UAlbany School of Public Health Establishes Center for Global Health
Center will serve as focal point for international research, collaborations and programs
Contact(s): Catherine Herman (518) 956-8150
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UAlbany School of Public Health Dean Philip Nasca and director Carol Whittaker unveil the Center for Global Helth, a new center devoted to addressing the world's health issues. (Photo Karl Luntta) |
"With many of our faculty engaged in international research and collaborations and with students coming here from close to 40 nations, the Center offers a broad world view of Public Health," said Philip C. Nasca, dean of the School of Public Health. "This Center will serve as the locus for our many international initiatives, and will help remind us that we are only as healthy as the world we live in."
The Center will serve as the focal point for collaborations with universities and public health agencies in Costa Rica, the Republic of Georgia, Turkey, Vietnam, and Mexico.
The Center will also offer a semester-long Global Health Seminar series, which will focus on public health's role related to war. The series will explore issues facing active duty personnel as well as returning veterans, assessing the impact of war on those involved in conflict situations including Iraq, Afghanistan and African nations. The role of war and its impact on women and children caught in the crossfire will also be addressed.
"Our faculty and students will contribute to public health programs and research projects when they serve abroad but they will also grow as individuals by being immersed in a different culture, speaking a different language, and learning how other countries deliver health services," said Carol Whittaker, assistant dean for Global Public Health and director of the Center.
The Center has already helped launch the school's new Master's International (MI) Program. Students accepted to the MI Program will earn a Master of Public Health (MPH) degree and spend 27 months serving in the Peace Corps while earning the degree. Following their experience in the Peace Corps, students will return to the School of Public Health for one final semester to complete work toward the MPH degree.
Through its partnership with the New York State Department of Health, UAlbany's School of Public Health offers students immediate access to internships at the Health Department, Albany Medical College, and variety of other public and private health institutions throughout New York. The school serves as the academic anchor of the East Campus, the biotech hub of the university's life sciences research, which includes the Cancer Research Center, home to the Gen*NY*Sis Center for Excellence in Cancer Genomics and the Center for Functional Genomics.
Students and faculty at UAlbany's globally-oriented School of Public Health study the most profound health issues facing us today: the origins of disease such as cancer, the threat of bioterrorism, the spread of HIV/AIDS and other emerging diseases, the lack of affordable and accessible health care for individuals and families, environmental hazards, substance abuse and social violence, maternal mortality in developing countries, the promises and threats of genetic engineering, and protecting food and water supplies.
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Educationally and culturally, the University at Albany-SUNY puts "The World Within Reach" for its 18,000 students. An internationally recognized research university with 56 undergraduate majors and 128 graduate degree programs, UAlbany is a leader among all New York State colleges and universities in such diverse fields as public policy, nanotechnology and criminal justice. With a curriculum enhanced by 300 study-abroad opportunities, UAlbany launches great careers. For more information about this globally ranked University, visit www.albany.edu. For UAlbany's extensive roster of faculty experts, visit www.albany.edu/news/experts.shtml.
