Cara Pennel is an Associate Professor in the Department of Population Health and Health Disparities and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the UTMB School of Public and Population Health (SPPH). Broadly, her interests and expertise include community health assessment, program planning and evaluation, community engagement, and improved integration of research, teaching, and practice. Her research areas include academic public health, community health assessment and community health improvement planning, and projects that build community and academic partnerships to improve health through community engaged research.
Her educational development and scholarship goals include innovation in practice-based teaching, application of public health knowledge and skills into practice, and engagement in community- and service-based learning. Dr. Pennel leads SPPH educational efforts and is involved in public health accreditation through the Council on Education for Public Health as a site visitor, site visit chair, and preliminary self-study reviewer. She was inducted into the UTMB Academy of Master Teachers in 2019 and The University of Texas Kenneth I. Shine, M.D., Academy of Health Science Education in 2025.
Affiliations
- Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health
- Accreditation and Credentialing Advisory Committee, ASPPH
- Greater Gulf Coast Translational Science Alliance
- Texas Academic Public Health Partnershi
- Galveston County Reach Education And Community Health (REACH)