CENTER FOR GLOBAL HEALTH STUDIES

Three years ago, the Whitehead School of Diplomacy launched a Global Health Initiative, to examine global health issues from a foreign policy and national security perspective. This initiative led to the development of the Center for Global Health Studies, a think tank and resource center on issues relating to health, development, and security. Dr. Yanzhong "Andrew" Huang is the inaugural Director of the Center.

The ensuing developments have proved how prescient this decision was. In January 2005, the CIA warned that terrorists were more likely to use biological weapons than nuclear ones to cause mass destruction in the next 15 years. Meanwhile, with H5N1 reaching endemic levels in many parts of Asia, most infectious disease experts believe that the world stands on the verge of an influenza pandemic – an event estimated by the World Health Organization (WHO) to cause between 2 and 50 million deaths worldwide.

The Center has hosted leading scholars and practitioners for guest lectures and conferences, including the President of the Public Health Research Institute (PHRI), Vice President of Global Health Policy of Merck, Inc. and Senior Officer of External Affairs at the WHO New York Office. In November 2005, the Center kicked off its Global Health Lecture Series with Dr. David Heymann, a leading WHO expert, giving a presentation entitled, "Challenges in Global Health: From Smallpox to Polio, SARS and the Bird Flu." At the School's conference, "Health and Governance: What are the Linkages?" Professor David Fidler, a preeminent scholar in health and international law, gave a key note address entitled, "Architecture amidst Anarchy: Global Health's Quest for Governance."

The Center has developed partnerships and working relationships with global health organizations, including the World Health Organization. Through the Center’s cooperation with WHO, many students have completed internships at the WHO New York Office.