Dean Vlahov Receives Visionary Pioneer Award from Alma Mater

By Phoebe Byers

UC San Francisco School of Nursing Dean David Vlahov, RN, PhD, has been honored by his alma mater. As part of its 125th anniversary celebration, the University of Maryland School of Nursing will honor Vlahov and 24 other outstanding alumni as “visionary pioneers” who have become expert clinicians, educators, and leaders in Maryland, the nation, and around the world. Those selected have made a significant impact on and contributions to the nursing profession based on their leadership, innovation, or entrepreneurship.

Vlahov has vast experience in interprofessional and interdisciplinary education and research. He served on the faculty as Professor of Epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins and Columbia Universities. He has also served as co-Director of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health and Society Scholars program. He brings research expertise in epidemiology, infectious diseases, substance abuse and mental health.

Vlahov conducted studies of urban populations in Baltimore for over 20 years including several longitudinal cohort studies for which he received the NIH MERIT Award. More recently, Dr. Vlahov led epidemiologic studies in Harlem and the Bronx, which have served as a platform for subsequent individual – and community – level intervention studies and community based participatory research to address social determinants of health. This work has contributed information on racial/ethnic disparities in health and approaches to address such disparities. He initiated the International Society for Urban Health and is an expert consultant to the World Health Organization’s Urban Health Center in Kobe, Japan.

“We are excited to announce our inaugural Visionary Pioneer Award winners during this momentous year in the School of Nursing’s history. All of these outstanding alumni have had an impact on the nursing profession and health care, and we are extremely proud of them,” said Jane M. Kirschling, PhD, RN, FAAN, dean of the University of Maryland’s School of Nursing.

The Visionary Pioneers will be honored at UMSON’s 125th Anniversary Gala on April 18, 2015 at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront Hotel.

For more internal-facing stories from the UCSF community, please visit Pulse of UCSF.