Tufts Center for Global Public Health addresses complex health challenges in its 2021 Global Health Seminar Series

The series is themed, “Roadmap to the post-pandemic future of global health”
Graphic showing interconnectedness of health

In the last century, health issues have increasingly become global challenges as the world became progressively interconnected.

Established in 2013, the Tufts Center for Public Global Health (CGPH) aims to foster inter- and trans-disciplinary research and capacity-building to address threats to health worldwide, especially in vulnerable populations.

CGPH brings together Tufts faculty and students dedicated to finding real-world, sustainable solutions for complex global health challenges such as treating infectious pathogens, caring for vulnerable patients and populations, and addressing the climate change crisis.

The Center is currently led by Director Alice Tang, PhD, ScM, professor in the Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, and Associate Director Ramnath Subbaraman, MD, MSc, assistant professor in the Department of Public Health and Community Medicine and attending physician at Tufts Medical Center.

CGPH will be co-hosting this year’s Global Health Seminar Series, which is themed, “Roadmap to the post-pandemic future of global health,” and will take place virtually every third Wednesday of the month. The event series is co-sponsored by the Global Health Faculty Council led by Joyce Sackey, MD, dean for multicultural affairs and global health at the Tufts University School of Medicine, and associate provost and chief diversity officer for the Tufts Health Sciences campuses.

“The Global Health Seminar Series provide the opportunity to engage in dialogue as a university community and to reflect on steps we can take to support not only our local community but also our global community as we continue to battle this pandemic,” said Dr. Sackey. “We are hopeful the lessons learned from such an important dialogue will help our community and society at large to be better prepared to mitigate future threats.”

The seminars will cover and explore topics that will address disparities experienced around the globe as governments and communities tackle the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in low-to-middle-income countries.

“With the seminar series, we will address what needs to be done now to find a path out of our current pandemic and, in the future, to help prevent pandemics like the one we are experiencing with COVID-19,” said Dr. Subbaraman.

The first event, “Stop Spillover: Preventing the Next Pandemic,” will take place on September 15 at 12 p.m. via Zoom and will feature the following faculty from the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine: Deborah Kochevar, DVM, PhD, MGBA, professor, and dean emerita, and senior fellow in the Center for International Law and Governance, The Fletcher School; Diafuka Saila-Ngita, DVM, MSc, PhD, research associate professor; Felicia Nutter, DVM, PhD, DACZM, assistant professor; and Saul Tzipori, DVM, PhD, DSc, FRCVS, distinguished professor and Agnes Varis university chair.

The event will cover strategies to stop spillover, which is pathogen transmission events from animals to humans. Spillover has become one of the top global health priorities after the emergence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. To learn more about upcoming events, email Ramnath.Subbaraman@tufts.edu.