AMHERST — As a graduate of the School of Public Health & Health Sciences Kinesiology department at the University of Massachusetts, doctoral student Petra Ypsilantis is aware of the separation and lack of cohesiveness among the school’s six departments.

“We’re all spread out,” Ypsilantis said, observing that there is a large distance to go from her research space at the Ruth J. Totman Physical Education Building on Eastman Lane to collaborate with students from other departments.

That will change in the fall of 2026, when a 26,800-square-foot, three-story School of Public Health & Health Sciences Hub opens, where all of the school’s graduate and undergraduate students will have space dedicated to their programs, much like what exists at the Isenberg School of Management.

“The thought of having a hub, a collective space, is really exciting,” said Ypsilantis, who was among students observing a ceremonial groundbreaking for the $43 million building on Tuesday morning. She noted her interest in studying the rehabilitation process for those suffering from traumatic brain injuries and the opportunity to work more closely with others.

“It’s really exciting to connect with students from different majors,” she said.

Fellow kinesiology doctoral student Olivia Greene said in a post-COVID world, having a hub matters for both undergraduates and graduate students, a place to connect their research and clinical practice, as she aims to pursue a career in which patients are looked at as a whole person.

“For us, it shows we’re growing as a field and a community,” Greene said. “This makes me excited to be here for the next five years.”

The emphasis on the new building being a hub was a theme throughout Tuesday’s remarks as people gathered on the entrance patio of the Totman building, which will be connected to the new structure and see some renovation as well. Once complete, the complex will feature a plaza between the two buildings.

Nearby, a perimeter fence extends along both North Pleasant Street and Eastman Lane, next to the roundabout, where construction workers with heavy equipment are beginning to prepare the site of a former parking lot.

Like the nearly 1,700 undergraduate and 500 graduate students in the school’s six departments, Anna Maria Siega-Riz, dean of the School of Public Health & Health Sciences, stressed that it’s a dream come true to bring all departments under one roof. In addition to Kinesiology, those departments are Biostatistics & Epidemiology; Environmental Health Sciences; Health Promotion & Policy; Nutrition; and Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences.

“This is a landmark moment, as it is the first ever structure on the campus designed for our school,” Siega-Riz said.

Siega-Riz said the building will focus on student-first instruction and fill an increasingly urgent need for health equity, while also hosting conferences, seminars and research space. She explained that the school tackles many contemporary issues, from the opioid crisis and chronic disease to food insecurity and reproductive health.

“Our mission is to achieve health equity and enhance health outcomes for everybody,” Siega-Riz said.

She referenced some of the efforts underway, like one project to determine if there are methods for removing PFAS, so-called forever chemicals found in drinking water, from the human body, and the first outbreak disease response network in partnership with the University of Texas-Austin.

There are other research initiatives, too, such as determining the effects of marijuana legalization in Massachusetts on people’s health, how to help inmates in prison with their addictions, and developing a speech and language hearing program for bilingual individuals.

“Public Health and Public Sciences is a common good,” Siega-Riz said.

“We are providing health and vibrant space to grow our community,” said senior kinesiology lecturer Eliza Frichette.

Chris Greenfield, the former associate dean of administration and finance who emceed the ceremony, said the building represents decades of growth, vision and planning for the school that was established throughout the 1970s and 1980s, but has been spread around seven buildings, with up to a mile separating students and faculty from various departments.

“This building represents connection for our community,” Greenfield said.

Similar sentiments were offered by Chancellor Javier Reyes, who said the building will be a “hub for connection,” and is also about maximizing public health and health equity, and a pillar of well being for students, faculty and staff.

“This signifies that effort,” Reyes said.

Reyes added that the building reflects the mission of being a land grant university and that a majority of students, after getting their undergraduate or graduate degrees, stay in state to work at hospitals, health centers and other similar places.

Stephen Karam, who chairs the UMass trustees, said that the school is promoting diversity in the health care field, ensuring that the workforce represents the community to be served.

Like other buildings, the hub will meet the UMass Carbon Zero initiative, said Barbara Kronke, executive director of the UMass Building Authority. To be built to silver LEED standards, the university will aim to eventually get to gold LEED standard.

The building is designed by Leers Weinzapfel Associates and being built by Fontaine Brothers.

The project is one of a handful of buildings rising on campus. Other projects ongoing include the Computer Sciences Laboratories, a 94,300-square-foot, four-story building to be completed in spring 2025 off Governors Drive, and the Sustainable Engineering Laboratories Building, a 78,000-square-foot structure to be completed in summer 2026 next to Stockbridge Hall.

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.