A delegation from Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Santé Publique (EHESP), the French national school of public health, visited the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health on March 20, to recognize and solidify a longstanding collaboration between the two schools.
[Photo: Representatives from the Gillings School and the French national public health school gathered at the Old Well after signing a Memorandum of Understanding between the two schools. Left to right are Dr. Jim Herrington, director of the Gillings Global Gateway; Claire Aubin and Régine Ducos, from the French delegation; Dr. Ron Strauss, UNC executive vice chancellor and provost; Dr. Laurent Chambaud, dean of the French public health school; Drs. Thomas Ricketts, Sandra Greene and Jim Porto, health policy and management faculty members; Ms. Katie Bowler Young, director of global relations at UNC Global; and Ms. Melissa McMurray, UNC’s international liaison officer. Photo by Mr. Dan Sears]
A Memorandum of Understanding signed by UNC and EHESP representatives during the visit solidified a partnership between the two schools that was initiated in 2007 by Dr. Thomas Ricketts, professor of health policy and management at the Gillings School. The collaboration has involved Gillings School faculty members Dr. Suzanne Babich, clinical professor of health policy and management and of nutrition; Dr. Sandra Greene, Professor of the Practice of health policy and interim chair of the Department of Health Policy and Management; and Dr. James Porto, clinical assistant professor and director of executive programs in health policy and management. The partnership aims strategically to strengthen and complement each school’s educational opportunities and research capabilities.
“We are honored to partner with UNC and are convinced that the students and faculty of both our institutions will value the opportunities to collaborate in training and research in public health, particularly in areas related to health management,” said Dean Laurent Chambaud, who led the EHESP delegation on the UNC visit. “I am impressed by the high level of expertise that is concentrated in Chapel Hill. The health systems of France and North Carolina certainly can learn from each other.”
Dr. Chambaud was accompanied by Ms. Régine Ducos, director of international relations at EHESP, and Ms. Claire Aubin, counselor for labor, health and social welfare at the Embassy of France.