Selection of The Chair
Jim Yong-Kim, formerly of Partners in Health and the WHO HIV/AIDS program, was originally a candidate for director of the department, but was not selected. A controversial second selection process involving three new candidates took place in late 2005 and early 2006. The process was criticized for not being open, and there was concernamong the student body and faculty about the chosen chair. Some feared that the department would be too heavily oriented towards biomedical research and biotechnology (e.g. vaccine development) and would neglect the broader issues of public health, such as social justice, health disparities, prevention, promotion, human resources in health, and public policy. Some also feared that the areas of education and service would be sacrificed for a research agenda, and pointed to the fact that one of the first steps in implementing the department was the leasing of a large facility off campus in Seattle's South Lake Union neighborhood - an area being developed as a biotechnology hub.
Those within the process argued that planning was open and that the department would be multidisciplinary and would live up to its stated vision of taking a broad approach to global health. They also noted that while the department would have some facilities off campus, it would be primarily based at the university; the deans of the schools committed to finding on-campus space to house the department's administrative offices, although much of the lab space was planned to be located in a building in the Eastlake neighborhood.
In Spring, 2006, Michael Merson of Yale University was offered the position of director. However, in July of that year it was announced that Merson had been appointed direct of Duke University's Global Health Institute.
On September 8, University of Washington announced King K. Holmes, MD, PhD, a world leader in AIDS and infectious disease research and training, to become the first chair of the University of Washington's new Department of Global Health. His leadership in global health research and training, and experience as a public-health practitioner, will serve Holmes well in leading the Department of Global Health, according to Paul G. Ramsey, dean of the School of Medicine.
Read more about this topic: University Of Washington Department Of Global Health
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