outstanding Woman in Public Health

Cynthia M. Harris, Ph.D., Director of the FAMU Institute of Public Health, and Associate Dean of the FAMU College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Institute of Public, has been named the 2022 Florida Outstanding Woman in Public Health by the University of South Florida College of Public Health.

USF Public Health bestows the award each year to a woman whose career accomplishments and leadership contribute significantly to the field of public health in Florida. Harris, will receive the award in a ceremony on Wednesday, April 6.

With a career that spans more than 30 years, Dr. Harris has distinguished herself as nationally recognized educator, researcher and expert in environmental health and environmental toxicology. Her work has garnered the financial support of state and federal agencies.

She has worked to combat childhood obesity and to address racial and ethnic disparities in the health professions.  

Most recently, she has worked to tack the challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic directly in Leon County and is responsible for the development of the FAMU COVID-19 Testing Site which has administered more than 500,000 test since opening.