Dear School of Public Health Community,

We are thrilled to announce that on September 1, 2022, the Brown University School of Public Health will be welcoming four dynamic new faculty who will expand the impact of the School in improving and developing public health research, policy, and practice. The addition of these leading experts and innovators in the fields of health policy, implementation research, global health, and pandemic preparedness, demonstrates the School’s ongoing commitment to addressing the most urgent challenges in national and global public health.

Irene Papanicolas Ph.D., professor of health services, policy, and practice, will focus on international comparative analyses to understand how different financial and organizational structures and processes within health systems influence their performance, building out a new effort on Comparative Health Systems. She joins Brown SPH after serving as an associate professor of health economics in the Department of Health Policy at the London School of Economics.

Andrew (Andy) Ryan Ph.D., professor of health services, policy, and practice, will focus on the effects of changes in U.S. health policy on quality of care, healthcare spending, and value, leading a new effort on Health Policy. He joins Brown SPH after serving as the United Healthcare Professor of Healthcare Management at the University of Michigan School of Public Health and director of the Center for Evaluating Health Reform.

Malabika Sarker Ph.D., professor of the practice of behavioral and social sciences, will focus on implementation science research and experiential learning and will strengthen the School’s partnerships with other public health institutions in the global south. She joins Brown SPH after serving as professor and associate dean of the Brac James P. Grant School of Public Health in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Craig Spencer MD, MPH, associate professor of the practice of health services, policy, and practice will focus on the historical foundations of public health practice, especially with respect to global health, humanitarian response, and pandemic preparedness. He joins Brown SPH after serving as associate professor of emergency medicine and population and family health at the Columbia University Medical Center and director of Global Health in Emergency Medicine at New York-Presbyterian Hospital.

Here at the School, we are the place where the reinvention of public health in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic is happening. Our most significant public health challenges demand fresh takes and multidisciplinary approaches. This group of outstanding new faculty is joining a team of leaders poised to deliver on this promise, and implement Dean Jha’s vision for the future of the School.

Please join us in welcoming these new faculty members to our growing community of scholars.

Sincerely,

Ronald Aubert, Ph.D., MSPH
Interim Dean

Megan L. Ranney, M.D., MPH
Academic Dean