Tufts University opens new Center for Global Public Health

Tufts University School of Medicine recently announced the opening of the Tufts Center for Global Health, a research facility devoted to addressing global health issues such as infectious disease, according to a university press release.

“The work of the new Tufts Center for Global Public Health reflects our commitment to improving the human condition through education and discovery,” Harris A. Berman, MD, dean of Tufts University School of Medicine, said in the release. “As the world undergoes demographic, socio-cultural, economic and epidemiological transitions, research at the Tufts Center for Global Public Health seeks to stay ahead of the curve.”

The new facility will work to improve human health worldwide and develop initiatives to address health inequities and high burdens of disease. More specifically, research will focus on areas such as HIV/AIDS and diarrheal disease, nutrition, water sanitation and hygiene, food security, and maternal and pediatric health outcomes.

To that end, faculty at the school of medicine will partner with other researchers and educators from across multiple disciplines, including those at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, the School of Arts and Sciences and the School of Engineering.

Mkaya Mwamburi, MD, PhD, an associate professor of public health and community medicine at Tufts, has been appointed director of the new center.

“We are deeply committed to understanding the diverse factors that lead to inequities between and within populations and high burdens of disease in certain regions with the goal of formulating practical, cost-effective and sustainable solutions,” Mwamburi said. “Our approach is based on getting directly involved with local stakeholders and engaging in capacity building.”