For the next few weeks, the University of Washington Schools of Public Health and Medicine are interviewing potential candidates for the position of Department Chair in the Department of Global Health. We are excited to welcome four candidates who are accomplished leaders with substantial experience living, working, and partnering with institutions in the Global South.
Each candidate will be giving a talk on global health with a Q&A session afterward and have open office meet and greet sessions. We invite you to come meet the chair candidates and welcome your feedback. All presentations will be held in person and on Zoom. Candidate talks will be recorded and uploaded online and a link to provide your feedback will be provided. Feedback is requested by September 29.
The search remains open to interested candidates and the Advisory Search Committee welcomes input from all members of the Department of Global Health to identify the best candidate to guide the department through its next phase of transformation and growth. To contact the Advisory Search Committee, please email Mary Pyper, Search Manager, at GH-Chair-Search@uw.edu
Xiaolin Wei is a medical doctor, public health specialist, tenured full Professor and the inaugural Dalla Lana Chair of Global Health Policy in the University of Toronto, Canada. In 2022, he was elected as a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, one of the highest honors for medical science academics in Canada. Xiaolin has led research using implementation science frameworks to change clinical practice and make health policy impacts in areas of antimicrobial resistance, tuberculosis control and diabetes/ hypertension care. He is the faculty co-lead of implementation science in the University of Toronto. He has published over 150 peer reviewed research papers, and led over $12m research funding as the principal investigator from UK’s MRC, DFID, Canadian CIHR, IDRC, StopTB Partnership and Hong Kong RGC. He has served as the Secretary General and Vice President of the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease. He holds adjunct/visiting professorship with the Johns Hopkins University, USA, the University of St. Andrews, University of Leeds, UK, Peking University and Fudan University, China.
"I will share my understanding and experience in designing and conducting implementation science research to promote systematic update of research findings into public health practice, and hence, to impact on health policies at national and global levels. Research topics include reducing inappropriate use of antibiotics in primary care facilities in China, employing digital innovations to improve NCD care in Pakistan, and working with faith-based organizations to improve vaccine confidence among the poorest communities in the Philippines."
PRESENTATION: Implementation Science Research to Impact Global Health Policies
Michael Chung, MD, PhD, MPH, FRCP is the Associate Director of the Emory Global Health Institute and Professor of Global Health, Medicine, and Epidemiology at Emory University. He has spent nearly 20 years living in Kenya and Vietnam conducting research, teaching medicine, building health systems, and treating patients. Dr. Chung co-founded the Coptic Hope Center for Infectious Diseases, one of the largest single-site HIV treatment centers in Kenya, and recently served as Chair of the Department of Medicine at Aga Khan University, East Africa. The primary focus of his research has been improving the delivery of care and cervical cancer screening among people living with HIV in lower-middle-income countries. Dr. Chung received his MD from the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, PhD from Ghent University, and MPH from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He is board certified in Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (FRCP).
Craig Cohen, MD, MPH, is a Professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF). Throughout his career, he has demonstrated his commitment to advancing global health, particularly in the areas of HIV and sexually transmitted infection prevention and treatment, as well as fostering transdisciplinary and multisectoral interventions to promote health and wellbeing in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
Dr. Cohen, during his time as a reproductive infectious disease fellow at the University of Washington, joined forces with his esteemed colleague, Dr. Elizabeth Bukusi, to establish the "Research Care and Treatment Program (RCTP)" in partnership with the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI). Over the course of nearly three decades, this program has achieved remarkable milestones, bolstering the capacity for biomedical research through comprehensive training initiatives and infrastructure development. Additionally, through Family AIDS Care & Education Services (FACES), the program has been instrumental in providing vital HIV care, treatment, and prevention services in collaboration with the Kenyan Ministry of Health, leaving an indelible impact on western Kenya.
Dr. Cohen leads/co-leads several global health training programs. Among his notable contributions are the GloCal Health Fellowship, Sustainable Development for HIV Health (SD4H), and the recently funded Khulani Siphile Siphuhle Training Program in South Africa (KiSS-TP). These transformative programs are centered on expanding diversity, equity, and inclusion in the field of global health, and catalyzing the emergence of leaders from LMICs who are poised to tackle the most pressing health challenges.
As a testament to his enduring commitment to mentorship, Dr. Cohen has played an instrumental role in guiding and shaping the careers of over 70 doctoral and professional students, residents, post-doctoral fellows, and more than 20 junior faculty. His mentorship has paved the way for a new generation of researchers and healthcare professionals, supporting them to make significant contributions in their respective fields.
Beyond his academic achievements and research breakthroughs, Dr. Cohen is widely admired for his compassionate and collaborative approach to addressing global health issues. His ability to foster partnerships and build bridges between academia, government, non-governmental organizations, healthcare institutions, and local communities has been pivotal in creating sustainable solutions that positively impact the lives of vulnerable populations in LMICs.
PRESENTATION: The Future of Global Health: Empowering Equitable and Transdisciplinary Collaborations
Dr. Albert Icksang Ko is the Raj and Indra Nooyi Professor of Public Health at the Yale School of Public Health and Collaborating Researcher at the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Brazilian Ministry of Health. His research centers on the health problems that have emerged in as a consequence of rapid urbanization and social inequity. Dr. Ko coordinates an urban health program in Brazil, which focuses on delineating the role of social marginalization, urban ecology, and climate in the emergence of infectious disease threats in informal settlements and implementing community-based interventions in these settings. He and his team have also mobilized research capacity to respond to multiple epidemics, which include meningitis, leptospirosis, dengue, Zika virus infection and associated birth defects, and the current COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Ko is Program Director of the Fogarty/NIH Global Health Equity Scholars Program which provides training opportunities at 21 low- and middle-income countries. He is a member of the WHO R&D R&D Blueprint Working Group and Taskforce for Zika Virus. During the pandemic, he served as co-chair of Governor Lamont’s Reopen Connecticut Advisory Group. Dr. Ko continues to advise the Governor and the State of Connecticut on its pandemic prevention and control plan, as well as supporting the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation in its COVID-19 response in Brazil.
