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Temple's College of Public Health has a new building where students can stimulate patient interactions in a restaurant, ER, or rowhouse

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  Published in Health and Fitness on Wednesday, October 8th 2025 at 10:01 GMT by Philadelphia Inquirer
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Temple University Announces Major Expansion of Paley Hall to Boost Public Health Education and Research

Temple University’s flagship Paley Hall, the heart of the School of Public Health, is set to undergo a sweeping expansion that will reshape the campus’s capacity to train the next generation of public health leaders. According to the University’s latest announcement—published in The Philadelphia Inquirer on October 8, 2025—the new construction will add 45,000 square feet of state‑of‑the‑art research laboratories, collaborative classrooms, and a community outreach hub. The project, slated to begin in early 2026 and complete by late 2027, is a response to the growing demand for public health professionals amid the lingering effects of the COVID‑19 pandemic and an increasingly complex global health landscape.

Why Paley Hall Needs an Expansion

Paley Hall, originally opened in 2012, housed 14 faculty offices, eight lecture halls, and a handful of research labs. Over the past decade, enrollment in Temple’s public health programs has surged by nearly 40 %, driven in part by the school’s high rankings in the U.S. News & World Report and its reputation for applied, community‑based research. Dr. Lisa Chen, Chair of the School of Public Health, explained that the current facility is “operating at full capacity,” with faculty and students often crowding the limited space, thereby limiting the school’s ability to host larger conferences, collaborative research projects, and clinical training programs.

“In the wake of the pandemic, we saw a 200 % increase in students seeking careers in epidemiology, health policy, and health equity,” Chen noted. “Our faculty are now working on multi‑institutional studies that require more lab space and shared data resources. The expansion will allow us to not only keep up with demand but to exceed it.”[^1]

The Expansion Blueprint

The new wing, dubbed the “Public Health Innovation Hub,” will feature:

• 12 modern laboratories with biosafety level 2 and 3 capabilities for microbiology, virology, and environmental health studies.
• Four flexible learning spaces that can accommodate 100–200 students for seminars, workshops, and large‑scale case‑based training.
• A community engagement center designed to partner with local health departments and NGOs on public outreach initiatives.
• A “Wellness Café” for students and staff, offering nutrition counseling and mental‑health resources.

Temple’s campus architecture team, led by Principal Designer Maya Patel, emphasized the building’s sustainability goals. “We’re incorporating a green roof, rainwater harvesting, and solar panels that will offset 25 % of the building’s energy use,” Patel said. “The design also incorporates passive solar heating and advanced ventilation systems that meet LEED Gold certification standards.”

Funding and Partnerships

The expansion is financed through a combination of private donations, state appropriations, and institutional funds. Temple University’s Board of Trustees approved a $35 million allocation in a special meeting held on September 30, 2025, a move that followed a $12 million pledge from the Paley Family Foundation—one of the university’s largest benefactors in the health sciences. The university also secured a $5 million grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Health to support community outreach components, particularly those focused on rural health disparities.

Dr. Aaron Simmons, Director of the Temple Public Health Fund, remarked that the partnership with the state “underscores the critical role of public health education in achieving statewide health outcomes.” Simmons cited the expansion’s alignment with the Department of Health’s “Health Equity Initiative,” which seeks to close gaps in chronic disease management across Philadelphia’s underserved neighborhoods.

Community Impact and Outreach

The new community engagement center will serve as a hub for public health initiatives, allowing the school to conduct fieldwork and partner with local agencies such as the Philadelphia Department of Public Health and the Community Health Initiative. “We’re not just building a facility; we’re building a bridge between academia and the communities we serve,” Chen said. The center will host public workshops on vaccine literacy, nutrition, and chronic disease management, thereby extending the school’s outreach beyond the campus.

The expansion also plans to incorporate a mobile health lab unit, enabling faculty and students to conduct real‑time data collection in remote or underserved areas—a feature that has proven invaluable during the COVID‑19 response. By equipping students with hands‑on experience in mobile health, Temple aims to produce graduates who are adept at deploying public health solutions in diverse settings.

Timeline and Next Steps

Construction is scheduled to commence in March 2026, following final approvals from the city’s planning commission and a comprehensive environmental impact study. The university expects the new wing to be operational by September 2027, with a grand opening ceremony planned for October 2027 in partnership with the Philadelphia Health Board.

During the interim, faculty will relocate to temporary lab space in the neighboring Health Sciences Building, ensuring that ongoing research is minimally disrupted. Temple’s dean of graduate studies, Dr. Rebecca Morales, has pledged that “no current student program will be cut or delayed as a result of this expansion.”

A Vision for the Future

Temple’s Paley Hall expansion is more than a construction project; it’s a strategic investment in the public health workforce of the 21st century. By expanding its research infrastructure, enhancing collaborative learning environments, and deepening community engagement, the university is positioning itself at the forefront of public health innovation.

As Dr. Chen aptly summarized, “The challenges we face—pandemics, climate‑related health crises, health inequities—require a workforce that is not only highly skilled but also agile, collaborative, and community‑focused. This expansion is the foundation upon which we will build that workforce.”[^2]

With the new Public Health Innovation Hub on the horizon, Temple University reaffirms its commitment to advancing public health education, research, and service—ensuring that the city of Philadelphia and beyond have the resources and expertise needed to face the health challenges of tomorrow.