Haile Debas
Haile Debas, MD, executive director of UCSF Global Health Sciences, will update the UC Board of Regents today about the exciting plans to create the University’s first multicampus school of global health.
Debas, former chancellor of UCSF and dean of the UCSF School of Medicine, is leading the initiative to create the new school, which will draw upon and integrate the expertise of UC faculty in health sciences, social sciences, law, business and engineering.
He first briefed the UCSF campus about plans for the new UC School of Global Health in February. “UC can mobilize the phenomenal expertise of the 10 campuses, which are uniquely capable to become a leader in global health,” Debas said then.
Debas will present the plans as an information item to the members of the Committee on Educational Policy at the Regents’ meeting at UC Irvine. Interest and investment in global health are growing at UCSF, the UC system and worldwide, Debas says.
In fact, UC anticipates receiving a generous planning grant from a major foundation, according to the information item, which is posted as a PDF on the UC Regents website.
“This response is driven not only by the demands of the students and faculty, but also because institutions correctly view global health as a new frontier for academic competitiveness,” the information item states. “The best and the brightest students see the availability of global health training as a key factor in their selection of schools and training programs.”
Moreover, “Investment in global health is an investment in human development.”
Over the next 24 months, teams of representatives from all 10 campuses will finalize the school’s governance system and educational program, and will develop a fundraising strategy and resource plan.
In addition, UC will organize global health workshops on all of the UC campuses to identify potential centers of excellence. The interdisciplinary, multicampus, theme-based centers will function as departments of the school of global health and will be selected through a competitive, three-step process. Final selection of the centers will be made by an external committee of experts.
“Crossing traditional disciplinary boundaries is critical to meeting global health challenges and will be integral to the school’s centers of expertise and its partnerships,” the information item states. “Through its research, training and service programs, the school will educate leaders to address major issues that affect the health of people in California and around the world and develop international collaborations to improve the health of vulnerable people and communities in California and worldwide.”
The school’s mission is to “focus on producing leaders and practitioners of global health, conducting innovative and important research and developing international collaborations for addressing health disparities to improve the health of vulnerable people and communities in California and worldwide.”
Within the coming academic year, a formal proposal for the school will be submitted for review to the Academic Senate, University administration and the California Postsecondary Education Commission, according to established criteria for the review and approval of new schools. Upon satisfactory completion of the review process, UC President Mark Yudof is expected to bring a recommendation to the UC Board of Regents for establishment of the school.
