The Power of Six
Welcome to the University of Pittsburgh Health Sciences, one of the nation’s most dynamic and integrated academic health communities.
As senior vice chancellor for the health sciences, Anantha Shekhar oversees all six of Pitt's health sciences schools. Learn more.
Here, six top‑tier schools—Dental Medicine, Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, and Public Health—work within steps of one another, forming a uniquely collaborative ecosystem powered by exceptional talent, scientific depth and a shared mission to improve health in every way and everywhere possible.
We are a true powerhouse, with 7,100 faculty and staff, 6,700 learners, 159 academic programs, and more than $1.3 billion annually in externally funded life sciences research and development. Together, we are redefining the future of health promotion, science and care—shifting from treatment to prevention, from individual biology to population health, and from isolated breakthroughs to scalable, equitable and affordable solutions.
Our educational mission mirrors this ambition. We prepare clinicians, scientists and health professionals through immersive, interprofessional learning; AI fluency; community engagement; and innovative degree pathways that ensure our graduates are practice‑ready, system‑ready and future‑ready.
Several transformative initiatives are accelerating this momentum:
- BioForge is developing innovations and breakthroughs in the manufacturing of precision biologic medicines to speed their delivery, use and impact.
- Pitt.INC is creating novel pathways for accelerating the translation and commercialization of our scientific breakthroughs so they reach patients sooner.
- Our expansive Omics Core is enabling us to scale precision health through deep biological profiling.
Our close collaboration with UPMC—encompassing 40+ hospitals, 8,000 physician offices and outpatient sites, international operations, and a 4‑million‑member health insurance plan—amplifies our reach and accelerates our impact, as do our educational and research partnerships in 90+ countries.
Simply put, Pitt Health Sciences is building a place where breakthroughs become standard of care, where AI elevates human judgment, and where once‑unimaginable therapies become scalable realities—all while educating leaders equipped to shape the future of health in every way that matters.
Anantha Shekhar, MD, PhD
Senior Vice Chancellor for the Health Sciences
John and Gertude Petersen Dean, School of Medicine