Global Public Health Initiative
With its new Global Health Equity Institute, Meharry Medical College has established the first step in creating the School of Global Public Health. Daniel E. Dawes, J.D., an internationallyrecognized health policy expert, researcher, and attorney will lead the Institute in generating a strategic plan to launch the future School, which will be the first school of its kind at a historically Black college or university. The future School will advance educational opportunities for current and prospective students while working to eliminate health disparities and increase health equity worldwide.
Meharry’s goal in launching the School is to advance educational opportunities and research that will counter structural discrimination in public health locally, nationally and globally, address upstream determinants and drivers of health, and develop innovative and sustainable solutions to improve public health for all population groups. Meharry expects the School to serve as a model of health equity research and service, as well as a pathway to expand education and knowledge that provides new resources and discoveries in public health worldwide.
Dr. James E.K. Hildreth, Ph.D., M.D., president and CEO of Meharry Medical College and Meharry identified these inequities firsthand as they worked on the front lines of pandemic response in Nashville. Meharry administered screening, testing, and vaccinations throughout the city and contributed to local and national policy decisions to control the outbreak. Dr. Hildreth was appointed by President Joe Biden as a member of the U.S. COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force and served as a leader of Nashville’s COVID-19 Task Force.
With the goal of launching the School by 2026, the first step is to create a blueprint for the School through an anti-racist lens – laying the groundwork to align with Meharry’s long-term mission of decreasing inequities in health care throughout the world. Dawes will lead Meharry’s efforts by:
• establishing the business and strategic plans
• acquiring accreditation and licensing
• staffing and recruitment of a 21-person faculty,
• and determining the resources needed for a successful launch to enroll the first cohort of students.
Dr. Daniel E. Dawes
Dr. James E.K. Hildreth
Photo by Edward Jenner
