The School of Public Health at St. Louis University is in talks about moving to its more nationally prominent neighbor, Washington University in St. Louis.

Although details of any “evolving relationships” between the school and Washington University have yet to be made final, officials at both institutions have been meeting for the past few weeks about possible arrangements, according to an e-mail message obtained by The Chronicle.

The message was circulated to faculty members and others at the school on Friday by the office of Connie Evashwick, the school’s dean. Ms. Evashwick said she was “not at liberty” to comment on any plans and referred questions to the St. Louis University provost, Joseph Weixlmann, who did not immediately respond to a reporter’s telephone message.

The school is one of 39 independently accredited schools of public health in the United States and is the only such school run by a Roman Catholic college or university. Sources at the school, which has about 40 full-time faculty members and another 50 or so on an adjunct basis, have suggested that the shift to Washington University would be a better fit for the school. St. Louis University is more focused on undergraduate instruction, while the school has no undergraduate program and has been increasingly looking to bolster its research.

The school recently was named the lead institution for a five-year, $26-million grant on children’s health from the National Institutes of Health. And in September it was part of a consortium, with Washington University’s School of Medicine, that was selected to participate in a $50-million NIH grant to study ways to translate basic scientific developments into treatments for patients.

Washington University does not now offer graduate degrees in public health. —Goldie Blumenstyk