People in the news - September 2016

Former Fogarty trainee is Peru’s new health minister

Dr. Patricia Garcia, a former Fogarty trainee and principal investigator on numerous Fogarty-funded projects, is the new Minister of Health in Peru. Garcia was public health dean at the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia and also had affiliations with the University of Washington and Tulane University. The Peruvian President and the Minister for Women recently honored Garcia with the “2016 Exceptional Merit Award for Women for Outstanding Professional Performance.”

Bloomberg named Global Ambassador for NCDs

The WHO has named philanthropist and former New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg as Global Ambassador for Noncommunicable Diseases (NCDs). He will work with national and local leaders around the world to highlight the burden of NCDs and injuries.

Bianchi to lead NIH child health institute

Dr. Diana Bianchi will become the new director of NIH’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). Bianchi is a medical geneticist who holds positions at the Floating Hospital for Children and Tufts University.

NIH appoints Gordon as mental health director

Dr. Joshua Gordon has been tapped to lead NIH’s National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). A psychiatrist and neuroscientist, Gordon was most recently on faculty at Columbia University and a research psychiatrist at the New York State Psychiatric Institute.

Smallpox legend D.A. Henderson has died

The epidemiologist who helped rid the world of smallpox, Dr. Donald “D.A.” Henderson, died in August. Henderson helmed the WHO campaign of smallpox surveillance and vaccination, which led to the 1980 declaration that the infectious disease had been eradicated.

Public health leader Harrison Spencer is mourned

Dr. Harrison Spencer, president and CEO of the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health, died in August. Spencer previously held positions at the CDC and WHO, and served as dean of the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Fogarty fellow Bhunu dies in Zimbabwe

Former Fogarty fellow Dr. Claver Bhunu died in July. Bhunu completed his Ph.D. in mathematical modeling during his fellowship and returned to Zimbabwe, where he was a professor in the University of Zimbabwe’s Department of Mathematics.

Former Fogarty fellow Hall Honored

Dr. Brian Hall, a former Fogarty Global Health Fellow, was awarded the 2016 Young Investigator Award by the International Union of Psychological Science. Hall directs the Global and Mental Health Research Group at the University of Macau.

Carson, Lim assume HHS attaché roles

Ms. Tracy Carson is the new health attaché in Geneva, Switzerland for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office of Global Affairs. Carson worked as a senior advisory for policy the U.S. State Department and provided support for the President’s Emergency Plain for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Most recently, she worked in the HIV/AIDS Bureau of HHS’s Health Resources and Services Administration.

Capt. Matthew Lim is deputy health attaché. Lim has been on detail from the U.S. Navy to work with HHS on global health security.